Series —If one or more elements in a series contain a comma, use semicolons to separate them. Include a semicolon before the final conjunction. Two closely related sentences —For the most part, you should use a semicolon only where you could also use a period, but want to demonstrate a relationship between two complete sentences. Good grades are integral to student success; a strong support network is also important. Skip to main content. Here's a good rule of thumb.
If the two clauses are merely related, not necessarily sequential in thought, use a semicolon. However, if the two related clauses follow a sequence of thought, use a colon. There's also a smaller, yet important, role that semicolons play. That is, they stand in for commas in lists when commas alone would be confusing. Take a look at the examples below. Each item in the list contains commas itself, so using commas to separate the items would lead to ambiguity. As such, the semicolon comes to the rescue to divide the lists, acting as a comma, but allowing for greater organization and clarity.
Wasn't that exciting? Colons can do more than offset a long, bulleted list. They can also separate two clauses and introduce a valuable quote. As for semicolons, you can now join the ranks of grammarians who use them properly. Proficiency will never go out of style.
Ready for another controversial punctuation mark? Review these eight times commas were important to see if your comma game is on point. Then, enjoy your status as a Grammar Pro!
All rights reserved. Examples of Colons and Semicolons in Sentences. Colons in Sentences Let's begin with a study on colons. Lists Colons can be used to set off a list. There are two choices at this time: run away or fight. This house has everything I need: two bedrooms, a backyard, and a garage. Think of dashes as the opposite of parentheses.
Where parentheses indicate that the reader should put less emphasis on the enclosed material, dashes indicate that the reader should pay more attention to the material between the dashes. Dashes add drama—parentheses whisper. Dashes can be used for emphasis in several ways: A single dash can emphasize material at the beginning or end of a sentence.
Example: After eighty years of dreaming, the elderly man realized it was time to finally revisit the land of his youth—Ireland. Two dashes can emphasize material in the middle of a sentence. Some style and grammar guides even permit you to write a complete sentence within the dashes. Example: Everything I saw in my new neighborhood—from the graceful elm trees to the stately brick buildings—reminded me of my alma mater.
Example complete sentence : The students—they were each over the age of eighteen—lined up in the streets to vote for the presidential candidates. Two dashes can emphasize a modifier. Words or phrases that describe a noun can be set off with dashes if you wish to emphasize them.
To indicate sentence introductions or conclusions. You can sometimes use a dash to help readers see that certain words are meant as an introduction or conclusion to your sentence. Example: Books, paper, pencils—many students lacked even the simplest tools for learning in nineteenth-century America. Example: To improve their health, Americans should critically examine the foods that they eat—fast food, fatty fried foods, junk food, and sugary snacks.
But when the phrase itself already contains one or more commas, dashes can help readers understand the sentence. Slightly confusing example with commas: Even the simplest tasks, washing, dressing, and going to work, were nearly impossible after I broke my leg. Better example with dashes: Even the simplest tasks—washing, dressing, and going to work—were nearly impossible after I broke my leg. To break up dialogue. In written dialogue, if a speaker suddenly or abruptly stops speaking, hesitates in speech, or is cut off by another speaker, a dash can indicate the pause or interruption.
A dash is typed as two hyphens. There should be no space between a dash and the words on either side. Reference: Strunk, Wiliam Jr. The Elements of Style.
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