This week I chose to post about one of the lesser used forms of punctuation, the semicolon. The semicolon does not get used much in modern writing. Often times papers or essays will have one or no semicolon present in the work. I believe this is due to the fact that there are several other grammatical ways to punctuate a sentence that could use a semicolon. This is why I, and those in my presentation group, really did not initially understand the use for a semicolon. The truth is that there are really very few situations that absolutely require a semicolon for a passage to be grammatically correct, and semicolons only two definitive rules on when to use one.The first rule is much less common, and more specific. This rule is that a semicolon should be used to separate a list that is already using commas. This is most commonly found in a list featuring cities, states, and countries. However the rule that I am focusing is the more commonly utilized one.The second rule is that a semicolon can be used to separate two closely related ideas. These ideas are usually two independent clauses. For example, I could have inserted a semicolon in between the previous sentences. Semicolons separate two related closely ideas as does a period followed by a new sentence, or a comma followed by the words but or and. Instead of punctuating the way I did I could have said: The second rule is that a semicolon can be used to separate two closely related ideas; these ideas are usually two independent clauses [Pattern3]. This sentence is just as correct as the previous example, and it is pronounced the same way verbally. Punctuation is the only difference, and it really only comes down to personal preference. This is something I genuinely had no understanding of until very recently. If I ever used a semicolon in my own writing it was because the auto-correct told me to. In reality, semicolons are rather simple, and I have already been unintentionally using them more frequently.
Trervor
Trevor, I feel that you are very much correct in the use of the semicolon. I was just curious if I could see an example of your writing where you used it? I also used to only incorporate semicolons into my writing if autocorrect told me so. I have been using semicolons unintentionally as well in my writing because I have posts due every week in a couple other classes. I was familiar with using the semicolon to break up lists but I only recently started using them to join two independent clauses. I was also curious, do they have to be independent clauses? Or is that for a colon? Sorry, I am not super clear. Thank you for writing that there are only few situations where a semicolon is absolutely required. It encourages me to use it just because it is underutilized. I hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteI do think that the use of the semicolon is a bit more complicated, though. Just because two sentences are independent clauses does not mean that they should be connected by a semicolon. The two clauses have to be very closely connected ideas: so much so that the pause that comes along with a period would be too much of a pause.
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