- As a photographer for National Geographic, Renato had been to\u00a0a lot of different places including S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil; Kobe, Japan;\u00a0Kyiv, Ukraine; and Barcelona, Spain.<\/li>\n \t
- As an engineering assistant, I had a variety of duties: participating in pressure ventilation surveys; completing daily drafting, surveying, and data compilation; and acting as a company representative during a roof-bolt pull test.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Practice<\/h3>\nDo\u00a0the following sentences\u00a0need a comma or a semicolon?\n
- Kieran never throws anything away\u00a0__\u00a0he's convinced\u00a0he'll need these things someday.<\/li>\n \t
- Because I left my keys at my apartment\u00a0__\u00a0I had to stay on campus and wait for my roommate.<\/li>\n \t
- Zebras are the most popular animals at my local zoo __ however __\u00a0elephants are my favorite animal.<\/li>\n \t
- The company had four\u00a0primary locations: Boston, Massachusetts\u00a0__ San Antonio, Texas __ Chicago, Illinois __ and Little Rock, Arkansas.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[reveal-answer q=\"600237\"]Show Answers[\/reveal-answer]\n[hidden-answer a=\"600237\"]\n
- semicolon (;) A semicolon connects two independent clauses\u00a0that are connected to each other.\n
- Kieran never throws anything away;\u00a0he's convinced he'll need these things someday.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t
- comma (,)\u00a0The conjunction\u00a0because<\/em> turns an independent clause into a dependent clause. Dependent clauses are followed by commas, not semicolons.\n
- Because I left my keys at my apartment, I had to stay on campus and wait for my roommate.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t
- semicolon (;) before and a comma (,) after A semicolon connects two independent clauses\u00a0that are connected to each other. Clauses that begin with\u00a0however<\/em>\u00a0are independent clauses.\n
- Zebras are the most popular animals at my local zoo; however, elephants are my favorite animal.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n \t
- semicolons (;)\u00a0A\u00a0semicolon can be used to separate items in a complex list.\n
- The company had four primary locations: Boston, Massachusetts;\u00a0San Antonio, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; and Little Rock, Arkansas.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[\/hidden-answer]\n\n<\/div>","rendered":"
![\"an](\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2232\/2017\/07\/20162906\/semi-1005x1024.png\")
The semicolon is one of the most misunderstood and misused punctuation marks; in fact, it is often mistaken for the colon (which we’ll discuss next). However, these two punctuation marks are not interchangeable. A semicolon connects two complete ideas (a complete idea has a subject and a verb) that are connected to each other. Look at this sentence for example:<\/p>\nAnika’s statue is\u00a0presently displayed\u00a0in the center of the exhibit; this location makes it a\u00a0focal point and allows it to direct the flow of visitors to the museum.<\/p>\n
The first idea tells us where Anika’s statue is, and the second idea tells us more about the location and it’s importance. Each of these ideas could be its own sentence, but by using a semicolon, the author is telling the reader that the two ideas are connected.\u00a0Often, you may find yourself putting a comma in the place of the semicolon; this is incorrect. Using a comma here would create a run-on sentence (we’ll discuss those more in\u00a0Run-on Sentences<\/a>). Remember: a comma can join a complete idea to other items while a semicolon needs a complete idea on either side.<\/p>\n
The semicolon can also be used to separate\u00a0items in a list when those items have internal commas. For example, say you\u2019re listing a series of cities and their states, or you\u2019re listing duties for a resume:<\/p>\n
- \n
- As a photographer for National Geographic, Renato had been to\u00a0a lot of different places including S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil; Kobe, Japan;\u00a0Kyiv, Ukraine; and Barcelona, Spain.<\/li>\n
- As an engineering assistant, I had a variety of duties: participating in pressure ventilation surveys; completing daily drafting, surveying, and data compilation; and acting as a company representative during a roof-bolt pull test.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
Practice<\/h3>\n
Do\u00a0the following sentences\u00a0need a comma or a semicolon?<\/p>\n
- \n
- Kieran never throws anything away\u00a0__\u00a0he’s convinced\u00a0he’ll need these things someday.<\/li>\n
- Because I left my keys at my apartment\u00a0__\u00a0I had to stay on campus and wait for my roommate.<\/li>\n
- Zebras are the most popular animals at my local zoo __ however __\u00a0elephants are my favorite animal.<\/li>\n
- The company had four\u00a0primary locations: Boston, Massachusetts\u00a0__ San Antonio, Texas __ Chicago, Illinois __ and Little Rock, Arkansas.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nShow Answers<\/span><\/p>\n\n
- \n
- semicolon (;) A semicolon connects two independent clauses\u00a0that are connected to each other.\n
- \n
- Kieran never throws anything away;\u00a0he’s convinced he’ll need these things someday.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- comma (,)\u00a0The conjunction\u00a0because<\/em> turns an independent clause into a dependent clause. Dependent clauses are followed by commas, not semicolons.\n
- \n
- Because I left my keys at my apartment, I had to stay on campus and wait for my roommate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- semicolon (;) before and a comma (,) after A semicolon connects two independent clauses\u00a0that are connected to each other. Clauses that begin with\u00a0however<\/em>\u00a0are independent clauses.\n
- \n
- Zebras are the most popular animals at my local zoo; however, elephants are my favorite animal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- semicolons (;)\u00a0A\u00a0semicolon can be used to separate items in a complex list.\n
- \n
- The company had four primary locations: Boston, Massachusetts;\u00a0San Antonio, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; and Little Rock, Arkansas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
- The company had four primary locations: Boston, Massachusetts;\u00a0San Antonio, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; and Little Rock, Arkansas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
- semicolon (;) A semicolon connects two independent clauses\u00a0that are connected to each other.\n
- The company had four primary locations: Boston, Massachusetts;\u00a0San Antonio, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; and Little Rock, Arkansas.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[\/hidden-answer]\n\n<\/div>","rendered":"
- semicolon (;) A semicolon connects two independent clauses\u00a0that are connected to each other.\n