13 Semicolons
13
Semicolons
A semicolon (;) indicates a stronger pause than a comma but not as strong a pause as a period.
13a Use a semicolon to join two closely related independent clauses
Use a semicolon to join two closely related independent clauses not connected by a coordinating word (and, but, for, nor, or, so, or yet).
For advice on other ways to join two independent clauses, see Section 4 of the Handbook.
13b Use a semicolon to join two independent clauses linked by a conjunctive adverb or transitional expression
13c Use semicolons to separate items in a series if commas are used within the items
Semicolons help prevent confusion in a sentence that contains a series of items with one or more commas within the items.
Also use a semicolon to separate a series of independent clauses that contain commas.
(See also 12b on when to use commas to separate items in a series.)
13d Do not use a semicolon to introduce a list or to separate a phrase or dependent clause from the rest of the sentence
(For more on introducing lists, see 14a.)
