Semicolons Are Awesome; You Should Use Them

Photo by Behzad Ghaffarian on Unsplash

My three favorite places in the world are Amsterdam, New York, London, and Paris.

If you were counting as you read that sentence, you probably noticed that I mentioned four cities even though I introduced my list with the phrase “My three favorite places.” So, either I should change “three” to “four,” or I should correct my punctuation; I should have used a semicolon.

The semicolon is located to the right of the letter “L” on your keyboard and is made up of a period above a comma. Generally, the comma alone tells the reader to pause, and the period alone tells the reader to stop. The semicolon is the perfect combination of the two because the semicolon is more than a pause but less than a stop. Let’s call the semicolon a temporary halt. Typically, semicolons are used in two situations: to break up a series of items that includes commas and to indicate a close relationship between two complete thoughts.

To break up a series of items that includes commas. In the sentence above about my three favorite places, I should have used a semicolon after “New York” because I was referring to the Amsterdam in upstate New York, my hometown, rather than the Amsterdam in Holland. Using a semicolon in that spot eliminates the confusion and makes it easier for readers to understand. “My three favorite places are Amsterdam, New York…