Semicolon vs. Colon

Kristen King

by Heather Wardell

www.inkthinkerblog.com — “Next week; he will call me.”

“I told him what to do: he made it clear he wouldn’t do it.”

Colons and semicolons are probably the most difficult punctuation marks to use correctly. Once you understand them, though, you will find that they can really enhance your writing.

Colons can be thought of as being like a very short equals sign. They connect the first part of the sentence to the second. For example, we could say, “All of the important people arrived: Lisa, Holly, Beth and Matthew,” and use a colon.

We would not use a semicolon in that case. Semicolons connect two separate thoughts together. “I told him what to do; he made it clear he wouldn’t do it.” This could have been written as two sentences, but linking the pieces together gives the thought strength, and also provides a change from very short sentences. The sentence about the important people could not have been written as two separate sentences, so it requires a colon.

Semicolons are also used when you are listing a number of things, some of which contain commas. They help to make it clear when you are listing the next thing and when you are listing attributes of the first thing. An example is definitely necessary!

I ask you to bring three things to my party: tomatoes, bread and cheese. (Notice the colon!) You arrive, and say, “Here you go! I brought the fresh, ruby red tomatoes; whole wheat bread straight from the oven; and cheese, bought from the farmers’ market this morning.” Try this sentence with commas instead of semicolons, and you will find that you’re not really sure when to pause. The semicolon gives a slightly longer pause than a comma does, and it helps to keep the various items separate.

What about the first sentence I gave you? The semicolon there should simply be a comma.

Try these last few sentences on for size:

The cat slept in the sun ___ his owner looked on.

She added the last few ingredients ____ milk, sugar, and one egg.

Keep in mind that colons connect two halves of a sentence, and semicolons connect two separate sentences or pieces of a list, and you will be fine!

(Answers: The cat slept in the sun; his owner looked on. She added the last few ingredients: milk, sugar, and one egg.)

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Heather Wardell is a freelance writer specializing in technology, and is obsessed with good grammar. Her eBook, “Simple HTML,” will be available soon. Visit www.heatherwardell.com for more information on Heather and her work.

Although this article was published by Kristen King, the original author retains all copyright and should be contacted for reprint requests.