Everyone Hates Semicolons

Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m Lauren Smyth, and I’m back to once again make the case against semicolons. First, let’s cover what a semicolon does and does not do. It is not used to start lists. It does not come before a conjunction like “and” or “but.” It is used to join two sentences that would otherwise be complete by themselves. For example, if I say, “The cat was big; fluffy cats are the best,” I could make those two sentences into one by adding a semicolon between. My question is: Why wouldn’t you just make those two separate sentences? Even if they’re clearly related, do you really need a special, somewhat rare, somewhat odd-looking punctuation mark to show that—or could you just rephrase the sentence to make the relationship clearer? Semicolons are weird-looking little hybrids. It’s generally best to avoid using them altogether, and if you do decide to use them, don’t use them more than once. That’s your Grammar Minute! Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks.