The first use of a semicolon is to join independent clauses, but remember—in order for a semicolon to join those independent clauses, those clauses must be closely related.
Example: Try this shirt; it seems to be your colour.
**Note: A period could have been used instead of this semicolon, but the clauses are so closely related that a period makes too sharp a separation. A coma couldn’t be used because the ideas are stated in main clauses.
Using a comma would have been a comma splice error; therefore, the semicolon is the most appropriate punctuation to join the ideas.
Semicolons are useful in balancing two contrasting ideas in parallel form.
Example: It was not the hours or the wages that discouraged me; it was the constant monotony of the work.
The second use of a semicolon is to separate elements in a series.
Example: Brad has lived in Victoria, British Columbia; Edmonton, Alberta; and Regina, Saskatchewan.
Use a colon, not a semicolon to indicate that something is to follow in a series. The use of a colon before a list is like saying such as. For example:
Wrong: Brad has many friends; Bill, Andrew, Sally, Sue, and Jane.
Right: Brad has many friends: Bill, Andrew, Sally, Sue, and Jane.
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