The Semicolon (again)

lwallace

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The semicolon is often misused. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the semicolon should be thought of as close in function to the period--most definitely not the comma or the colon. Use a semicolon where you might well use a period. Instead of a period, you can use a semicolon to show an intimate relationship between two sentences, two ideas, e.g., compare/contrast.

The most common application of the semicolon is to use it to link two independent clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb (therefore, however, consequently, furthermore, thus, moreover) or joined by a transitional expression (as a result, even so, for example, in fact, of course).
Here's an example:
"The castle turret was constructed with remarkable speed and quality of workmanship; however, the stone masons were anything but happy with their wages and working conditions."
Note that a semicolon preceeds the conjunctive adverb or transitional expression and a comma follows.

The semicolon can link two independent clauses without a conjunctive adverb or transitional expression, too, so long as the relationship between the two clause is clear, e.g., "The Duke played cards and billiards all day; he drank aperitifs and champaign all night long as he wooed the ladies."

The modern practice seems to be to avoid overusing the semicolon. How much is overuse? That's partly a matter of style. Frequent use of the semicolon, by most readers' accounts, makes sentences thicker, longer, and perhaps more dense.

Addendum: Yes, there is one instance where the semicolon approximates the function of a comma, and that is in an instance where a list offered. Each item of the list has its own internal comma punctuation, so the semicolon is used to in effect be a "hard comma," separating the items of the list, e.g., "He bragged that he was the only person to have visited each and every Paris in the world: Paris, Texas; Paris, Kentucky; Paris, Brazil; and Paris, France." This would be a confusing list, indeed, if only commas were used. This is the ONLY exception to the "SEMICOLON functions most like a PERIOD" Rule.
 
Devil Ledbetter

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Or more simply put, the semicolon makes two closely related sentences hold hands.

Cue JAR telling us never he's never found a use for them.

Check my sig link for a fun tutorial on the semicolon.
 

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lwallace said:
The semicolon is often misused. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the semicolon should be thought of as close in function to the period--most definitely not the comma or the colon. Use a semicolon where you might well use a period. Instead of a period, you can use a semicolon to show an intimate relationship between two sentences, two ideas, e.g., compare/contrast.

The most common application of the semicolon is to use it to link two independent clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb (therefore, however, consequently, furthermore, thus, moreover) or joined by a transitional expression (as a result, even so, for example, in fact, of course).
Here's an example:
"The castle turret was constructed with remarkable speed and quality of workmanship; however, the stone masons were anything but happy with their wages and working conditions."
Note that a semicolon preceeds the conjunctive adverb or transitional expression and a comma follows.

The semicolon can link two independent clauses without a conjunctive adverb or transitional expression, too, so long as the relationship between the two clause is clear, e.g., "The Duke played cards and billiards all day; he drank aperitifs and champaign all night long as he wooed the ladies."

The modern practice seems to be to avoid overusing the semicolon. How much is overuse? That's partly a matter of style. Frequent use of the semicolon, by most readers' accounts, makes sentences thicker, longer, and perhaps more dense.

Addendum: Yes, there is one instance where the semicolon approximates the function of a comma, and that is in an instance where a list offered. Each item of the list has its own internal comma punctuation, so the semicolon is used to in effect be a "hard comma," separating the items of the list, e.g., "He bragged that he was the only person to have visited each and every Paris in the world: Paris, Texas; Paris, Kentucky; Paris, Brazil; and Paris, France." This would be a confusing list, indeed, if only commas were used. This is the ONLY exception to the "SEMICOLON functions most like a PERIOD" Rule.
Click to expand...
Semicolons! Semicolons! Another thread on semicolons! Oh boy; oh boy; oh boy! :)

But don't semicolons breed like rabbits? Shouldn't they be stomped out when first sighted? Else the whole field page will soon be full of semicolons, yes? Once one is let in, then the mob comes in. ...

Ooooo, do I see a grammar challenge?
lwallace said:
. . .
Addendum: Yes, there is one instance where the semicolon approximates the function of a comma, and that is in an instance where a list offered. Each item of the list has its own internal comma punctuation, so the semicolon is used to in effect be a "hard comma," separating the items of the list, e.g., "He bragged that he was the only person to have visited each and every Paris in the world: Paris, Texas; Paris, Kentucky; Paris, Brazil; and Paris, France." This would be a confusing list, indeed, if only commas were used. This is the ONLY exception to the "SEMICOLON functions most like a PERIOD" Rule.
Click to expand...

The only exception? Hmm. How about the following possible examples:

#1. The breakfast menu consisted of fruit juice or cereal; a boiled, fried, or poached egg; toast and marmalade; and a pot of tea or coffee.

