Jan 17, 2013 / Beginner

The Semicolon

Tasked this week with explaining how to properly use a semicolon, I thought immediately of the poster designed by the fellow behind web comic The Oatmeal. He’s done a number of grammar posters, and there’s very little I could add to the explanation he offers. I’ll summarize, but for some colorful examples, be sure to check out his post.

There are really only two times when a semicolon is called for:

  • When you wish to show a close relationship between two statements that could stand alone as complete sentences. The semicolon indicates that the statements are more closely related than a period would indicate. The Oatmeal recognizes a subset of this case that occurs when you’d be inclined to use conjunctions (“and” or “but”) to join such statements but you’re already working with complex statements; the semicolon in this case helps maintain the relationships of the statements while avoiding a run-on sentence.
  • When you’re making complex lists whose constituents are either themselves very complex or contain commas. Using the semicolon to separate the complex items keeps the commas within the complex items from being confused with the punctuation separating the complex items.

If you’re inclined to use a semicolon under any other circumstances, think twice, consult the poster, and use the punctuation carefully. You should also use it fairly judiciously. If you find yourself using it very frequently, you may want to consider rethinking how you’ve structured your thoughts or simplifying some of your sentences.

Having mastered the semicolon, maybe you have other grammar questions. Leave a note in the comments, and if a topic strikes my fancy, I’ll address it in a future post.

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    1. Usually I do give examples, but in this case, I thought the examples provided at The Oatmeal were sufficient. It’s possible that they’re idiomatic and therefore not good examples for a student of English, however.

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    1. Good sentence structure and punctuation can be an integral part of style, which can make the writing more readable and can actually enhance what you’re saying. How you say things can have a big impact on how what you’re saying is received (especially in persuasive writing).

      To give an example from another field, why should a chef bother making the food he cooks look nice? He could just purée it into a gray mush, but he wants to make it appetizing as well as nutritious. So he worries about the colors of the foods and the way they’re arranged on the plate. Similarly, a writer ought to strive to be friendly to her user by making her sentences palatable and even enjoyable to confront. Good punctuation helps us make sure we’re organizing our thoughts in logical, concise ways, and paying attention to things like rhythm (which requires attention to sentence structure and thus punctuation) can help us propel the reader through an article.

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      1. I agree punctations makes reading not only easier but allows the author to convey his/her thoughts clearly. However, if we focus too much on the grammar many people would never learn to write. I am still learning.

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    2. Are you joking? Punctuation doesn’t only make for easier reading, it can completely change the meaning of a sentence. Remember the book ‘Eats, shoots and leaves’? Punctuation isn’t just for pedants 🙂

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      1. I am having fun! Punctuations are important but I agree with Proust, who thought the rules of language limit creative expression of thoughts.
        (I may have butchered this one) 🙂

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      2. I’ve been also watching a comment discussion about the Baseball Hall of Fame, where no one was voted in this year due to players from the steroid era becoming eligible. What’s interesting is that, as we see here, there is a divide between those who revere correctness and following rules and those who do not place those as top priorities.

        One can make, I think, a very compelling argument that PED users were cheating, and that can help steer your opinion. And certainly with airline pilots, doctors and bankers, we really want to see them all play by the rules.

        I think that art is an exception. There is always a tension in art between following established protocols and breaking the rules to create great art. And while a lot of great art is fully mainstream, much significant art is not. Art that is “ground breaking,” pretty much by definition, is breaking some rules.

        That said, most (and I’m talking over 90% here) bloggers aren’t natural born writers or great artists. We all benefit from knowing the rules; they actually do make you a better writer; having a larger tool kit always makes you better.

        And I would say that most art that breaks the rules does so fully understanding those rules. It is a rare writer, indeed, that can spin gold without training.

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      3. I think a writer needs to have enormous talent before he can allow himself the ‘expression’ of little or no punctuation. Hemingway anyone? In the same way that the most talented artisits, such as Picasso for example, went through the more classical stage before finding their own voice. Only once you have proven you have impeccable grammar can you allow yourself to disregard it. In my humble opinion, naturally 😉

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  6. I do love this cartoon! I occasionally use semicolons but not often. The reason being is I can’t always remember if I’m using it correctly or not. When in doubt I try to keep my sentences relatively simple and easy to understand. I have seen this comic by the Oatmeal and I love it! I think I need to revisit it a couple of times and try to memorize it a little better this time. lol 😉

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  7. The Oatmeal rocks. 🙂
    I like semi-colons, although I usually use m-dashes instead. Some of it depends on the situation, of course, but I think a lot of it is stylistic choice.

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  8. I’d like to see a post about exclamation marks! I’m constantly having to go back and edit them out! It usually means I have not found the right word or turn of phrase to get my meaning across without that crutch, the exclamation!

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    1. Yes I know what you mean. When I leave a comment, it just seems to need that extra something at the end. I seem to alternate between exclamation marks and smiley faces. I will leave this comment with nothing more than a full stop and see how I cope.

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  10. Please, PLEASE teach people the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’/’there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’. Seeing people write these things wrong is the most irritating writing mistake other than atrocious spelling.

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  13. Sure, it is important to use correct punctuation (and grammar) in your content. But what frustrates me at times is the lack of general proofreading and editing I see in some posts. When I write a post I spell check, proofread, spell check some more, proofread some more and more…several times. Then I have my wife take a look at my content and yes, she always finds something that needs to be corrected. Writing text is much like writing program code, where the person doing the writing is too close to the content (or code) and that can make proofreading (and dubugging) difficult. That’s why, in both of those worlds, and extra set of eyes always helps. Just as I don’t want a software tester to find errors in my program code, I NEVER want a reader to find errors in my posted content!

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