Last month, I blogged about the proper use of quotation marks. Several people contacted me asking for a similar post regarding the use of semicolons. Well, here we go!The semicolon (;)
As always, I'm addressing punctuation used in non-technical, non-academic writing for publication in the United States. As I mentioned in my post on the quotation mark, there are some differences in conventions from one country to the next.
As opposed to the comma, the semicolon is a fairly easy to get right because it has clear rules.
I'm only going to discuss the three most common uses of the semicolon. For a more detailed description, I recommend Strunk and White's The Elements of Style and The Chicago Manual of Style.
1. Semicolons are used to link two complete sentences (independent clauses) that are closely related. A period can be used, but the semicolon strengthens the meaning.
Correct: Suzette finished her manuscript today; she had been working on it for a year.
Correct: Suzette finished her manuscript today. She had been working on it for a year.
Incorrect: Suzette finished her manuscript today, she had been working on it for a year.
(The third example is a comma splice since the clauses are independent. A big no-no.)
2. Semicolons are used to link two complete sentences with a conjunctive adverb (some common conjunctive adverbs are therefore, however, anyway, consequently).
Correct: Carolyn and Heather received revision suggestions from agents; consequently, they are writing like mad.
Incorrect: Carolyn and Heather received revision suggestions from agents, consequently, they are writing like mad.
The link for conjunctive adverbs in rule 2 above goes into greater detail and gives more examples of correct and incorrect usage.
What causes problems is that a semicolon is not used when the independent clauses are joined by a conjunction (but, and, or, so nor etc). A comma is used.
Correct: Elana returned to her classroom to retrieve her purse, but her room was locked.
Incorrect: Elana returned to her classroom to retrieve her purse; but her room was locked.
3. Semicolons are used in a series that would usually be separated by commas, but one or more of the items in the series has a comma in it.
Correct: Some of my favorite books are Dune, by Frank Herbert; The Summer Guest, by Justin Cronin; and The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield.
There are other uses for the semicolon, but they occur infrequently and are most often optional. I recommend the books I referenced at the top of this post if you want to read about the minor uses of semicolons.
Author's note: Thank you for your support of this blog. Our subscribership is increasing every day. We love to hear from you. Please comment or drop us an email if the mood moves you. Tell us what you want to see or what's on your mind. Heck, just email to say, "Hello."
Also, check out the QT Blog Activities Forum on Rallystorm. Rallystorm is a forum designed for writers by the creator of QueryTracker. It's free to join. If you become a member of the QT Blog Activities Forum, you can post selections from your work-in progress for critique and see other critiques. The most recent activity was "showing versus telling." QT's own Raballard was kind enough to volunteer to go first for a critique of the opening paragraphs of his manuscript with respect to showing versus telling. Thanks, Ray!
Mary
Mary Lindsey writes paranormal fiction for children and adults. Prior to attending University of Houston Law School, she received a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Drama.
2 comments:
Great post! I hate and never really understood semicolons, so rarely used them.
Mary, great post! I have always struggled with semicolons, and this helps a lot. They still enshroud me with mystery, though. I've heard agents and publishers hate them. That might just be a myth. I choose them carefully. :)
Post a Comment