#2. With a book as complex and anarchic as this, such reductionism is misleading. You could as easily say it was about the future of Sixties' radicalism; the decline of the dollar; the hegemony of television culture: it is all these, and more.

#3. This statement is still valid today, since "resemblances" lead us to think in "as if" terms; that is, in metaphorical terms.

#4. Some of the immigrants went to small farms in the Midwest; others, to large Eastern cities.

#5."We ought to get going," she said; "the train leaves in half an hour."


Would those above examples be considered grammatically well-formed? And would any of them be considered to be exceptions?

(Aside: The more I look at them, the more I'm now thinking that perhaps only one two of the five might actually be a real exception to your rules on semicolons.)

It's a Friday night! :D (Any reason to procrastinate.)
 
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lwallace

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Sad Cases to Wile Away Hours on Semicolons

F.E. said:
But don't semicolons breed like rabbits? Shouldn't they be stomped out when first sighted? ...
Ooooo, do I see a grammar challenge?

The only exception? Hmm. How about the following possible examples:

#1. The breakfast menu consisted of fruit juice or cereal; a boiled, fried, or poached egg; toast and marmalade; and a pot of tea or coffee.

#2. With a book as complex and anarchic as this, such reductionism is misleading. You could as easily say it was about the future of Sixties' radicalism; the decline of the dollar; the hegemony of television culture: it is all these, and more.

#3. This statement is still valid today, since "resemblances" lead us to think in "as if" terms; that is, in metaphorical terms.

#4. Some of the immigrants went to small farms in the Midwest; others, to large Eastern cities.

#5."We ought to get going," she said; "the train leaves in half an hour."


Would those above examples be considered grammatically well-formed? And would any of them be considered to be exceptions?

(Aside: The more I look at them, the more I'm now thinking that perhaps only one two of the five might actually be a real exception to your rules on semicolons.)

It's a Friday night! :D (Any reason to procrastinate.)
Click to expand...

Thanks for this further opportunity to demonstrate that I am a "punctuation pervert." Not really. It's simply the case that much of this swirls around in the head after years of teaching it.

Your sentence exception #1 fits in the "complicated list items" rule. My "Paris" example was a simpler version; yours is more elaborate, but it's the same application of the semicolon. Your sentence #2 would do with commas where the semicolons are, in my view, and nothing would be lost. My rule is to use simpler, more common punctuation where possible. The semicolon just comes across as Edwardian or something. Its overuse carries the mustiness of an unswept (or perhaps OVERswept) corner in a manor home.
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Now, on to #s 3 and 4. These are interesting. These actually fit into the following:
The semicolon can link two independent clauses without a conjunctive adverb or transitional expression, too, so long as the relationship between the two clause is clear, e.g., "The Duke played cards and billiards all day; he drank aperitifs and champaign all night long as he wooed the ladies."

In your sentences #3 and #4, in effect, you have joined to closed related ideas but for efficiency sake have not repeated the subject/verb component. Neat and tidy sentences, but really with the semicolon still functioning in a role in which it could be replaced by the period if need be. This is where my own discussion of the semicolon would have gone next if I attempted to say even more about possible use of the semicolon. Everything can't, and maybe shouldn't, be said.

In the case of #5, I would go with a period every time, capitalizing the next letter of course. Nothing is gained by using a semicolon, it seems to me.

Much of the warping of punctuation rules has to do with style, and I have no problem with that, so long as a writer is consistent and so long as the reader isn't confused any more than the reader is always confused. Faulkner would fail Composition 101 if strict rules of grammar were enforced. I urge my own students to know the rules before they break them, and only break (or bend) rules for a reason. As author George Plimpton once said (a paraphrase), If a writer learns grammar and punctuation and style, then he has a tremendous advantage over other writers who have simply not bothered to do that.

The semicolon probably has more play in non-fiction than in fiction. Thanks, F.E., for this opportunity to extend my reputation as a punctuation pervert. Haha
 
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I like how covert the semicolon is. It has a subtle way of provoking reader inference:

Sue slept with the light on; she was afraid of the dark.

Use a conjunction (make the latter dependent on the first in the next example) it becomes more explicit:

Sue slept with the light because she was afraid of the dark.

Completely segregate with a period, and you lose that covertness:

Sue slept with the light on. She was afraid of the dark.

Which comes back to style issues with regard to closely-relateds.
 
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Niiicola

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"The castle turret was constructed with remarkable speed and quality of workmanship; however, the stone masons were anything but happy with their wages and working conditions."

I'm pretty sure this is technically correct (though a bit clunky).

