Semicolons and Colons
PROGRAM: IN A WORD
EPISODE: SEMICOLONS AND COLONS
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Mary Beth Schaefer with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
Recently, a punctuation mark sparked an entire social media campaign. The Semicolon Project is a movement that promotes the semicolon as a symbol of hope for those who are depressed or suicidal.
According to the Semicolon Project’s Facebook page, “semicolons represent a sentence the author chose not to end.” By drawing a semicolon on their wrists, participants in this campaign show that they believe there’s more to come, that they’ve chose to continue their lives, despite hardships they face. This campaign recognizes the power of punctuation.
As the Semicolon Project’s participants understand, the semicolon indicates that a sentence isn’t over.
Most often, it’s used to join two complete sentences that are strongly related. The parts before and after the semicolon both must be able to stand on their own as sentences.
Here’s an example. Jose wrote a novel [semicolon]; however, he could not find a publisher.
“Jose wrote a novel” could stand on its own as a sentence, and so could the part after the semicolon: “however, he could not find a publisher.” The two sentences are also strongly related, too—they both have to do with Mike’s novel.
As the Semicolon Project demonstrates, semicolons show that the author has a thought that he or she wants to continue. And keep in mind that they’re used sparingly in written works (or sometimes not at all).
But that’s not the only use of the semicolon. Typically, we use commas to separate items in lists. For instance, “I’ve lived in Bryan [comma], Boston [comma], and San Diego.” But sometimes, our lists get complicated when individual items have commas within them. If I want to list each city and state that I’ve lived in, each individual list item would have an internal comma. To avoid confusion, when commas appear in individual list items, use semicolons to separate the items in the main list. “I’ve lived in Bryan, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; and San Diego, California.” In this sentence, there would be a semicolon after “Texas” and “Massachusetts.” Even if a comma is used in only one item of the list, a semicolon should still separate the items in the main list for clarity.
So those are the two main uses of the semicolon. But how does the semicolon differ from the colon?Colons follow complete sentences, but the part after the colon might be a complete sentence or a fragment.
Like semicolons, colons separate ideas that are strongly related. But the information after the colon usually gives examples of or expands on the idea that came before it. For example, “I have lived in three different cities [colon]: Bryan, Boston, and San Diego.” In this case, the colon separates a complete sentence introducing a thought from a fragment giving more detail related to that thought.
Like I said earlier, similar to a semicolon, a colon might also separate two complete sentences. For example, “My father was in the military [colon]: I have lived in many different cities.” In that example, a semicolon would have worked, too.
As a writer, some decisions you make about punctuation are related to style, personal preference, and desired effect, rather than simply correctness. Therefore, you should understand the conventions of grammar and punctuation, but you should also recognize the decisions you can make as an author to make your writing effective and unique to you.
This has been “In a Word,” a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Mary Beth Schaefer, helping you make every word count.
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
EPISODE: SEMICOLONS AND COLONS
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]
[FADE MUSIC]
I’m Mary Beth Schaefer with “In a Word,” your weekly communication tip.
Recently, a punctuation mark sparked an entire social media campaign. The Semicolon Project is a movement that promotes the semicolon as a symbol of hope for those who are depressed or suicidal.
According to the Semicolon Project’s Facebook page, “semicolons represent a sentence the author chose not to end.” By drawing a semicolon on their wrists, participants in this campaign show that they believe there’s more to come, that they’ve chose to continue their lives, despite hardships they face. This campaign recognizes the power of punctuation.
As the Semicolon Project’s participants understand, the semicolon indicates that a sentence isn’t over.
Most often, it’s used to join two complete sentences that are strongly related. The parts before and after the semicolon both must be able to stand on their own as sentences.
Here’s an example. Jose wrote a novel [semicolon]; however, he could not find a publisher.
“Jose wrote a novel” could stand on its own as a sentence, and so could the part after the semicolon: “however, he could not find a publisher.” The two sentences are also strongly related, too—they both have to do with Mike’s novel.
As the Semicolon Project demonstrates, semicolons show that the author has a thought that he or she wants to continue. And keep in mind that they’re used sparingly in written works (or sometimes not at all).
But that’s not the only use of the semicolon. Typically, we use commas to separate items in lists. For instance, “I’ve lived in Bryan [comma], Boston [comma], and San Diego.” But sometimes, our lists get complicated when individual items have commas within them. If I want to list each city and state that I’ve lived in, each individual list item would have an internal comma. To avoid confusion, when commas appear in individual list items, use semicolons to separate the items in the main list. “I’ve lived in Bryan, Texas; Boston, Massachusetts; and San Diego, California.” In this sentence, there would be a semicolon after “Texas” and “Massachusetts.” Even if a comma is used in only one item of the list, a semicolon should still separate the items in the main list for clarity.
So those are the two main uses of the semicolon. But how does the semicolon differ from the colon?Colons follow complete sentences, but the part after the colon might be a complete sentence or a fragment.
Like semicolons, colons separate ideas that are strongly related. But the information after the colon usually gives examples of or expands on the idea that came before it. For example, “I have lived in three different cities [colon]: Bryan, Boston, and San Diego.” In this case, the colon separates a complete sentence introducing a thought from a fragment giving more detail related to that thought.
Like I said earlier, similar to a semicolon, a colon might also separate two complete sentences. For example, “My father was in the military [colon]: I have lived in many different cities.” In that example, a semicolon would have worked, too.
As a writer, some decisions you make about punctuation are related to style, personal preference, and desired effect, rather than simply correctness. Therefore, you should understand the conventions of grammar and punctuation, but you should also recognize the decisions you can make as an author to make your writing effective and unique to you.
This has been “In a Word,” a program made possible by the Texas A&M University Writing Center and a production of KAMU FM on the campus of Texas A&M University. For more writing and speaking tips, visit our website at writingcenter.tamu.edu. I’m Mary Beth Schaefer, helping you make every word count.
[5 to 10 SEC OF MUSIC]