# Correct usage of the ; sign? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526 "2003-11-27T04:29:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![g0d\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@g0d\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/g0d_1)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/1 "2003-11-27T04:29:41Z")
I cannot for the life of me figure out when the ; sign is supposed to be used, so I turn it over to the smart people here to answer my question, thank you 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/2 "2003-11-27T04:33:59Z")
AFAIK, it’s just used to seperate two thoughts that could be complete sentences, but are related enough that the author doesn’t want to seperate them with a period. They’re very “heavy” punctuation, and it’s rare to see them in fiction works. ---
**Author:** ![magog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/fbc32d/32.png) [@magog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magog)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/3 "2003-11-27T04:37:54Z")
It’s used to make a winking smiley 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/4 "2003-11-27T04:42:56Z")
The semicolon (😉 is alos used to separate list items that already contain commas: “You’ll need some big, red brushes; some water, preferably at room temperature; and a left-handed widget, but not one with a doohickey installed.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/5 "2003-11-27T04:44:40Z")
I will disable smilies in this post… I will disable smilies in this post… I will disable smilies in this post… I will disable smilies in this post… I will disable smilies in this post… ---
**Author:** ![g0d\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@g0d\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/g0d_1)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/6 "2003-11-27T04:47:26Z")
Thanks, people… especially **magog** 😉 I’m not sure what I would’ve done without that particular piece of information. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/7 "2003-11-27T05:23:41Z")
The function of the semicolon is to mark a relatively stronger break than would a comma. Two independent, related thoughts not joined by a conjunction are related in the same sentence by being joined-but-separated by a semicolon. “He was born in the hamlet of Troupsburg; his formative years were spent in Olean, 25 miles west.” It is indispensible in running two-layer series: “The sandwiches which the luncheon committee prepared included tuna salad; bacon, lettuce, and tomato; and peanut butter and jelly.” Not to use semicolons here would result in a bizarre and virtually unreadable sentence (not that the actual product is a whole lot better, but at least it is decipherable). Finally, and often disregarded, it’s vital in avoiding unintended parallelism. “He said that the terms offered were acceptable; and that his pique had been mollified by the offer of peace was evident to all present.” With a comma in place of the semicolon, the “and that” appears to be introducing a second part to the indirect quotation, rather than an observation by the writer. Note that while a colon _nearly always_ serves to introduce a series (other than its specialized uses in marking ratios and concluding the salutation of a business letter), there are instances when a cause-and-effect or premise-and-conclusion relationship calls for a colon instead of a comma or semicolon as the proper punctuation. “The speaker said that the ideal government was composed in this way: the maximum of individual freedom compatible with a stable, protected society.” “Finally, and most importantly, there is one firm rule to guard against viruses: Never open an e-mail attachment from someone you are not acquainted with.” ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/8 "2003-11-27T05:32:53Z")
It is used in place of a conjunction. So, instead of writing: “I had steak for dinner and it was really good.” you write: “I had steak for dinner; it was really good.” “I didn’t go to the show because it was sold out,” becomes, “I didn’t go to the show; it was sold out.” ---
**Author:** ![einstein\_s\_lovechild\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e36b37/32.png) [@einstein\_s\_lovechild\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/einstein_s_lovechild_1)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/9 "2003-11-27T05:42:09Z")
I was told by an English prof that people’s notion of the semi colon as a ‘strong comma’ is a big myth. There are only two correct uses of a semi colon: one is to separate items that include commas, and one is the rarely used pivot in a sentence where two similar concepts are being compared eg. Clinton was an unscrupulous genius; Bush is an unscrupulous idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/10 "2003-11-27T07:04:09Z")
The AHD seems to have fallen for the myth then. From [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com): > [@](#): > > **semicolon**. A mark of punctuation ( ) used to connect independent clauses and indicating a closer relationship between the clauses than a period does. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/11 "2003-11-27T07:41:29Z")
The semicolon is used to terminate a statement in C (and C++, Java, Perl…), and to separate two statements in Pascal. Thus, in C, you would write: ```auto if (condition) stmt1; else stmt2; ``` But in Pascal: ```auto if condition then stmt1 else stmt2; ``` ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/12 "2003-11-27T08:12:22Z")
Also used in Matlab to suppress printing to screen. Some stupid teacher in primary school told me that the semicolon can be used as a stronger hyphen. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/13 "2003-11-27T08:37:17Z")
The semi-colon is also used as a comment marker at the start of the line for certain languages and configuration files. for example: ```auto ... ;Set this to one if you want diagnostic outputs verbose=0 ... ``` ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/14 "2003-11-27T08:46:14Z")
- The semi colon has another use; - Separating items in a vertical list; - Similar to that described above for a list including commas. ---
**Author:** ![Bromley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Bromley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bromley)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/15 "2003-11-27T09:14:15Z")
Colons and semis have, for me, always been one of those barely understood things. So I have a few questions: 1. Should the “t” after the colon have been capitalised? > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > **"The speaker said that the ideal government was composed in this way: the maximum of individual freedom compatible with a stable, protected society."** 1. Should **GorillaMan’s** list items after the first have been capitalised? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/16 "2003-11-27T17:49:55Z")
1: Definitely not. Many years ago it was fairly common to capitalise the first word after a colon, and to put a space before a colon, but not these days. 2: No, but this is less clear-cut and is more a matter of style. I would style such a list thus: - the first item goes here; - the second item here; and - the third item here. If the list does not come mid-sentence then capitalise the first one. ---
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/17 "2003-11-27T18:10:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bromley \* > **1. Should the “t” after the colon have been capitalised?** No, because it’s not a complete sentence. When the sentence following the colon is a complete sentence, you have the option of capitalizing the first letter after the colon. The capitalization tends to break the natural flow of the text, so most people don’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Bromley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Bromley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bromley)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/18 "2003-11-27T18:59:37Z")
Thanks to you both. **gentle** answers my follow up question to (1) which would have been why did **Polycarp** capitalise in his second colon example (there’s no catching him out 🙂 ). ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/19 "2003-11-27T19:09:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by g0d’ \* > \*\*I cannot for the life of me figure out when the ; sign is supposed to be used, so I turn it over to the smart people here to answer my question, thank you 🙂 \*\* The following link explains the Semicolon: [http://www.somge.com/english/grammar/punctuation/semicolon.htm](http://www.somge.com/english/grammar/punctuation/semicolon.htm) > [@](#): > > ~ Semicolon ~ > > The semi-colon is used when you want to stress a close connection between two independent clauses in a sentence. > > The dog was gaining; John ran faster. > The telephone rang; Mrs. Donaldson let it ring. > Steven turned the knob; Water flowed out of the pipe. > Stay away from snakes; They are poisonous. > > When these words are used to join two sentences, a semicolon goes before them and a comma goes after them: > > however, therefore, for example, accordingly, nevertheless, furthermore, besides. consequently > > I tried; however, everything was against me. > I tried; everything, however, was against me. > I tried; everything was against me, however. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526/20 "2003-11-27T21:19:43Z")
There’s an explanation that sometimes helps some people: if you ever feel the urge to use a comma to separate two things that could be sentances in their own right, that’s when you should use a semicolon. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-usage-of-the-sign/215526.md?page=2)