How to Use a Semicolon in English | Punctuation Guide - Learn English Grammar

hi everybody my name is Alisha today I'm

going to talk about how to use the semicolon a semicolon is a punctuation

mark that we use a lot in English writing so let's take a look at two ways

that we can use the semicolon okay the first way I want to talk about is to

use the semicolon as a way to separate two parts of a compound sentence if you

watch the video we did about how to use commas you might remember what a

compound sentence is but just to remind you or if you haven't seen the video a

compound sentence is a single sentence one sentence

that is made of two complete ideas so there are two ideas together in one

sentence so a compound sentence could be two individual sentences but they are

linked together maybe by a coordinating conjunction or as we'll see by a

semicolon so we can use semicolons to separate the two parts of a compound

sentence but we don't need to use a word like and but or for so those words we

don't need to use those so let's look at an example here okay my first example is

we think you would be a great fit for our team

semicolon you have a lot of experience and can work at a fast pace so here

there are two complete ideas idea one we think you would be a great fit for our

team is one idea idea too you have a lot of experience and can work at a fast

pace so there are two ideas here in this sentence we've separated the ideas with

a semicolon here let's look at one more he really likes her semicolon she's

smart and funny he really likes her is one idea he really likes her idea too

she's smart and funny there are two ideas here we

necked them with a semicolon so a question then why should I use a

semicolon can I just use it instead of a period or what's the point of using a

semicolon actually it's a good idea to use a semicolon for two points or two

ideas which are very closely related they have a very close relationship so

if you're just giving me the extra information or you just want to explain

sort of an additional point maybe it's okay just to use a comma and a

coordinating conjunction and buy more for so yet but if your two points have a

very close a special relationship you can show the closeness of that

relationship by using a semicolon so these two examples maybe show that ideal

one an idea to are very closely related very closely related so we can show that

with a semicolon then another tip another hint for how to

decide if you can use a semicolon or not if you can replace your semicolon with a

period you can use a semicolon there so by that I mean we can look at the

sentence if it's a full sentence a complete sentence we think you would be

a great fit for our team period you have a lot of experience and can work at a

fast pace another period if you can use a period in the place where you're

thinking about using a semicolon it's okay to use a semicolon so please think

of that that point that tip if you can finish the sentence and it's a

grammatically correct sentence you can replace that with a period you can use a

semicolon in that place as well but of course this requires that you have a

thorough understanding of grammar and you understand how to make a complete

sentence so please think about that if you're ever unsure about when to use the

semicolon okay the second point I want to talk about today is quite different

from the first point actually this is if you're writing for example an academic

paper or perhaps an essay something like that this is really to help me help you

make clearer writing to help your writing be a little bit easier to

understand so you can use a semicolon to separate

items in a list so maybe if you're writing something and you have kind of

an introduction to a list and then a few different points in your list that are

very complex you can use a semicolon to show where the point where each point

stops so let's take a look at this okay I have a long sentence here my example

here is there are a lot of unhealthy foods I love so here is my introduction

to my list I'm introducing it with a colon here actually there are a lot of

unhealthy foods I love so here's number one item number

one in my list item number one Pizza comma which has lots of cheese and bread

then I have a semicolon here this marks the end of one point number two Ramin

comma which has many varieties and semicolon and three burritos comma which

are often greasy so here I have three points in a list about foods in this

case unhealthy foods I love but because I have a comma after each point I'm

introducing some extra information about each point which I talked about in the

comedy oh we did it may be unclear to a person reading this if I use commas

after each point it might seem a little unclear to the person reading so by

using a semicolon here instead of a comma it makes it clearer to the reader

that this point has finished I'm done talking about this point so this is one

thing to keep in mind if you're introducing long lists of information

several points in one sentence as in this case you can use a semicolon

instead of a comma to help your reader to understand a little bit better okay

so these are just two ways that you can use semicolons you might also see people

using semicolons with words like however for example but that might be something

I talked about in another video for now you can consider these and also if you

haven't you should check out the comma punctuation video this might have some

relating relating points or relating concepts that you can check out so take

a look at that and I hope that this was useful for you

too if you have any questions or comments though please make sure to let

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already check us out at English class 101.com for more good stuff too thanks

very much for watching this episode and I'll see you again soon