American Grammar Checkup: Pity the Poor Semicolon!

The poor semicolon gets absolutely no respect! Have you noticed that it gets dragged into more sentences than any other mark -- usually in the wrong place?
Or in place of a comma or colon, either of which would be happy to take its place? Too many writers have no idea what to do with it, and I hope this post will help.

I teach a three-hour course called "Brush Up on Your American Grammar Skills" (among other things), and I keep my usage of various punctuation marks down to a bare minimum. The course is intended for business professionals, whose goal is usually to communicate a message clearly. And I believe in the KISS principle -- my version of it anyway:

So, here are the three -- yes, only three -- rules for using this particular mark in business writing. If you are writing a thesis of some kind, you might find another rule or two, but first -- let's all master these three.

1.  Compound Sentences: Use a semicolon to join two independent clauses     (simple sentences) together. Each sentence could stand on its own (each has a subject and predicate and is a finished thought), but you choose to join them because they work better as a complete thought.

          Mary had a sandwich for lunch; John opted for a burger.
          John's running late; Susan will fill in for him until he arrives.

Each of the examples above could be separated into two sentences, or you could use one of the seven coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet) in the middle with a comma. For more info on this usage, click here.

2.  Transitional Expressions: If you link independent clauses with terms such as for example, however, moreover, namely, nevertheless, or therefore, replace the period of the first sentence with a semicolon. You may always choose, of course, to keep the sentences separate.

          We’ll go to the movie. However, we’ll wait until the 9 p.m. show.
          We’ll go to the movie; however, we’ll wait until the 9 p.m. show.

           She’s fully qualified for the job. For example, she’s had ten years’                                experience.
           She’s fully qualified for the job; for example, she’s had ten years’                            experience.

3. Items in a Complex Series: Items in a complex series contain required internal commas, so we use semicolons to separate the series sections. Think of the semicolon as an “internal traffic cop”; it’s not an end mark of punctuation, but within a sentence of this type it indicates a section is finished. 

In the example below, it’s especially difficult to figure out who is who when each occupation doesn’t even have a name with it! But even if it did, it would be a poorly and incorrectly written sentence. (The sentence would be much clearer if written with bullet points, but sometimes we write just a sentence to conserve space.) 

Who is who?
          Please invite the Chairman, Ann Murphy, the Executive Vice President,                   Sam Smith, the Director of Investor Relations, and Penny Smith, the                         Chief Financial Officer.

If you read all the way to the end, the sequence becomes clear: the name comes before the occupation in the sentence. That means that "Chairman" has no name attached to it -- in this sentence. 

Any easier?
          Please invite the Chairman; Ann Murphy, the Executive Vice                                       President; Sam Smith, the Director of Investor Relations; and Penny                          Smith, the Chief Financial Officer.

Using the semicolon after "Chairman" is intended to show that the name following does not belong with it. Will that work with every reader? Nope. Nothing works with everyone, but here we're trying to make it easier to understand for most readers. Again, I like bullet points with lists like this.

(If you want more information on the difference between titles and occupations in terms of comma rules, click here.) 

Maybe even easier?
          Please invite the Chairman; the Executive Vice President, Ann Murphy; the             Director of Investor Relations, Sam Smith; and the Chief Financial                             Officer, Penny Smith.

One more example:
         The firm has offices in Boston, Mass.; Cranston, R.I.; Atlanta, Ga.; and                      San Francisco, Calif.

The last example shows that again, there are required commas (between the cities and the states) but the state name ends a specific section of the sentence, thus requiring a semicolon. 

Here are a few NO-NOs:

        Mary said to John; "Are we going to the movies tonight?" (Use a comma.)
        John and Mary went to the movies; but they arrived late. (Use a comma.)
        Dear John; (Use a comma.)
        Dear Mr. Smith; (Use a colon.)
        Although they tried to plan; they failed. (Use a comma.)
        I need just three things to finish; scissors, glue, and tape. (Use a colon.)

OK, that's it. Yes. Really. If you're not using the semicolon in one of the three situations above, you're probably using it incorrectly. 

************************

If you learned anything in this post, please like the post or share it with your network.  Let your connections learn, too.
(No fair keeping all the good stuff just for yourself.)

**************************

Posts you may have missed last month
Monday Grammar Checkup: The Continuing Perils of Trusting Spellcheck
Tuesday Tricksters, January 5
Wednesday's Words & Woes: Advice / Advise
Happy Friday to You! 
Monday's Grammar Checkup: Capital Letters
Tuesday Tricksters, January 12 
Wednesday's Word & Woes: Advice & Advise
Friday Fun Food Day, January 15 
Monday's Grammar Checkup: QUIZ on Lie & Lay
Here We Go: Tuesday's Tricksters, January 19
Wednesdays Words & Woes: A Lot, Allot, Alot
Another Friday Funday, January 22
Monday Grammar Checkup: Another American Grammar Quiz!
Wednesday's Words & Woes: Loose & Lose
Oh! Look! It's a Frozen, Fabulous, Friday Funday!

February's Offerings So Far
Grammar Checkup: It's a Numbers Game
Tuesday Tricksters, February 2: Finally Some F Words!ddd
Wednesday's Words & Woes: Their, There, They're   
It's February. It's Freezing. It's Friday Funday!

*****************************

Do the associates in your firm look and sound as smart as they are? They would if they could take one of my Brush Up on Your Skills workshops right where they work. If your firm hires outside experts to teach any topic, please share my posts and Web site with your Human Resources or Training Manager. 

I am booking my 3-hour corporate Brush Up on Your Skills 
workshops for Spring. Be sure your firm books its date(s) early!

As an international corporate trainer, I have worked worldwide for nearly 20 years creating and leading American grammar (U.S. only), business writing, and a variety of interpersonal communication skills workshops. I am also a copy editor and proofreader, mainly of business-related materials. My home base is in Massachusetts, but I will travel anywhere to help business professionals look and sound as smart as they are.