Greetings, writers! Today, we’re deciphering perhaps the most enigmatic, intimidating punctuation mark: the semicolon. This part-comma, part-colon freak of punctuational nature has gotten a bum rap by contemporary English speakers, and, as such, it has been largely relegated to use in winking emoticons. To that, I give a hardy tsk, tsk. As a writer, you are a linguistic architect, and punctuation marks are integral tools for sentence construction; to throw one by the wayside is to limit your sentence-building capabilities.
Architects don’t alter their projects’ blueprints to accommodate their weaker skills; they hone their weaker skills to accommodate the spontaneous demands of their projects. For us linguistic architects, that means being able to transpose our ideas directly onto the page without having to alter them to account for weak punctuation knowledge.
So, without further ado, let’s dig in.
Semicolons indicate relationships in one of two ways: separating items in complex lists and connecting related sentences.
Corralling Complex Lists
Ex. 1a: The solar system is made up of the sun, which orbits the center of the Milky Way; planets, dwarf planets, comets, and asteroids, which orbit the sun; and moons, which orbit planets and dwarf planets.
Ex. 1b: The intergalactic bowling team was comprised of Chewbacca, who, instead of rolling the ball, opted to throw it overhand; Mr. Spock, first officer of the starship USS Enterprise, who thought the game most illogical; and Buzz Aldrin, the team’s captain and highest scorer.
As you can see, these lists are chock-full of information. Each item of the lists contains information separated by commas. So, to keep everything in order, we separate the items with semicolons.
Connecting Related Sentences
Ex. 2a: As usual, Lassie urged little Timmy to check the well for danger; however, no one thought she’d push him in once he got there.
Ex. 2b: Ishmael told Captain Ahab to shake a leg; the Pequod was to set sail at first light.
In these examples, the semicolon separates sentences. The important consideration here is the relationship between the sentences. The second continues or completes the line of thought established in the first.
Also, notice that the first example uses the conjunctive adverb “however” directly after the semicolon, while the second example doesn’t. As the name suggests, conjunctive adverbs connect ideas while describing the nature of their relationship. Out of the many, many conjunctive adverbs, examples include “therefore,” “rather,” “nonetheless,” “that is,” and “henceforth.”
If you’re feeling ambitious (Who am I kidding? You’re a writer; you thrive on ambition!), there is a third, somewhat funky way to use the semicolon to connect sentences. Let’s check out an example.
Ex. 2c: Jupiter has sixty-seven moons; Earth, just one.
While this example looks strange, it’s actually pretty straightforward. Rather than repeat the verb “has” in the second sentence, we simply replace it with a comma. A famous example of such a sentence is found in Alexander Pope’s Essay on Criticism: “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” You’ve probably heard that line umpteen times; now you know how to punctuate it!
What Not to Do
So, now that you know how to use the semicolon, let’s talk about the misapplications I see most often. First up, the dreaded Franken-clause!
Ex. 3: Teddy Roosevelt polished his spectacles, rolled up his sleeves, and defeated the army of interdimensional spaceworms singlehandedly; never once breaking a sweat.
Note that “never once breaking a sweat” is a dependent clause. It doesn’t have both a subject and predicate and can’t stand alone as a complete sentence. Thus, the semicolon is unwarranted and should be replaced with a comma: Teddy Roosevelt polished his spectacles, rolled up his sleeves, and defeated the army of interdimensional spaceworms singlehandedly, never once breaking a sweat. However, with slight rewording, you can make “never once breaking a sweat” an independent clause, i.e., a clause that can stand independently as a complete sentence, enabling the use of the semicolon: Teddy Roosevelt polished his spectacles, rolled up his sleeves, and defeated the army of interdimensional spaceworms singlehandedly; he never once broke a sweat. In this example, both sides of the semicolon can stand independently, so we’re A-OK.
The next frequent misstep is when authors use semicolons to introduce lists.
Ex. 4: Ryan stopped by the store to pick up some essentials; guitar strings, the latest Stephen King novel, and raspberry sherbet.
This is a big no-no! Simply put, semicolons do not introduce lists. That’s a job best suited for a colon (or a dash if you’re feeling informal): Ryan stopped by the store to pick up some essentials: guitar strings, the latest Stephen King novel, and raspberry sherbet.
The final recurring mishap also refers to lists and superfluous use of the semicolon.
Ex. 5: Out of hundreds of candidates, the first five confirmed dwarf planets are Ceres; Eris; Makemake; Haumea; and Pluto.
This example boasts a list with its items separated by semicolons, but the list is not complex and does not require the semicolon’s supreme powers of separation. Instead, commas will do just fine: Out of hundreds of candidates, the first five confirmed dwarf planets are Ceres, Eris, Makemake, Haumea, and Pluto. For comparison, here’s a common list situation that calls for the semicolon to help the reader discern what’s what: The Klingon ambassador to the United States was an avid tourist, making stops in Chicago, Illinois; Clarksdale, Mississippi; Muscle Shoals, Alabama; and Memphis, Tennessee. If we don’t use semicolons in this instance, the reader may get tripped up and have to re-read the sentence: The Klingon ambassador to the United States was an avid tourist, making stops in Chicago, Illinois, Clarksdale, Mississippi, Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and Memphis, Tennessee. See how it all runs together if we only use commas?
In summation, we can use semicolons in two ways: to separate items in complex lists and to connect related sentences. When each item of a list contains information separated by commas, do your readers a favor and use semicolons to separate the items. When you intend to use a semicolon to show a continuation of ideas or a tight relationship between two sentences, be sure that the two sentences can stand alone and make sense apart from each other. That’s all there is to it! So, free the semicolon from the fetters of winking smiley-face emoticons, put it back in your writer’s toolbox, and use it to enrich your prose with relational nuances and dynamic pacing.
As always, I bid you good writing!