Confession: I still have no idea what the semicolon is for. I am fairly new in my writing journey, and though I remember my adjectives and verbs, I have no memory of learning about the semicolon. In fact I don't think I've ever read a sentence with one in. (Are there any in the Harry Potter series?)
I've turned to google but have been left feeling very unsatisfied. Are we still using them in the days of LOL and emojis? If so.... what purpose do they serve?
Confession: I still have no idea what the semicolon is for. I am fairly new in my writing journey, and though I remember my adjectives and verbs, I have no memory of learning about the semicolon. In fact I don't think I've ever read a sentence with one in. (Are there any in the Harry Potter series?)
I've turned to google but have been left feeling very unsatisfied. Are we still using them in the days of LOL and emojis? If so.... what purpose do they serve?
Semi-colons have their uses. They can be used to link two closely related sentences.
Peter has gone to the gym; his brother has gone to the pool.
It's a softer division than a full stop, but more separate than a comma. You must not use a comma here:
Peter has gone to the gym, his brother has gone to the pool. (wrong - this is known as a 'comma splice' between two separate sentences. It's incorrect.)
Peter has gone to the gym, but his brother has gone to the pool. (correct - the two clauses are joined by a comma and a conjunction - in this case 'but'. This is OK.)
In fact, you could perfectly well manage without a semi-colon. Just use a full stop/period:
Peter has gone to the gym. His brother has gone to the pool. (It's a bit more abrupt with a full stop/period than with a semi-colon, but it's not incorrect.)
Where semi-colons are really useful is in long and complex lists, like this:
I saw my my ex-wife, Mary, her new boyfriend, Mark, and my current girlfriend, Jenny, outside the restaurant.
This could really confuse. How many people are actually outside the restaurant? An actor reading this sentence for the first time in a script might really stumble.
Semi-colons can help to make things clearer. They mark the big divisions in the sentence more clearly than commas.
I saw my my ex-wife, Mary; her new boyfriend, Mark; and my current girlfriend, Jenny, outside the restaurant.
Reading this aloud, the actor would mark the semi-colons with slightly longer pauses than the commas to make the sentence structure clear.
I hope this helps.