AND WRONG AGAIN!!!

steps in through the door awkwardly and stumbles over my own feet..

..sniffs...

"Semicolons," I say with a hint of fear in my voice.

I reach out my hand, trembling.

"Teach me your ways."

[english class tried to tell me, but it failed... i mostly need to know HOW to use them properly </3]

“SEMICOLONS!!!” i scream at you; i love these annoying little shits

THEYRE MY SECOND FAVORITE PUNCTUATION MARK AFTER MY LOVELY EM DASH! OK LETS GO

FIRSTLY! a lot of people fundamentally misunderstand the purpose and practical function of semicolons. you’ll often hear one of these three things when asking someone to explain them to you:

1. they’re just like periods

2. they’re just like commas

3. they’re just like ‘and’

WRONG!

WRONG!!

AND WRONG AGAIN!!!

(but none of them are COMPLETELY wrong, and here’s why)

the actual function of a semicolon is to connect two closely related independent clauses in one sentence. ya just use it when you want to show the direct relation between two sentences.

in a purely practical sense, the writing world could do without semicolons—you can literally always replace it with either a period, comma, or “and.” or a bunch of other punctuation marks, including the em dash, which i just used in that last sentence in place of a semicolon!

if you don’t get semicolons, you never have to use ‘em!

but if you DO really really really want to use semicolons a whole bunch, for whatever reason (i do it cause i think they’re delightful), here’s when to use them:

1. when you want to show that two separate ideas are related

2. that’s it

a HUGE MISTAKE I ALWAYS SEE WHEN PEOPLE TRY TO USE SEMICOLONS is that the clauses on either side of the semicolon are NOT INDEPENDENT!!!

if you can’t keep either side of the semicolon as its own sentence, you can’t use a semicolon!

for example:

I wondered when I would see him again; that kind man.

this is WRONG!!

“I wondered when I would see him again.” WORKS as a sentence on its own! awesome!

“That kind man.” …huh? the kind man what? what idea or action is going on in this sentence?

oh, what’s that? NOTHING?

then it ISN’T AN INDEPENDENT CLAUSE and CAN’T be used as one side of a semicolon! semicolons aren’t just here for flair, they connect actions/ideas, and this example is ONE action and ONE subject doing nothing but clarifying what the previous sentence means! NOT INDEPENDENT!!

if you’re struggling on when and how to use them, take this:

when writing, don’t build a sentence AROUND a semicolon, but stick ‘em between two sentences whose meanings need to be linked. this is something you should focus on in editing, when you’ve already got all your sentences laid out and you can pick which ones should smooch! don’t worry about it during drafting!

because that’s really all a semicolon is: just a helpful little bridge between two sentences. it doesn’t have to be there, so make sure the sentences would still work if it wasn’t.

now, let’s look at this example:

I hadn’t spoken to that kind man in two weeks; I wondered when I would see him again.

“I hadn’t spoken to that kind man in two weeks.” WORKS AS A SENTENCE ON ITS OWN!

“I wondered when I would see him again.” ALSO WORKS AS A SENTENCE ON ITS OWN! YAY!!!

you could just have these as completely separate sentences (which tells you you’re using it right), but the reason a semicolon is used is to help the reader understand that one leads to the other!

this character is wondering when she’ll see that kind man again BECAUSE she hasn’t seen him in two weeks.

cause; effect.

this is the correct use of a semicolon!

(or “effect; cause” if you want, they’re usually rearrangeable.)

and so i restate: the world could do just fine without semicolons! they’re only here when YOU think they’re necessary.

you might use one to show how a character figured something out—

The doorknob was coated with dust; I knew he hadn’t been home for months.

—or why they made a decision—

A guard stepped toward me, brandishing a spear; I grabbed my stuff and ran.

—when, without the semicolon, it might not be clear to the reader why they did that or why they came to that conclusion. point out the connection, help the writing be more clear and more fun! not super duper necessary, because you can always replace it with a period or “and/so,” but they’re 100% useful and nice to have in your toolbox.

hope this was clear enough ack!!!

P.S. semicolons have a SECRET OTHER USE. but it’s booooorrrinngggggggg and you’ll, like, never use it ever. BUT HERE IT IS ANYWAY

you can use it to separate entries in lists when there’s already a comma. like… a SUPER comma to show that you’re talking about a new item on the list, not just expanding on the previous item

I spoke to: Basil, the artist, Berry, the nerd.

this kinda reads like you spoke to four people: you spoke to basil, you spoke to an artist, you spoke to berry, and you spoke to a nerd.

you can use a semicolon between these to separate which commas are to show descriptors, and which commas are to show a new entry in the list

I spoke to: Basil, the artist; Berry, the nerd.

hey, we’re on TV!

anyway, a simple “and” at the end of the list would solve this whole problem, but if you can’t use “and” for whatever reason (a list following a colon usually doesn’t need them), then there’s another use for semicolons that you will probably never need!

anyway i looooove semicolons and i will FIND YOU if you use them wrong . thank you and g’bye!