The Guide To Punctuation

Semicolon and Colon

Time to talk about the semicolon and the colon (and by colon, I don't mean the one in our stomach). The semicolon as I showed in earlier chapters is basically a punctuation mark that is used to connect two independent sentences that are similar. Basically, it's like this: "I like fighting; my favorite club is karate." These two sentences are similar because this person likes fighting; therefore, he is in karate. Now, the reason why the semicolon looks like that one punctuation mark that scares everyone is because it looks like it's something that is not English. And I understand that. Fortunately, although it may look intimidating, it's not. In fact, the semicolon is pretty easy to use. But, since it is easy to use, people do tend to use them a lot, which is a problem because it can get pretty annoying. I will say that you should at least keep it around 1-5 semicolons per chapter. Well, then again, it depends on the chapter size. 

Now for the colon, which has two functions to it: one is when you use it to list several items, and the second one is to join two sentences together like what a semicolon does. Now, this may confuse you at first since you might think that's the semicolon's job, not the colon's; however, the reason being is that colon shows more of a connection than a semicolon. So if you're gonna write a sentence with a other being very similar to the first (note that both of these sentences have to be independent sentences), then a colon will be more suitable. Now, just like the semicolon, you have to use it as little as possible, even less than the semicolon. Also, if you still have trouble in understanding the semicolon and colon, then I'll provide the examples. 

Semicolon: 

"I love to fight; I am in a karate club."

"I love to fight; therefore, I am in karate club." (With this one, you can search up independent marker words for words like "therefore," which I would recommend that you do. Just in case you don't know which site to look it up on, I recommend PurdueOWL.com. It has a great selection of the many ways you can improve the use of your grammar.) 

Colon:

"The are seven colors to a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue,indigo, and violet."

"My life is a mess: my schedule is packed, my son needs to go to his soccer practice, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing."  

There are other examples I can add, but it will take a long time doing so. Anyway, I hope this helps you out. If you look to support this guide, be sure to vote, comment, and share this guide with your friends whom have problems with their grammar.