Grammar Tip: How to Use Semicolons Like a Pro
Published on September 24, 2024 From The Editors
In formal writing in contemporary American English, semicolons typically serve only two purposes:
- separating items in a series when one or more of those items has internal punctuation, and
- separating closely related independent clauses instead of using a period or using a comma and a coordinating conjunction.
Legal writing employs a third use, in citing authorities. See The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Columbia L. Rev. Ass’n et al. eds., 21st ed. 2020).
What’s the Difference Between a Semicolon and a Colon?
A semicolon (;) looks like a period suspended over a comma. A colon (:) looks like a period suspended over another period. Colons introduce or focus attention on following text, as the colon in the first sentence of this post does.
Why Do Literature and Historical Texts Sometimes Use Semicolons Differently?
Language changes over time, so we shouldn’t necessarily mimic punctuation we saw in high school literature class or in texts originally published over a century ago. Back in the days of Shakespeare, in work meant to be performed onstage, a semicolon indicated a pause longer than that of a comma but less than that of a period, and in formal text as recent as several generations ago, semicolons often separated long, complex clauses whether they were independent or dependent. And creative writing is expected to get, well, creative.
What Is a Series?
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A series is a list of at least three grammatically parallel words, phrases, or clauses. |
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sellers, purchasers, guarantors, and lenders |
a series of four nouns (this example illustrates inclusion of the optional serial comma*) |
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demand for payment, presentation for payment and notice of intention to accelerate maturity |
a series of three phrases (this example illustrates leaving out the serial comma*) |
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the last surviving borrower dies, the homestead property is sold or transferred, or all borrowers cease occupying the homestead property |
a series of three clauses (once again, including the serial comma*) |
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* The comma immediately before a series’ coordinating conjunction is called a serial comma, or the Oxford comma. Using it or not is a style choice but should be consistent throughout a given work. |
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When one or more items in a series includes its own punctuation, separate the items in the series with semicolons. |
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a notary public; a court clerk; a judge of a county court; or a federal judge, justice, or magistrate |
a series of four phrases, the last of which has internal punctuation, including a serial comma |
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the client has diminished capacity; the client is at risk of substantial physical, financial or other harm; and the client cannot adequately act in the client’s own interest |
a series of three clauses, the second of which has internal punctuation but does not use the serial comma* |
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* When separating items in a series with semicolons, include one before the series’ coordinating conjunction, regardless of whether the written work’s style includes serial/Oxford commas. There’s no such thing as an Oxford semicolon. |
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Which Punctuation Marks Are Considered “Internal Punctuation”? |
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conveyance of water rights—conditional; application for approval; and cooperation |
as with commas, a series with one or more items that use em dashes almost always benefits from separating the items with semicolons (for em dash usage tips, see “Grammar Tip: Parenthetical Content”) |
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the owner of the café, the owner’s agent, and the third-party lender |
word-level punctuation such as diacritics, apostrophes, and hyphens don’t warrant separating a series’ items with semicolons |
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the property owner (“Owner”), Owner’s agent (“Agent”), and the third-party lender (“Lender”) |
a series with one or more items that use parentheses or quotation marks might or might not benefit from separating the items with semicolons, depending on the length and complexity of the text |
The role of semicolons when separating items in a series is to clarify the demarcation between those items for the reader. Choosing when to use semicolons instead of commas is often a judgement call.
Note that a “list” of only two items joined by a coordinating conjunction (for example, “terms and conditions”) is not grammatically a series; it’s a compound. In most formal text, the only two things that should be separated with a semicolon are independent clauses.
What Is an Independent Clause?
An independent clause is a subject and a predicate that together may stand alone as a sentence. Test it: Begin the text in question with an initial capital letter and end it with a period or question mark. Could it stand alone as a sentence? Make sure it’s not a fragment or a run-on.
Independent clauses that could stand on their own as separate sentences but that seem too closely related to separate with a period could benefit from using a semicolon instead.