If that "however" were "and" or "but," it wouldn't be correct, but as it is now, it's two independent clauses.
 
lwallace

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Niiicola said:
"The castle turret was constructed with remarkable speed and quality of workmanship; however, the stone masons were anything but happy with their wages and working conditions."

I'm pretty sure this is technically correct (though a bit clunky).

If that "however" were "and" or "but," it wouldn't be correct, but as it is now, it's two independent clauses.
Click to expand...

Right. That's not to suggest, however, that "and" or "but" can't link two independent clauses. The above sentence--which was created on the spot, by the way--would not work well with "and" or "but" because of the profusion of other and's and but's in the sentence.
 
lwallace

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Sentences Holding Hands

Devil Ledbetter said:
Which is why I love the "sentences holding hands" description.
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Agree. That's a fitting metaphor, one that works best for those fairly comfortable with the main mission of the semicolon. Writers who are at a loss for how to use the semicolon probably need some "group dating" before the hand-in-hand walk in the park.
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Yes, a Good Point

Fallen said:
I like how covert the semicolon is. It has a subtle way of provoking reader inference:

Sue slept with the light on; she was afraid of the dark.

Use a conjunction (make the latter dependent on the first in the next example) it becomes more explicit:

Sue slept with the light because she was afraid of the dark.

Completely segregate with a period, and you lose that covertness:

Sue slept with the light on. She was afraid of the dark.

Which comes back to style issues with regard to closely-relateds.
Click to expand...

All the elements of writing, including the semicolon, have amazing power and effect when purposefully applied. The subtleties of the semicolon are there, available for use. The semicolon has the opposite effect when misused or when employed as a bludgeon. What a difference a single word or mark of punctuation can make!
 

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lwallace said:
...
Now, on to #s 3 and 4. These are interesting. These actually fit into the following:
The semicolon can link two independent clauses without a conjunctive adverb or transitional expression, too, so long as the relationship between the two clause is clear, e.g., "The Duke played cards and billiards all day; he drank aperitifs and champaign all night long as he wooed the ladies."

In your sentences #3 and #4, in effect, you have joined to closed related ideas but for efficiency sake have not repeated the subject/verb component. Neat and tidy sentences, but really with the semicolon still functioning in a role in which it could be replaced by the period if need be. This is where my own discussion of the semicolon would have gone next if I attempted to say even more about possible use of the semicolon. Everything can't, and maybe shouldn't, be said.
...
Click to expand...
Interesting. :)

But is that stuff on the right-hand-side (RHS) of the semicolon in #3 and #4 an independent clause?

#3. This statement is still valid today, since "resemblances" lead us to think in "as if" terms; that is, in metaphorical terms.
#4. Some of the immigrants went to small farms in the Midwest; others, to large Eastern cities.

For it seems to me that if the semicolon was replaced with a period (full-stop) then the RHS of each example would be a sentence fragment. Am I misunderstanding the definition of independent clause?
 

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A problem with your definition is the use of "independent clause" for the RHS. But as to what term to use instead, that is not so easy to answer. :)

I did some looking into this, and thought that perhaps this excerpt from Quirk et al.'s reference grammar, published in 1985, A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, might help to shed some light on some of the issues. In section 14.2, footnote "d" on page 988:
[d] Main clauses are generally also independent clauses. But if a coordinated main clause when it is isolated from the rest of the sentence is unacceptable as a simple sentence, it is not an independent clause. For example, the second clause below is structurally deficient as a simple sentence because of the ellipsis, the acceptability of the clause depending on its relationship to the first clause:
The plot was exciting and the characterization plausible.​
Click to expand...

So, Quirk et al. considers that 2nd coordinate, which has ellipted material (the verb "was"), to be a main clause--not an independent clause.

Even if you change your definition so that the RHS becomes a main clause, that still probably won't be loose enough to include all the other possible types of RHS's.

(ASIDE: I did wonder what a traditional grammar might call that 2nd clause in the above example, and also how it would label that type of sentence--would it still be considered a compound sentence? )

This Quirk et al.'s 1985 reference grammar is a bit long in the tooth, and has a mixture of modern grammar and traditional grammar in it, but it is well known and still widely used. (And of course, there is Huddleston and Pullum et al.'s 2002 reference grammar, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language.) Whatever terms you use in your definition, you might want to try to keep them somewhat compatible with the way those terms are used in those two reference grammars, especially if the students are in university; then again, the definition probably also ought to make sense to those brought up on a type of a traditional grammar. A tough task indeed, imo. :)

Good luck!
 
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randi.lee

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There's a great book on semi-colon (and punctuation in general) called Eats, Shoots and Leaves. I'd recommend it to anyone having trouble determining where and when to place a semi-colon.
 
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