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SEMI-COLONS
Based on the video: http://youtu.be/-_Zu60hqudU
The semi-colon is the undisputed king of punctuation; use it correctly and you are bound to
impress the examiner. Surprisingly, it is a very simple to use piece of punctuation. In your
answers to questions 5 and 6 you should aim to use one at the beginning and one at the
end; you never want to commit semi-colon overkill.
Semi-colons are used to join two sentences, where both sentences are about the same
topic.
For example:
Mr Bruff’s revision videos are hosted on YouTube; his eBook is hosted on his
own site.
In this example there are two separate sentences:
Mr Bruff’s revision videos are hosted on YouTube.
His eBook is hosted on his own site.
However, both of the sentences share a common topic – they both focus on the hosting
sites of the revision materials created by Mr Bruff. Because of this, a semi-colon can be
used.
Here are some examples where a semi-colon should not be used. Can you work out why it is
not correct to use a semi-colon?
I like Christmas; because I get lots of presents.
It is Thursday today; my Christmas tree is fake.
In the first example, the clause ‘because I get lots of presents’ is not a complete sentence (it
is a subordinate clause). Remember: semi-colons can only be used to join two complete
sentences. A sentence (for those of you asking) is a group of words that makes sense on its
own. It also needs to contain a verb (a doing word). ‘Because I get lots of presents’ does not
make sense on its own and is therefore not a sentence.
In the second example, although they are two complete sentences, the sentences are not
about the same topic. There is no direct link between stating the day in one sentence and
the nature of your Christmas tree in the next.
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