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Consider the effects of the following methods of separating independent clauses. |
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We came. We saw. We conquered. |
three independent clauses, each as its own sentence (strong, though plodding) |
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We came; we saw; we conquered. |
the same clauses combined into a single sentence with semicolons (also strong, but with a more effective rhythm, and yes, we may separate more than two independent clauses with semicolons without a coordinating conjunction) |
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We came, we saw, we conquered. |
the same clauses separated into a series with commas but without a coordinating conjunction (although this version still exploits the rhythm and repetition—and although the structure is a valid rhetorical device known as asyndeton—it is also technically a comma splice, and in formal writing, most readers will perceive it as an error, so it is best avoided) |
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We came, we saw, and we conquered. |
a series of independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction (although far more widely accepted than asyndeton, the conjunction interrupts the rhythm and repetition of this particular text) |
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Avoid following a semicolon that separates two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction. |
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Gratuitous services can establish an attorney-client relationship. But the fact that an attorney had business dealings with someone does not. |
two sentences, the second beginning with a coordinating conjunction (well established and widely accepted grammar) |
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Gratuitous services can establish an attorney-client relationship; but the fact that an attorney had business dealings with someone does not. |
the same language joined with a semicolon instead (the conjunction’s presence with only two clauses is generally considered an error and is worth avoiding, and admittedly, the use of the semicolon here creates a relationship between the clauses that makes the conjunction unnecessary) |
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Gratuitous services can establish an attorney-client relationship; the fact that an attorney had business dealings with someone does not. |
the same language but without the conjunction (also well established and widely accepted) |
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Gratuitous services can establish an attorney-client relationship. However, the fact that an attorney had business dealings with someone does not. |
two sentences, the second beginning with a conjunctive adverb showing how the two relate |
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Gratuitous services can establish an attorney-client relationship; however, the fact that an attorney had business dealings with someone does not. |
unlike with coordinating conjunctions, most readers have no problem with a conjunctive adverb following a semicolon that separates two independent clauses |
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Gratuitous services can establish an attorney-client relationship; the fact that an attorney had business dealings with someone, however, does not. |
the same language with “however” moved to immediately after the appropriate text of emphasis |
Semicolons also come into play with some elliptical constructions.
What Is an Elliptical Construction?
An ellipsis is the omission of text to make a quotation succinct or to reduce distracting repetition. Most of us have seen the three dots indicating that part of a quotation has been omitted, such as with “communication of a record to a filing office . . . constitutes filing” (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 9.516(a)). The three dots are called ellipsis points or ellipsis dots. Their usage will have to wait for its own post.
Omitting easily inferred repetitive text is also known as an ellipsis. This type of ellipsis does not use the three dots but sometimes uses commas, and when that gets complicated, semicolons can help.
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Semicolons can help in crafting succinct and often elegant elliptical constructions. |
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A poll found that 27% of registered voters said rock ’n roll is their favorite genre of music, 23% of registered voters said country is their favorite genre of music, and 18% of registered voters said classical is their favorite genre of music. (Jeffrey M. Jones and Joseph Carroll, Music, Cars, and the 2004 Election, Gallop, 2004, https://news.gallup.com/poll/13942/music-cars-2004-election.aspx.) |
a series of three clauses with much of their text repetitive (note the commas separating the items in the series) |
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A poll found that 27% of registered voters said rock ’n roll is their favorite genre of music, 23% said country, and 18% said classical. |
the same series, leaving “of registered voters” and “is their favorite genre of music” implied in the last two clauses, with no change in punctuation (succinct without sacrificing clarity) |
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A poll found that 27% of registered voters said rock ’n roll is their favorite genre of music; 23%, country; and 18%, classical. |
the same series, this time implying even the “said” in each of the last two, indicating its absence with a comma* (because two of the three items in the series now have internal punctuation, the items in the series are separated with semicolons) |
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A poll found that 27% of registered voters said rock ’n roll is their favorite genre of music; 23%, country. |
only two of the three clauses, so that we no longer have a series (remember, a series must list at least three items), but a semicolon joining two independent clauses instead |
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* When text is elided in the middle of an independent clause and the remaining text no longer functions as an independent clause without inferring the missing part, a comma is sometimes inserted at the location of the omission. This will often be the case when a clause’s verb is omitted. |
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At first glance it might seem that elliptical constructions are a separate, distinct use of semicolons, but when we temporarily reinsert implied text to see what’s going on (such as with the independent clause “23% [said] country” in the last example above), it becomes apparent that the semicolon usage is actually the same: either separating items in a series when one or more of the items has internal punctuation or separating closely related independent clauses.
Roger Siebert
Roger Siebert is senior editor at Texas Bar Books, where he has worked for eighteen years. Roger earned a BA in English at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and an MA in creative writing at Florida State University, where he also taught first-year composition. In his spare time he enjoys sailing and rowing his homemade boat.
