1. Our Friend, the Semicolon
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 1

2. Our Friend, the Semicolon
Let’s begin with a simple sentence:
Grandma stays up too late.
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 2

3. Our Friend, the Semicolon
Now let’s expand on that a bit:
Grandma stays up too late. She’s afraid she’s going to miss something.
This is OK. Two independent ideas, separated by a period.
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 3

4. Our Friend, the Semicolon
What if we try to combine the two ideas?
Grandma stays up too late, she’s afraid she’s going to miss something.
Something’s wrong. We connected two independent clauses with only a comma. The dreaded COMMA SPLICE!
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 4

5. Our Friend, the Semicolon
We could insert a coordinating conjunction:
Grandma is afraid she’ll miss something, so she stays up too late.
This is better! Note the comma that accompanies the coordinating conjunction.
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 5

6. Our Friend, the Semicolon
We could also try subordinating one of these ideas:
Grandma stays up too late because she’s afraid she’s going to miss something.
Notice that the comma disappeared. One idea (the second one) now depends on the other; it has become a dependent clause.
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 6

7. Our Friend, the Semicolon
But let’s try something else.
ENTER THE SEMICOLON !
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 7

8. Our Friend, the Semicolon
Let’s try using a semicolon in this sentence.
Grandma stays up too late; she’s afraid she’s going to miss something.
Notice there is no conjunction used with this semicolon – either subordinating or coordinating.
Just the semicolon, all by itself.
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 8

9. Our Friend, the Semicolon
Sometimes semicolons are accompanied by conjunctive adverbs – words such as however, moreover, therefore, nevertheless, consequently, as a result.
Grandma is afraid she’s going to miss something; as a result, she stays up too late.
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 9

10. Our Friend, the Semicolon
Notice the pattern:
; as a result,
semicolon + conjunctive adverb + comma
This is a typical construction with semicolons.
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 10

11. Our Friend, the Semicolon
There is one other use of the semicolon: to help us sort out monster lists, like this one:
The committee included Peter Wursthorn, Professor of
Mathematics, from Marlborough, Connecticut, Virginia
Villa, Professor of English, from Hartford, Connecticut, Paul
Creech, Director of Rad-Tech, from Essex, Connecticut, and
Joan Leach, Professor of Nursing, from Farmington, Connecticut.
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 11

12. Our Friend, the Semicolon
Be careful where you insert semicolons in this sentence.
The committee included Peter Wursthorn, Professor of
Mathematics, from Marlborough, Connecticut; Virginia
Villa, Professor of English, from Hartford, Connecticut ; Paul
Creech, Director of Rad-Tech, from Essex, Connecticut ; and
Joan Leach, Professor of Nursing, from Farmington, Connecticut.
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 12

13. Our Friend, the Semicolon
Now you know everything you’ll ever need to know about using semicolons!
CONGRATULATIONS
Charles Carpenter
College of Biblical Studies (English Class) 13