The good and proper use of a semi-colon simply impresses the stink out of me.
Seriously, when I see one used well, I want to hug that writer. And I'm not the huggy type you know.
That's how big this semi-colon thing is.
Since I am all about learning (aka... hello I write books for a living and really should know this stuff), I decided to read up on my dear friend from afar, the semi-colon.
Here is what I learned from this website:
The semicolon is a simple piece of punctuation, much easier to work with than the comma because it follows fairly clear rules.
(Really? Easier than a comma? Follows only 2 rules? Tell me more!)
Rule one:
Use a semi-colon when you want to connect two related Independent Clauses. In other words, if you have two phrases that could stand alone as sentences, but you want to tie them together, use a semi-colon.
For example:
This could be a complete sentence; this could be another one.
Rule two:
Use a semi colon as a super comma. When you have a series of three or more items that normally would be separated by commas except that each individual item already has a comma in it, you use the semicolon between items.
For example:
On our vacation we visited Hershey, Pennsylvania; Hollywood, California; and Dollywood, Tennessee.
(I totally made that vacation up; they sound like such cool places! And I'm sweating that I just used a SEMI-COLON on my own. If it is used improperly, please don't tell me.)
Now, there are some situations that you can get into when attempting to use the semi-colon. They involve complicated things like comma splices, connector words, and conjunctions. How funny that they all start with the letter "c."
Apparently "c" words are emotionally allergic to semi-colons.
I can sympathize; I used to be emotionally allergic to them as well.
Look at me now; I might be using semi-colons in a lot of my upcoming sentences.
Suddenly, I love all things semi-colonish; using them can make you feel slightly smart.
Come on... give it a try! I'll even throw in the chance to win a PRIZE! Just write some sort of sentence using the semi-colon and you'll qualify to win.
Seriously, when I see one used well, I want to hug that writer. And I'm not the huggy type you know.
That's how big this semi-colon thing is.
Since I am all about learning (aka... hello I write books for a living and really should know this stuff), I decided to read up on my dear friend from afar, the semi-colon.
Here is what I learned from this website:
The semicolon is a simple piece of punctuation, much easier to work with than the comma because it follows fairly clear rules.
(Really? Easier than a comma? Follows only 2 rules? Tell me more!)
Rule one:
Use a semi-colon when you want to connect two related Independent Clauses. In other words, if you have two phrases that could stand alone as sentences, but you want to tie them together, use a semi-colon.
For example:
This could be a complete sentence; this could be another one.
Rule two:
Use a semi colon as a super comma. When you have a series of three or more items that normally would be separated by commas except that each individual item already has a comma in it, you use the semicolon between items.
For example:
On our vacation we visited Hershey, Pennsylvania; Hollywood, California; and Dollywood, Tennessee.
(I totally made that vacation up; they sound like such cool places! And I'm sweating that I just used a SEMI-COLON on my own. If it is used improperly, please don't tell me.)
Now, there are some situations that you can get into when attempting to use the semi-colon. They involve complicated things like comma splices, connector words, and conjunctions. How funny that they all start with the letter "c."
Apparently "c" words are emotionally allergic to semi-colons.
I can sympathize; I used to be emotionally allergic to them as well.
Look at me now; I might be using semi-colons in a lot of my upcoming sentences.
Suddenly, I love all things semi-colonish; using them can make you feel slightly smart.
Come on... give it a try! I'll even throw in the chance to win a PRIZE! Just write some sort of sentence using the semi-colon and you'll qualify to win.
I don't know for sure what they prize will be. It may or may not have something to do with the most delicious chicken in the whole wide world.
I love chicken; the dark-haired dude that runs my local chicken joint is way cute.
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