How to Use a Semicolon

January 25th, 2010 at 20:58

This is great! Personally, I love semicolons; so much so, that I use them often.

(was that correct?)

Hayleigh

January 25th, 2010 at 21:51

No. “So much so, that I use them often” is not an independent clause; therefore, it is incorrect to link it to the previous clause with a semicolon. Think hairy knuckles.

No

January 25th, 2010 at 21:51

ummm… no. try again.

Personally, I love semicolons; I enjoy them so much and use them often.

(“so much so, that I use them often” is not an independent clause.)

No

January 25th, 2010 at 21:51

weird, we posted at the same time…

corpower

January 26th, 2010 at 09:15

You two should make out; you’re perfect for each other.

Andrei

January 26th, 2010 at 11:50

The quote from Kurt Vonnegut’s A Man without a Country:
“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.”
He was probably joking. So it goes.

Wms BBC

January 26th, 2010 at 12:38

IMHO, the example sentences are a bit off gramatically.

“The ice cream truck man” – Really, is he a transformer; half man, half truck?

Wouldn’t it be better to simplify and say: “The ice cream truck driver with hairy knuckles drove his truck by my house today.” and then skip the semi colon?

I get where you are coming from; I just think there could have been better example sentences. :)

Adrian

January 26th, 2010 at 13:04

This is brilliant, lovely, funny; you’re the Best fer sure.

Five Acres with a View » How to Use a Semicolon

January 26th, 2010 at 17:38

[...] How to Use a Semicolon demystifies this subtle issue. [...]

Coal

January 26th, 2010 at 19:09

@Wms BBC

Your example sentence sans semicolon contains the same elements as the example but it doesn’t say the same thing. The example introduces new information about the ice cream man, whereas yours makes the assumption that the listener/reader is already aware of the status of his knuckles. More specifically, your sentence takes the *new information* from the given example as a way to identify precisely *which* ice cream man drove by; it wasn’t the handsome clean shaven ice cream man that wears loud ties, it was the one with the hairy knuckles.

Oh, THAT ice cream man…

Curly

January 26th, 2010 at 21:45

I am ashamed to say I had to read this.

Richard

January 27th, 2010 at 00:00

The comments were just as interesting as the lesson. Hot air ignites so easily!

Links! Reading, writing, blogging links! | Miscellaneous Mum - Trying to find the objective correlative, everyday

January 28th, 2010 at 14:00

[...] * How to use a semi-colon. [...]

wheat

January 29th, 2010 at 08:33

This is a fun way to teach usage. You leave out one case though. You do use a semicolon with conjunctive adverbs, like “therefore” and “however,” when they start off a new independent clause (rather than just being a filler of some sort). Compare these two:

1) I like your jacket; however, your shoes need polishing.
2) I like your jacket. I, however, also think your shoes need polishing.

So, you do use semicolons with certain sorts of conjunctions.

Kevin

January 29th, 2010 at 22:29

Semicolons have been replaced by the dash – it does the same thing but looks cooler. You can still use the semicolon for lists though. If you’re ghey for semicolons or something.