Your Friend and Minethe Semicolon Use a semicolon

Use a semicolon to join independent clauses o My dad is a coach at

Use a semicolon before however and similar words that show a relationship between two

Do not use a semicolon before a conjunction when you are joining together two

Use semicolons between items in a series that contain a lot of commas. o

To avoid confusion, use semicolons to separate items in a series. o (Better) Wesley

Brain Ticklers: Find the goofs in the sentences. o I want to see the

Possible Fixes o I want to see the ninja movie; I also want to

Fix the error. o I like chocolate cake; my dad cooks great spaghetti. o

Another practice sentence o I love the colors green, blue, and red, and the

The fix: o I love the colors green, blue, and red; the names Vanessa,

Find the error o I have lived in Wichita, Kansas, Norman, Oklahoma, Lakeland, Florida,

Here’s the fix o I have lived in Wichita, Kansas; Norman, Oklahoma; Lakeland, Florida;

The last one: o I hoped it would snow, finally, it did. o (A

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Your Friend and Minethe Semicolon ;

Use a semicolon to join independent clauses o My dad is a coach at the university. We get free tickets to any sports event we want to see. o (Better version) My dad is a coach at the university; we get free tickets to any sports event we want to see. o (wrong) My dad is a coach at the university; we have cousins who live in Texas. (ideas not closely related)

Use a semicolon before however and similar words that show a relationship between two complete sentences. o (wrong) I bet you thought you wouldn’t have to learn another semicolon rule, however, you were wrong. o (right) I bet you thought you wouldn’t have to learn another semicolon rule; however, you were wrong.

Do not use a semicolon before a conjunction when you are joining together two complete sentences. o (wrong) I have three dogs; and two of them are golden retrievers. o (right) I have three dogs; two of them are golden retrievers. o (also right) I have three dogs, and two of them are golden retrievers.

Use semicolons between items in a series that contain a lot of commas. o (confusing) Wesley likes books about baseball, biplanes, and bagels, Brian likes books about antique cars, blimps, and rare fish, and Tori likes books about racehorses, dolls, and military jets.

To avoid confusion, use semicolons to separate items in a series. o (Better) Wesley likes books about baseball, biplanes, and bagels; Brian likes books about antique cars, blimps, and rare fish; and Tori likes books about racehorses, dolls, and military jets.

Brain Ticklers: Find the goofs in the sentences. o I want to see the ninja movie, I also want to see the new Spider-Man movie, too.

Possible Fixes o I want to see the ninja movie; I also want to see the new Spider-Man movie, too. o I want to see the ninja movie, and I also want to see the new Spider-Man movie, too. o I want to see the ninja movie. I also want to see the new Spider-Man movie, too.

Fix the error. o I like chocolate cake; my dad cooks great spaghetti. o (These two sentences are not closely related, so the semicolon is wrong. ) o I like chocolate cake. My dad cooks great spaghetti.

Another practice sentence o I love the colors green, blue, and red, and the names Vanessa, Charlotte, and Cassandra, and the states Iowa, Idaho, and Illinois, but not the foods anchovies, olives, and eggplant. o This is very confusing! This sentence needs a healthy dose of semicolons.

The fix: o I love the colors green, blue, and red; the names Vanessa, Charlotte, and Cassandra; the states Iowa, Idaho, and Illinois; but not the foods anchovies, olives, and eggplant.

Find the error o I have lived in Wichita, Kansas, Norman, Oklahoma, Lakeland, Florida, Warner Robbins, Georgia, and Nashville, Tennessee.

Here’s the fix o I have lived in Wichita, Kansas; Norman, Oklahoma; Lakeland, Florida; Warner Robbins, Georgia; and Nashville, Tennessee.

The last one: o I hoped it would snow, finally, it did. o (A comma is not strong enough here. Both of these are correct: ) o I hoped it would snow; finally, it did. o I hoped it would snow. Finally, it did.