11.1. Punctuation http://www.ck12.org
Semicolons
Use semicolons to connect two independent clauses when the second clause restates the first, or when the two clauses
are closely related.
Example 1- Road construction in Seattle has hindered travel around town; streets have become covered with
bulldozers, trucks, and cones.
The second independent clause is describing the same situation as the first, but in a different manner.
Example 2- It rained heavily during the afternoon;however, we still managed to have a picnic.
The second independent clause is linked to the first with a semicolon and aconjunctive adverb. Whenever you use
a conjunctive adverb, either after a semicolon or at the beginning of the sentence, place a comma after it.
Here is a list of commonconjunctive adverbs. Be wary of confusing conjunctive adverbs withsubordinating
conjunctions,for they have distinctly different uses. For a list of subordinating conjunctions, see Chapter 12, lesson
TABLE11.1:
Besides Hence However Incidentally Indeed Likewise
Meanwhile Moreover Nevertheless Similarly Still That is
Thereafter Therefore Thus Undoubtedly In fact As a resultUse a semicolon to separate elements in a sequence when those elements already have commas within them. Doing
so clarifies for the reader how the commas are functioning.
Example 1- Recent sites of the Summer Olympic Games include Beijing, China; Athens, Greece; Sydney Australia;
and Atlanta, Georgia.
The semicolons separate the larger elements, while the commas separate the city and country within each element.
Review Questions
For each sentence, insert missing semicolons or omit incorrectly placed semicolons.
- They gave the fire marshal kickback to look the other way consequently, the building went up in flames the
very next year. - The earthquake on March 22ndwas nearly a 6.0 on the Richter scale, however there was no loss of life.