WHY I MISS THE SEMICOLON

VT Coach Seth Greenberg bemoaning the loss of the semicolon?

I miss the semicolon; this little dot-and-squiggle of punctuation is both subtle and useful, but rarely spotted these days except in emoticons. It seems most writers—including the pros at newspapers—are afraid of the semicolon. Too bad. Or, as the kids might put it: ;-( .

            Consider the following:

            1) Virginia Tech lost 82-81 in double overtime.  After the game, Coach Greenberg spent twenty minutes alone in his office before emerging to talk to reporters.

            2) Virginia Tech lost 82-81 in double overtime; after the game, Coach Greenberg spent twenty minutes alone in his office before emerging to talk to reporters.

            For those of us raised with semicolons, the difference between the passage with the semicolon between the independent clauses and the passage with a period is subtle, but distinctive. In the first version, with the period, there are two separate, not necessarily connected subjects: the overtime loss and the coach’s alone time. In the second version, with the semicolon, we are urged (by the semicolon) to connect the coach’s desire for privacy to the fact of the overtime loss. In other words, in the semicolon version, we have a sadder coach, devastated by a close loss. That semicolon adds an element of emotion to the story that the period leaves us to guess about.

            A semicolon between two independent clauses suggests a cause-effect, contrast, balance, or other connection between the ideas in the independent clauses. 

Without semicolons, the elephant was lonely and depressed.

Here are some other examples:

The elephant was lonely and depressed; he paced the perimeter of his cage from sunrise to sunset. (Cause-effect)

John watched movies in his spare time; Joan read books. (Contrast)

The front hall was full of shoes; the dining room was full of books; the kitchen was full of unopened boxes of appliances. (Balance)

The train was two hours late; Marie felt a headache coming on.

The President proposed budget cuts; the Speaker of the House, tax increases. (Note the understood verb “proposed” in the second clause here, allowing it to be a complete independent clause.)
            Chapter One was slow; Chapter Two was boring; Chapter Three was simply unreadable.

Semicolons help control the winds of prose.

One reason for the demise of the semicolon, I think, is that inexperienced writers have a bit of trouble with the following rule:

 Place a semicolon (or a period) before a conjunctive adverb that comes between two independent clauses. Some common conjunctive adverbs: however, therefore, nevertheless, thus, furthermore, moreover, otherwise, consequently. Place a comma after the conjunctive adverb. (See my blog post of May 4, 2011, for more about conjunctive adverbs.)

           The following examples are correct:


          “The storm brought hail the size of golf balls; however, all the tulips survived.”

          
          “The wind was blowing up a gale; therefore, we decided not to go sailing.”

           
          “You had better study for the test; otherwise, you’ll fail.”

Note: A period could also be used where semicolons appear in the three examples above, but a period slightly undermines the logical connections between the two clauses, so a semicolon is a bit better.

Prose with proper semicolons is a breath of fresh air.

Warning: Be sure there is an independent clause on either side of the conjunctive adverb before you add the semicolon.

           Correct: “I love onions. My girlfriend Gail, however, won’t touch me after I’ve eaten them.”  


         (No semicolon is needed before “however” here, because "My girlfriend Gail" is not an independent clause. It would be okay to replace the period after "onions" with a semicolon, however.)

Additional warning: Do not use a semicolon if there is already a coordinating conjunction between the two independent clauses. (The coordinating conjunctions are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so; they are easily remembered by the acronym FANBOYS.)

          Correct: “I mailed my girlfriend her birthday card on Sunday. The post office lost it, however, and now she is mad at me.”

            The one exception to this rule applies when the first independent clause has many commas in it. In that case, a semicolon can help your reader navigate the sentence by clearly showing where the first independent clause ends:

            Correct: “The undergraduate volunteers built houses, painted the exteriors and the interiors of those houses, and planted trees and bushes in the yards, where domestic animals were often penned; yet the village elders seemed to ignore the students’ work, either out of shame or out of apathy.”

            Semicolons are also handy—indeed, necessary—in one other writing situation:

To avoid confusion, use semicolons to separate items in a list when the items themselves contain commas.

           Example: “My three best friends are John, a tennis pro; Harry, a butcher; and Joanne, a cello player.”

            If the semicolons here were replaced by commas (a common error), readers might think the writer is describing six separate people instead of just three people and their respective professions.

           

            I’m fond of semicolons, which link things together or mark the boundaries within some sentences; in a sense, they are the buttons on the clothes of prose.

Semicolons are buttons on the clothes of prose.