Am I using the semicolon properly here?

The semicolons in #1 and #2 are incorrect.

The easy way to tell if the semicolon is grammatically correct is this: Do both sides = a complete sentence? In the other numbered items, the answer is 'yes', but for #1 and #2, the answer is 'no'. For example, 'namely that you are slow' is not a complete sentence.

There is one other use of semicolons: to separate items in a list in which one or more of the items contains a comma. In this case, the items don't have to be complete sentences.

That said, there is more to semicolon use than grammatical correctness. Generally, you should use them only when you're trying to tie the ideas together a little closer than would occur with a period/full stop. I wouldn't use a semicolon in item #3; I'd use a period/full stop. The other two are all right but even then, I'd think about it. The semicolon is (IMO unfortunately) somewhat out of favour. This is primarily because a lot of people use them incorrectly, but it means that you should use them with care, purpose, and infrequency.

And no, you should absolutely NOT use colons after 'reason' and 'wedding' in the last example. In that sentence, you're clarifying something and need both beginning and end punctuation to surround the 'explanatory' words. A colon is only beginning punctuation. As written, the commas make the sentence confusing, so if you were really using that sentence, I would suggest setting off 'traffic' and 'the ceremony' with em dashes (or possibly parentheses) rather than commas.

You're getting into some of the more subtle uses of punctuation here, but I would still suggest that you get yourself a good basic grammar book (something used to teach grammar to high school kids or at the Basic Comp level at uni). People also recommend the Purdue OWL site. (I've never used it, but other AW members who have a lot of grammar knowledge recommend it.)

The information Terie gave you is very good. For a suggestion of a grammar book to get, try The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. I studied this in high school, used it when I taught English and still return to it.

jaymzb0nd said:

I think



Thank you so much.

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You already have your answer, but here. Fun and helpful:

The most feared punctuation on earth

Shelley

WriteStarfish said:

The information Terie gave you is very good. For a suggestion of a grammar book to get, try The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. I studied this in high school, used it when I taught English and still return to it.

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The Elements of Style is a good reference book, but it is NOT a basic grammar book (most obvious from the fact that the title uses the word 'style', not 'grammar'). It is primarily directed at academic writing, not fiction. After all, EB White 'breaks' many of his own 'rules' in his fiction. IIRC, the book was originally written for Strunk and/or White's university English classes.

I don't think EoS is a good choice as a starting point for basic grammar. I definitely recommend that it be one of the several reference books a writer has, but in the end, it doesn't provide comprehensive information about English grammar; it pays attention to a subset of writing style issues. Also, much of what it presents starts from the assumption that the reader already has a reasonably good grasp on English grammar.

So I recommend that one start with a basic comprehensive grammar book. (Mine was the Little Brown Handbook [published by Little, Brown -- clever, eh?] and I used that for twenty years until it got lost in a move. You can get the compact edition used from online sellers or even university bookshops.) Then build your reference library from there....and definitely include EoS. I got a boxed set many years ago of The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White; The Elements of Grammar, by Margaret Shertzer; and The Elements of Editing, by Arthur Plotnik. Score!

P.S. See how I cleverly included a list separated by semicolons so you could see how that's done?

Terie's posts are great. There is also a good explanation of how and why to use semicolons in my signature link.

I like to think of semicolons as a great way to make two complete sentences hold hands. If there isn't an independent clause on both sides, you're doing it wrong. (Unless you're using a semicolon to separate items in a list, but that's not what you're asking about here.)

those semicolons

Be careful. Semicolons are a lot harder to use than you might think. Best to avoid them.

Example. Lee Child doesn't use semicolons in 450 page. Not one.

The Thirteenth Tale (modern Gothic horror) uses about 500. Far more than anyone else.

Look for every semicolon use and see if you can break up into two sentences. That's my quick and dirty advice after studying the little buggers for a week.

tko said:

Be careful. Semicolons are a lot harder to use than you might think. Best to avoid them.

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I disagree. The semicolon is easier to understand and use than the comma, which has multiple uses and muddier rules.

However, I agree not to use the semicolon unless you know how to use it correctly (which is, again, easy to understand).

jaymzb0nd said:

This isn't a semicolon issue but is "How do you know? Simple, Silly, look at their car." done correctly? I have a green squiggly underneath it. It's supposed to be non-formal.

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Don't capitalize Silly unless that's the person's name (or consistently-used nickname).

Friday weddings are not only acceptable but encouraged because they give me a reason, traffic, to miss the worst part of the wedding, the ceremony, and arrive in time for the free drinks and food.

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I would use em dashes around "traffic" and around "the ceremony."

Friday weddings are not only acceptable but encouraged, because they give me a reason--traffic--to miss the worst part of the wedding--the ceremony--and arrive in time for the free drinks and food.

tko said:

Be careful. Semicolons are a lot harder to use than you might think. Best to avoid them.

Example. Lee Child doesn't use semicolons in 450 page. Not one.

The Thirteenth Tale (modern Gothic horror) uses about 500. Far more than anyone else.

Look for every semicolon use and see if you can break up into two sentences. That's my quick and dirty advice after studying the little buggers for a week.

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One's own ignorance of how to do something correctly is a pretty goofy reason to advise others not to do it.

tko said:

Be careful. Semicolons are a lot harder to use than you might think. Best to avoid them.

Example. Lee Child doesn't use semicolons in 450 page. Not one.

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That's a stylistic choice; I'm sure Lee Child knows how to use them correctly.

