Semicolons and Colons

1. Semicolons and Colons

2. Semicolons • Semicolons are punctuation marks used to put two or more clauses together to form one big sentence. • On the ACT, a semicolon is virtually interchangeable with a period.

3. Semicolons • Use a semicolon instead of a period to connect two related independent clauses. • Just then, the woman screamed the bird jumped up and perched on her head. • The first independent clause is “Just then, the woman screamed.” • The second independent clause is “the bird jumped up and perched on her head.”

4. Semicolons • In the absence of a conjunction (these two could be connected by a comma and the word and), a semicolon is used to join the two independent clauses. • Of course, it would have been equally correct to put a period after the first independent clause, and the ACT seldom requires you to choose between the two. • Just then, the woman screamed; the bird jumped up and perched on her head.

5. Semicolons • If the underlined portion or any of the answer choices contains a semicolon, you should ask yourself whether the sentence contains two related independent clauses not joined by a conjunction.

6. Colons • Colons are usually used after a complete statement to introduce a list of related details. • The list can have many items or just one. • Maria just purchased all the camping supplies for our trip, a backpack, a sleeping bag, and a pair of hiking boots. • “Maria just purchased all the camping supplies for our trip” is the complete statement in the sentence.

7. Colons • “A backpack, a sleeping bag, and a pair of hiking boots” are the related details. • A colon belongs between the two. • Maria just purchased all the camping supplies for our trip: a backpack, a sleeping bag, and a pair of hiking boots.

8. Colons • If the underlined phrase or any of the answer choices contains a colon, you should ask yourself if a list of some kind introduced by an independent clause. • One of the ACT’s favorite tricks is to write a sentence that utilizes a colon to introduce a list, but to do so incorrectly because it follows an incomplete thought. • Look out for colons that follow the verb including the phrase such as.

9. Colons • Maria just purchased all the camping supplies for our trip, including: a backpack, a sleeping bag, and a pair of hiking boots. • In this sentence, the colon is used improperly. • By adding the word “including,” the part of the sentence preceding the colon is no longer an independent clause, and therefore, the sentence, as written, is incorrect.

10. Colons • Colons are also used to separate two independent clauses: one that presents a general thought and another that explains or expands upon the first. • I didn’t know what to do: I could either go camping or stay home and study for the ACT.

11. Work Cited • Martz, Geoff, Kim Magloire, and Theodore Silver. Cracking the ACT. 2007 ed. New York: Random House, 2007. Print.