Understanding Semicolons: A Guide to Using Them Correctly

A semicolon is a punctuation mark that separates two independent clauses (i.e., clauses that could stand alone as separate sentences) without using a conjunction like "and" or "but." It is used to show that the two clauses are closely related in meaning, but they are not yet at the level of being combined into a single sentence.

Here's an example:

"I have a lot of work to do; I won't be able to attend the party tonight."

In this example, we have two independent clauses: "I have a lot of work to do" and "I won't be able to attend the party tonight." We could use a period after each clause and make them into two separate sentences, but using a semicolon allows us to show that the two clauses are closely related in meaning.

Semicolons are also used to separate items in a list when those items contain commas themselves. For example:

"I have visited many cities in my lifetime; some of my favorites include Paris, France; Rome, Italy; and Barcelona, Spain."

In this example, we use a semicolon to separate the three cities in the list, even though each city contains a comma. Without the semicolons, the list might be confusing to read.