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What this handout is about

This handout explains the most common uses of three kinds of punctuation: semicolons (;), colons (:), and dashes (—). After reading the handout, you will be better able to decide when to use these forms of punctuation in your own writing.

Semicolons

The semicolon looks like a comma with a period above it, and this can be a good way to remember what it does.

Use of article the with examples

A semicolon creates more separation between thoughts than a comma does but less than a period does. Here are the two most common uses of the semicolon:

1. To help separate items in a list, when some of those items already contain commas.

Let’s look at an example, as that is the easiest way to understand this use of the semicolon.

Suppose I want to list three items that I bought at the grocery store:

apples
grapes
pears

In a sentence, I would separate these items with commas:

I bought apples, grapes, and pears.

Now suppose that the three items I want to list are described in phrases that already contain some commas:

shiny, ripe apples
small, sweet, juicy grapes
firm pears

If I use

when should the colon be used

when should the ppe be used