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The Versatile Semicolon

September 18, 2017 by Barbara McNichol Leave a Comment

by Barbara McNichol

In many of the memos and manuscripts memos I read, writers take a convoluted approach to punctuation. Especially, too many semicolons show up in too many wrong ways. How can you remember what’s right?

Every time you’re tempted to use a semicolon, review these three brief rules.

  1. Use a semicolon to separate two independent clauses. Independent means each clause has both a subject and verb. Even though each clause could stand alone as a separate sentence, the semicolon indicates a relationship between the two.

e.g., I need to upgrade my writing skills; embarrassing mistakes have been creeping in.

Note: Do not use both a semicolon and a conjunction to join two clauses—pick one or the other. e.g., I need to upgrade my writing skills; but embarrassing mistakes have been creeping in.

  1. Use a semicolon before a transitional adverb such as “therefore” or “however.”

e.g., The payment is overdue; therefore, we owe a penalty.

e.g., It’s been a long time since we met; however, it’s not too late.

Note: Use a comma after “therefore” and “however” in these cases.

  1. Use semicolons to separate items or elements in a list that contains one of more internal commas.

e.g., She traveled to Beijing, China; Paris, France; and London, England.

e.g., He believes three things: that every situation, no matter how grim, can be resolved; that no one needs to suffer, especially Mother Earth; and that people are inherently good.

Note: This sentence could improve if it were broken into two or more sentences. Easier to follow!

Get clear on these rules; I guarantee knowing them will simplify your writing!

Celebrate National Punctuation Day, September 24th

Filed Under: Business Writing Tagged With: good punctuation, manuscript editing, National Punctuation Day, nonfiction book editing, semicolon

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