User blog:IOmegaAzure/The Semicolon

  Hello chaps, this is gonna be one of a few of my rambles about a feature of the complicated language which is English grammar.

I decided my first blog will be about the semicolon as this is one of the punctuation marks I've seen used incorrectly the most.

Introduction
The semicolon (or semi-colon), the dreaded key on the keyboard. Many writers have a confused relationship with this piece of punctuation. I can't blame them; they do seem rather confusing at first glance. Many people are scared to use this key for fear they may get told off by their old English teacher or by me. I have seen a massive quantity of incorrectly used semicolons most of which are so randomly placed that such usage figuratively drives me up the wall. This is part of the reason I decided to make this blog first as I'd like to address this problem.

How to Use the Semicolon
Most of the time, a semicolon is used for a situation in which there are two clauses and the second clause explains the first.

Example:

  Jerricks had to squint to read the tiny writing so he needed to use a magnifying glass to read it.

 Jerricks had to squint to read the tiny writing; he needed to use a magnifying glass to read it.

(The semicolon replaces the conjunction "so" to connect the two clauses)

The semicolon allows the pair of clauses to run on from each other without bringing the first sentence to a stop while avoiding a comma splice, the evil comma splice.

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'''An easy way to remember how to use a semicolon is by looking at its brother, the colon. The colon is used primarily to start off lists or to describe something that does not relate that much to the initial clause.'''

Example:

My shopping list:

Dynamite, Axe, Wires, Loveseat etc.

Note how the items in the list are not related to the first clause. The list of objects does not relate to the first clause ("My Shopping List:") but is still related to a sufficient extent (the fact that it IS the list of my shopping) that we use a colon.

The semicolon is similar to this, but the two clauses are related as both are relevant to each other (i.e. the fact that Jerricks gets a magnifying glass is directly related to the fact that he can't read the writing)  A semicolon wouldn't be used if Jerricks picked up the magnifying glass and made himself a cup of tea. The two parts are not related to each other so therefore a conjunction or a full stop (period for you Americans) would be used.

Jerricks picked up a magnifying glass and made himself a cup of tea.

''(or) Jerricks picked up a magnifying glass. He then made himself a cup of tea.''

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The semicolon may also be used to create sub-lists in lists.

 Example: 

'' The people in the meeting: Moderators; KoolBoat01, Mehda, Fjalon, Admins; Jerricks, Unikarz and Jac16king. ''

In this case, the semicolons are used to indicate the sublists (Moderators and Admins).

Extra Information

 * The semicolon is always followed by a lower-case letter unless the word that follows it is a proper noun (or an acronym).
 * The two clauses on either side of the semicolon both must make sense when not linked by a semicolon.

''Congratulations to those of you who managed to get this far without falling asleep on your keyboard. Any other concerns just ask me.''

Next punctuation blog coming out soon (hopefully).

(P.S. No Jerricks were hurt in the making of this blog. I apologise, Jerricks, for any backlash banter received from the other Mods in the chat as a result of this blog in advance)