He looked up at the sky. Dark clouds indicated a storm.You could also link the two clauses by a conjunction.
He looked up at the skywhere dark clouds indicated a
storm.Donotuse a comma instead of a semicolon.Making use of the semicolon
You can use more than one semicolon in a sentence. In this
case the sentences will follow naturally on from one another.
She opened the door; the room had been ransacked;
clothes and papers were everywhere; the window was
broken.You can also use a semicolon if the second clause empha-
sises the previous one.
Jack won a medal for bravery; it was presented by the
Queen.A conjunction could have been used to join the statements
but the second one would then have lost some of its power.
Jack won a medal for bravery which was presented by the
Queen.Emphasising a contrast
If you wish to emphasise a contrast, you could also use a
semicolon.
MAKING SENSE OF PUNCTUATION / 89