Child's style is staccato. Short sentences. Sentences you might link together with repetition. If he wants to mix up the rhythm, he uses a comma. That's good for macho, snappy Jack Reacher. Reacher tends not to see both sides of an issue. Things are black and white. Good or bad. Dead or alive.

Whereas semicolons tend to be used in constructions that imply balance, complexity, irony; they're often used when you're qualifying, expanding, or undercutting that first thought.

Punctuation is such a big part of creating rhythm, and rhythm is such a big part of creating a voice. If you avoid semicolons, you can't really convey the sort of character who thinks with semicolons.

tko said:

Look for every semicolon use and see if you can break up into two sentences. That's my quick and dirty advice after studying the little buggers for a week.

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If they can't be broken up into two sentences, the semicolon didn't belong there in the first place.

No, semicolons are not "best avoided" unless one doesn't know how to use them and can't learn. Or unless one is making a stylistic choice not to use them. "I don't know how" isn't a choice; it's a handicap.

jaymzb0nd said:

Thank you all VERY much for your detailed help, I really appreciate it (and hope I used the comma there correctly haha).

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Since you asked, you didn't. It's a comma splice. You may correctly use a semicolon there to fix it:

Thank you all very much for your detailed help; I really appreciate it.

A period will also do the job:

Thank you all very much for your detailed help. I really appreciate it.

Chase said:

Since you asked, you didn't. It's a comma splice. You may correctly use a semicolon there to fix it:

Thank you all very much for your detailed help; I really appreciate it.

A period will also do the job:

Thank you all very much for your detailed help. I really appreciate it.

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Chase is correct, and to clarify the rule: Don't use a comma between two independent clauses. Use a semicolon, a period/full stop, or a comma and conjunction. Therefore, in addition to Chase's two correct options, you could also go with:

Thank you all very much for your detailed help, and I really appreciate it.

Which is kind of a wonky way to put it and goes to show that grammatical correctness isn't the sole consideration in effective writing. Both of Chase's examples are better and more natural sounding. (Which I knew; I just wanted to show the rule in its entirety. <-- See what I did there? That's called breaking the rule to good effect. 'Which I knew' isn't a complete sentence, but I'm being informal and intentionally leaving off the understood bits of the sentence. Isn't this fun? )

jaymzb0nd said:

<br> Thanks, Chase.

The last question I have that I just noticed I forgot to ask is which of these two is grammatically correct:

not only those who commit social blunders but everyone else that HAVE ever witnessed them

or

not only those who commit social blunders but everyone else that HAS ever witnessed them

I believe the first one is correct because "everyone else" makes it plural. I think the second one would be correct if it said "anyone else that has."

I know these questions are simple and silly but I'm close to the end and very nervous about avoiding stupid mistakes. Again, thank you very much.

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Actually, you have several issues here. 'EveryONE else' takes a singular verb because of the 'one' in 'everyone', so as far as that goes, the second option is correct.

In addition to that, 'not only' should be countered with 'but also'.

What's more, 'everyone' is referring to people, who take the pronoun 'who' (or 'whom', when appropriate) not 'that'.

Therefore, the correct way to say it is:

not only those who commit social blunders but also everyone else who has ever witnessed them

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These aren't silly questions at all. They're very good questions about one of the most important tools in a writer's toolbox: grammar.

Since you have so many, I'd like to reinforce my earlier suggestion that you get a good grammar book (or start studying the OWL site). You seem to be in the right frame of mind to start really mastering this stuff, which you might not have been when they (should have!) taught it in school.

Devil Ledbetter said:

If they can't be broken up into two sentences, the semicolon didn't belong there in the first place.

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I thought that was the point. If they can be broken up into two sentences, the semicolon use is correct. It's an easy, foolproof check. Not sure why that's funny.

As far as the colon goes, I was taught that it replaces the word "namely". Again, an easy, foolproof check. If you take the colon out and put a "namely" in instead, does it make sense? If so, you used it right.

tko said:

Be careful. Semicolons are a lot harder to use than you might think. Best to avoid them.

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Some books and websites might make it seem hard, but it's not. Remember two very intuitive rules, and you'll have the basics down:

1. Use one to separate items in a list where too many commas would be confusing.

For instance, if you said, "I've been to Boise, Idaho, Springfield, Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, and on and on...." All those commas make this sentence a sloppy mess.

I've been to Boise, Idaho; Springfield, Illinois; Chicago, Illinois; etc. It just separates the list items that contain commas to make it easier to understand. Pretty simple, right? The other rule is simple, to.

2. Use it to connect two independent clauses (complete sentences) that need a closer relationship than they would have with a period between them.

I went to the store; they stayed open an extra hour for me.

Because you could use a period between those instead of the semi-colon, it works. You must always be able to substitute a period in its place in this usage, or it can't be used. But you shouldn't slap it between any two sentences.

I went to the store. My cousin is coming over tomorrow.

Neither sentence really enhances the other or warrants that closer relationship, so using one here would make no sense.

And you couldn't say:

I went to the store; even though I was tired.

"Even though I was tired" is not a complete sentence, so this is incorrect.

Separate items in lists that contain punctuation so that the meaning is clear, and join two complete sentences that need less than a full stop between them. Remember those, and it couldn't be easier.

Yes it's true that a semicolon isn't necessary in a piece of writing. But a whole novel could also be written without commas, dialogue or adjectives. I wouldn't recommend any of those, though. Too many semicolons will stand out, but used occasionally for specific emphasis they can help break up monotony in prose and make meaning clearer.


Shelley