Semicolons (Test)

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I will not buy that that carp it is far too expensive.

He still cannot use Word consequently, Tara must stay here.

I noticed the baker, Ian, jogging in the park every day but he never seemed to get any slimmer.

The expedition will include Dr Evans the senior medical officer Alan Marks the team leader Martin Dodds and Simon Dodds (not related) the base-camp commanders and Jane Lothian the expedition botanist.


	A semicolon can be used when a slight break is preferable to a new sentence.

	I will not buy that carp; it is far too expensive. I will not buy that carp. It is far too expensive. Leaving them as two separate sentences is fine. I will not buy that carp, it is far too expensive. You cannot use a comma and then start a new sentence. This is a common mistake.


	A semicolon can be used before a word (or words) used to make a smooth transition from one half of a sentence to the other. (Such words include: "as a result", "consequently", "however" and "therefore".)

	He still cannot use Word; consequently, Tara must stay here. ...use Word. Consequently, Tara must stay here. The semicolon in the first example merges two sentences. It is not incorrect to leave them as two separate, simple sentences. ...use Word, consequently, Tara must stay here. You cannot use a comma to merge two sentences. This is a very common error - particularly with the word "however".


	A semicolon can be used before a conjunction (a word like "and", "but" and "or") when it is used to merge two clauses (or simple sentences) together - particularly when there is a comma (or commas) elsewhere in the sentence.

	I noticed the baker, Ian, jogging in the park every day; but he never seemed to get any slimmer. In this example, there are two commas in the first half of the sentence; therefore, a semicolon can be used before "but". ...day, but he never seemed to get any slimmer. Although a semicolon can be used before "but" in this example, a comma is more common. ...day but he never seemed to get any slimmer. When "but" is used to merge two simple sentences (as in this example), it should be preceded by a comma or a semicolon.


	If any of the items in a list contain commas, then semicolons can be used to separate the list items.

	The expedition will include Dr Evans, the senior medical officer; Alan Marks, the team leader; Martin Dodds and Simon Dodds (not related), the base-camp commanders; and Jane Lothian, the expedition botanist. Some of the list items (between the semicolons) contain commas. This is why semicolons (and not commas) are used to separate the list items. Examples and nonsense