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When, why, and how to use semicolons

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Services for Real Estate Pros with Marte Cliff Copywriting

This grammar lesson is by request… and it's a tricky one!

Grammar book              Why use semicolons?

 

Semicolons are most often used to add variety and flow. You might look at them as cosmetics for your writing. They add variety and allow you to separate related thoughts while incorporating them into one sentence – thus relieving "choppiness."

With the exception of a use I'll explain in a minute, they're used to separate two closely related clauses that could stand on their own as sentences.

For instance:

You would say "The house was completely trashed; Sally doubted that she'd ever find a buyer."
You would not say "The house was completely trashed; Sally had six phone calls to return." (One has nothing to do with the other.)

You would say "Snow was falling heavily; Sally worried about going out on the roads."
You would not say "Snow was falling heavily; Sally had chicken salad for lunch." (Again, one has nothing to do with the other.)

Note that if you preferred to do so, you could use a comma and a conjunction instead of a semicolon. "The house was completely trashed, so Sally doubted that she'd ever find a buyer."

You could also simply place a period between the two parts, but the result would be choppy. The semicolon helps draw them together and emphasize their relationship while it "smooths out" the copy. Which to use is up to the writer. 

confused monkeyOne Rule to remember: You do NOT use a conjunction and a semicolon together.

However (and here's one of the tricky parts) you DO use a semicolon with a conjunctive adverb. (I know, I know. And I'm sure no one even tried to teach me about conjunctive adverbs back in school.)

A conjunctive adverb is much like a conjunction, but longer. Conjunctions are short words like and, but, and so; Conjunctive adverbs are words like however, therefore, and consequently.

An example of this use would be "Sally was on vacation; therefore it fell to her broker to deal with the angry seller." Note the cause and effect nature of this kind of sentence.

If you prefer not to use the semicolon, you could use a comma and change "therefore" to "so."

One more common use of semicolons…the place where they really are necessary

Use semicolons in those cases where not using them would cause confusion. Semicolons serve to properly separate the parts when you are writing a list of items that include commas. For instance, "Sally currently has clients who are relocating to Boise from Austin, Texas; Miami, Florida; Seattle, Washington; and San Diego, California."

 

You can ignore semicolons and use periods or commas and conjunctions in almost every other case, but when writing lists such as this, semicolons are the only choice. Commas would just cause a mush of confusion. 

Grammar graphic courtesy of Stuart Miles@freedigitalphotos.net | Confused monkey courtesy of morguefile.com

Comments (48)

Sham Reddy CRS
Howard Hanna RE Services, Dayton, OH - Dayton, OH
CRS

Thnaks for a great grammar lesson!!! I thought I knew how to use them properly, but now I don't know anymore!!!

Aug 30, 2015 08:46 PM
Tom Bailey
Margaret Rudd & Associates Inc. - Oak Island, NC

My mother a high school English teacher taught me these rules many years ago. She taught me to generally  use a coma instead of a semicolon. 

Aug 30, 2015 08:49 PM
Gita Bantwal
RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA
REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

Thank you for the tutorial. I love your grammar lessons.

Aug 30, 2015 08:52 PM
John Anello, Stamford Area Electrician
Safe and Sound Electric LLC - Greenwich, CT
Call Safe and Sound Electric at 203-536-0021

Proper grammar is unfortunately a dying art.  So by doing it well, you stand out from the crowd.  

Aug 30, 2015 09:21 PM
Carol Williams
Although I'm retired, I love sharing my knowledge and learning from other real estate industry professionals. - Wenatchee, WA
Retired Agent / Broker / Prop. Mgr, Wenatchee, WA

Marte Cliff ,  I never thought I could enjoy a lesson in semicolons.  But, I did!  Thanks for the great post.  

Aug 30, 2015 11:01 PM
Margaret Goss
@Properties - Winnetka, IL
Chicago's North Shore & Winnetka Real Estate

I have gotten into the habit of using dashes - like this - to separate thoughts. Thoughts?

Aug 31, 2015 12:11 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Christine Donovan I was a confused monkey too, and now I'm not! (Well, not about this subject anyway.)

Sham Reddy Go check out what Grammar Girl has to say about it - maybe that will further clarify.

Tom Bailey That's usually my choice - except for when I use dashes.

Aug 31, 2015 07:21 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Gita Bantwal Thanks - I appreciate you reading them. 

John Anello, Stamford Area Electrician It certainly is a dying art. I spoke to an agent this week and couldn't believe how poor his grammar was - right down to "it ain't..."

Carol Williams Thanks. I try not to make them too dry to swallow.

 

Aug 31, 2015 07:23 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Margaret Goss I use a lot of dashes too. Once in a while I get a copywriting client who objects, but most think it's just fine. 

Aug 31, 2015 07:24 AM
Mery Fernandez Empire Network Realty Luxury Brokerage
Empire Network Realty INC. - Orlando, FL
The Rise of An Empire, Let's Build Yours!

Hello and congratulations on your featured blog post! Well done and hope to see you have many more featured post. 

Sep 02, 2015 01:16 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Thanks Mery Fernandez Empire Network Realty Luxury Brokerage I appreciate your kind comments. 

Sep 02, 2015 01:49 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Thank you Richard Yates. I appreciate your kind words. 

Sep 03, 2015 12:45 AM
Olympus Executive Realty Inc.
Olympus Executive Realty INC. - Orlando, FL
Home Of The Top Producers

Congrats on your featured blog, hopefully you can keep them coming, topics that are featured take blogging talent!

Sep 03, 2015 02:19 PM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Thanks Vick Pacheco ~ Luxury Homes & Lifestyles It always takes me by surprise when one of these grammar posts is popular. 

Sep 03, 2015 03:22 PM
Elyse Berman, PA
LoKation Real Estate - Boca Raton, FL
Boca Raton FL (561) 716-7824

I like semi-colons Marte Cliff .  I learned this when I was in school for court reporting.  My teacher was going for her doctorate in English.  Thank you for explaining them.

Sep 03, 2015 08:04 PM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Elyse Berman, Boca Raton, FL - I never did learn to use them, so doing the research for this "by request" post taught me a lot.

Sep 04, 2015 01:44 AM
Elyse Berman, PA
LoKation Real Estate - Boca Raton, FL
Boca Raton FL (561) 716-7824

Marte Cliff I could not give an explanation such as yours; however, I did learn how to use them.

Sep 04, 2015 03:58 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Elyse Berman, Boca Raton, FL I take a lot of hints from Grammar Girl, but even then it takes a little while to distill the information and try to make it simple. 

Sep 04, 2015 09:39 AM
Robert Vegas Bob Swetz
Las Vegas, NV

Hello Marte ... congrats on the feature from AR, wonderful post full of great information and featured to the group:

NIGHT OWLS AT ACTIVERAIN

Sep 07, 2015 10:25 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Thanks so much Robert (Alaska Bob) Swetz - and best wishes on your first anniversary! I wish you both dozens of happy years together. 

Sep 07, 2015 12:49 PM