Semicolons They are like super-mega-powerful commas

1. SemicolonsThey are like super-mega-powerful commas Please take good notes and put them in your Grammar section. Wednesday’s quiz will cover apostrophes and semicolons.

2. The Main Use of a Semicolon • Use a semicolon to join two independent clauses. • Venice is a beautiful city; everyone travels by gondola. • Notice that last quarter we joined two complete sentences with a comma and a conjunction. This way we only need one semicolon.

3. The Main Use of a Semicolon • Make sure there is a complete sentence on either side of the semicolon. • The city is slowly sinking, settling ¼ inch every decade. (no semicolon) • The city is slowly sinking; it is settling ¼ inch every decade. (yes semicolon) • Eat; we need to leave soon. (“Eat” is a complete sentence because the subject is the “You Understood”)

4. The Other Use of a Semicolon • We use commas to separate items in a series. • I have lived in New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville. • However, if each item has internal commas, it would be tricky to read, so the “Items in a Series” commas grow up into semicolons. • I have lived in New York, New York; Los Angeles, California; and Nashville, Tennessee.

5. The Other Use of a Semicolon • We use commas to join two complete sentences in a compound sentence. • I have a dog, but you have a cat. • However, if each independent clause has internal commas, the “Compound Sentence Comma” grows up into a semicolon. • I have a cute, fuzzy dog; but you have a scrawny, skinny cat.

6. Practice • At the library we checked out Cat in the Hat, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, and Green Eggs and Ham. • As the plane descended, we made sure that our seat belts were buckled. • Let’s go to the store, I need some QTips. • Eddie, the guitarist, Alex, the drummer, Michael, the bassist, and Dave, the singer, formed a band. • Dave left, so Sammy joined the band.