Glossary

semi-colon (;)

Subject: 

  • English First Additional Language
  • English Home Language

a punctuation mark used to show a pause in a sentence which is longer than a comma but shorter than a full stop. Semi-colons are used in the following ways:

  • between items in a series or listing, e.g. She saw three men: Jamie, who came from New Zealand; John, the milkman's son; and George, a gaunt kind of man.
  • between closely related independent clauses, e.g. I went to the basketball court; I was told it was closed for cleaning.
  • between independent clauses linked with a  conjunctive adverb, e.g. Everyone knows he is guilty of committing the crime; of course, it will never be proven.