Am I using the semicolon correctly?
This works:I'm a talented musician; I sing and play the drums professionally in a metal band.Two sentences joined by a semicolon. And the sentences are one thought. You don’t get to sing and play professionally if you aren’t a talented musician.This kinda doesn’t work:2. I'm a talented musician; I travel the world.You can travel the world without being a talented musician. The two thoughts don’t obviously have to do with each other, so you shouldn’t put them in the same sentence. They aren’t parts of a single thought.Which makes this problematic:3. I'm a talented musician; I sing and play the drums professionally in a metal band, and travel the world.But, hey, what if you’re really trying to say that you’re good enough to play in a band that has an international audience? In that case, we can make it work:I'm a talented musician; I sing and play the drums professionally in a metal band that does world tours.That works.As for the semicolon, it’s good in all of the versions. That is, when you put two independent clauses together in a single sentence, without a conjunction, the semicolon makes it legal. My point isn’t that your original version was ungrammatical, but rather that sometimes you don’t want to jamb two sentences together joined by a semicolon. You only want to do that—legal or not—when the sentences are closely related.Okay, that’s the semicolon. You also had a question about the comma.The comma is safe enough; it doesn’t look wrong. But, when I look at my final version of the sentence …I'm a talented musician; I sing and play the drums professionally in a metal band that does world tours.… you don’t really want a comma in there.Okay, let’s put it in anyway:I'm a talented musician; I sing and play the drums professionally in a metal band, which does world tours.Do you want that little pause? Without the comma, the meaning is, “I’m good enough to be in a band that does world tours.” With the comma, the meaning is, “I’m good enough to be in a band—oh, and you know what, the band does world tours.”I’m guessing that you don’t want the comma. I’m guessing that your meaning at the end of the sentence still has to do with being a talented musician. You’re good enough to be in a band that does world tours. If I’m right about this, then you don’t want the comma.
Write a sentence using a semicolon?
There are several instances when it is correct to use a semicolon - one common one is when there are two basically complete sentences that are connected with a conjunction (the word "but" in this case) When I eat alone, I leave a mess; but that's not the worst of it.
How do you use a semi colon?
I teach English at a University in the US. You are right. The semicolon is used between full full sentences. Use it instead of a period when the two sentences are closely related, such as: "I don't like him very much; he smells terrible." You would NOT use it for unrelated sentences such as: "I am starting ninth grade; When I was a child, I went to Rome." Note that you do NOT use a capital letter after the semicolon. Hope this helps.
What's the deal about semicolons?
dk1, those were my thoughts, too. You belong in the Dix and Kabum camp. But, I think Vet makes an awfully good argument. Plus, the point he makes is, after all, why I asked the question in the first place. I can see where using periods, even where a semicolon would be appropriate, might allow for a degree of punctuation oblivion as far as the average reader is concerned. Or, if the reader is punctuation savvy, might it not slow him down, like it does me sometimes, when I pause to think, "Should've used a semicolon there, booby." How about you, reader, still on the fence?
In which of the following sentences could you best use a semicolon?
a. If you ask me, Jerry is a tennis whiz. b. Lucille bought a new tennis racket and brought it home. c. Jerry loves tennis he plays every day. d. When she is worried, Lucille eats a lot.
I'm wondering whether to use a colon, semicolon or comma in the following sentence. “I’ve come to a tough conclusion: The second book is better than the first.” Is that correct? Or would a semicolon or comma work better?
The question was - I'm wondering whether to use a colon, semicolon or comma in the following sentence. I've come to a tough conclusion: The second book is better than the first. Is that correct? Or would a semicolon or comma work better?I have a question for the OP - Are you quoting yourself or are you just presenting a conclusion? If you are quoting yourself, put quotes around the second sentence and use the colon. If you are simply presenting a conclusion, edit as follows : ‘…..conclusion, the second ….”Personally, I would choose to do ‘none of the above.' I would make them two separate, complete thoughts, aka sentences. Fortunately, for the OP, they think differently than I. Others will probably differ as well.Thanks for the A2A.
How do I know when to use a comma (,) and when to use a semi colon (;) in a sentence?
A semicolon has two uses. The more common one, that you are probably asking about, is in place of a period. It connects two completely independent sentences, so that if you were to replace the semicolon with a period, the grammar would be correct. If you want to connect complete sentences wiht a comma, you must add a conjunction that makes the second part into a dependent phrase.We went to the store. We met Mary there.We went to the store; we met Mary there.We went to the store, and we met Mary there.We went to the store, where we met Mary.A less common use is that of a “supercomma”. In a series where there are so many commas in the sentence that the meaning becomes confusing, you can change the commas between the items to semicolons. They are understood to be functioning as commas, but this prevents them from being confused with other commas. For example:Among my hobbies are fishing, which is best done on a still lake, swimming, which is most enjoyable in an Olympic pool, and people watching, which is best done in a crowded place like a mall.becomesAmong my hobbies are fishing, which is best done on a still lake; swimming, which is most enjoyable in an Olympic pool; and people watching, which is best done in a crowded place like a mall.
Is this sentence the correct way to use a semicolon?
Here the choice of semicolon emphasises the emotion of hatred look . If any other punctuation marks like comma was used in place of semicolon, this emphatic effect could not have resulted. There is a logical relation between the clauses.In practice above sentence is being written without any punctuation marks also.Hence the use of semicolon is grammatically correct.
5. Which of the following sentences correctly uses the semicolon? (1 point)?
5. Which of the following sentences correctly uses the semicolon? (1 point) I arrived here on Sunday; and without meeting with any accident. The river, which runs up to Alexandria; is in full view of my window. It is a very handsome room now; when completed, it will be beautiful. The more I view it; the more I am delighted with it.