1 Semicolons and Colons MARY ELLEN GUFFEY AND CAROLYN M SEEFER BUSINES S ENGLISH 12e â 2017 Cengage Learningđ May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock © Valeri Potapova/Shutterstock LEARNING OUTCOMES Level ▶ Use semicolons correctly in punctuating compound sentences ▶ Use semicolons when necessary to separate items in a series © 2017 Cengage Learning® May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Basic Uses of the Semicolon Independent Clauses Separated by Conjunctive Adverbs Independent Clauses Without Coordinating Conjunctions or Conjunctive Adverbs Series Containing Internal Commas or Complete Thoughts â â 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learningđ Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Independent Clauses Separated by Conjunctive Adverbs Use semicolons when two independent clauses are separated by a conjunctive adverb or a transitional expression Common conjunctive adverbs include therefore, however, consequently, and then © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Independent Clauses Separated by Conjunctive Adverbs Examples She needed fast answers; therefore, she checked online sources She found what she needed; then she added the data to her report Her boss was impressed with her findings; as a result, she was offered a promotion © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Independent Clauses Without Coordinating Conjunctions or Conjunctive Adverbs Separate two or more closely related independent clauses not separated by a conjunctive adverb or a coordinating conjunction (and, or, nor, but, so, yet, for) with a semicolon Common stock carries voting rights; preferred stock does not carry such rights © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock What other punctuation marks could be used in the previous sentence instead of a semicolon? What other changes would be necessary? © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Alternatives to the Semicolon Use a period and capitalize the first word in the second independent clause Common stock carries voting rights Preferred stock does not carry such rights Use a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction to join the two independent clauses Common stock carries voting rights, but preferred stock does not carry such rights â â 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learningđ Learningđ May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Series Containing Internal Commas or Complete Thoughts Use semicolons to separate items in a series when one or more of the items in the series contain internal commas Some of the dignitaries attending are Karen Howie, NMC; Barbara J Malom, WITC; and Kathleen Stewart, MVCC (Internal commas) The union shop recognizes compulsory union membership of all employees; the closed shop requires that all new employees must be members of the union before hiring; and the open shop allows either status (Complete thoughts) â â 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learningđ Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock TRY YOUR SKILL Add, change, Many employers or remove research job applicants ; punctuation as online therefore job , needed in seekers should clean up these “digital dirt.” sentences Some job seekers use Facebook wisely ; they set up pages specifically for employers to see © 2017 Cengage Learning® May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a © 2017 Cengage Learning® May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 10 Special Uses of the Colon Business Letter Salutations Website Addresses Time Ratios Publication Titles © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 27 Business Letter Salutations Place a colon after the salutation of a business letter when mixed punctuation is used Dear Ms Vallone: Dear Customer Service: Dear Angelina: © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 28 Website Addresses Use a colon after the http part of a website address http://www.amazon.com http://www.whitehouse.gov http://www.uga.edu © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 29 Time In expressions of time, use a colon to separate hours from minutes in expressions of time 11:30 a.m 6:45 p.m 9:18 a.m., PST © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 30 Ratios Use a colon to represent the word to in ratios The top CEO-to-work pay gap, which occurs at Discovery Communications, is 1,951:1 Interior designer Brian Patrick Flynn uses a 1:3 ratio of manufactured items to homemade pieces that he adds to every room he designs © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 31 Publication Titles Place a colon between titles and subtitles of books, articles, and other publications Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal With Change in Your Work and in Your Life (Book title) “Test Driving Tesla’s Model S: Perfect and Imperfect” (Article title) © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 32 Capitalization Following Colons When a colon is used to introduce a series in sentence format, NOT capitalize the first word after the colon unless it is a proper noun Today’s most popular menu trends are the following: comfort food, locally grown foods, and pie Some of the top attractions in Washington, DC, include the following: Lincoln Memorial, National Gallery of Art, and the White House © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 33 Capitalization Following Colons When a colon is used to introduce a series in a vertical list, capitalize the first letter of each item in the list The top daily activities on smartphones are the following: • Accessing e-mail (91%) • Text messaging (90%) Searching the Internet (70%) â â 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 34 Capitalization Following Colons Do not capitalize the first letter of an independent clause following a colon if that clause explains or supplements the first one (unless, of course, the first word is a proper noun) Harley-Davidson has one simple mission: the company wants to fulfill dreams through the experience of motorcycling © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 35 Capitalization Following Colons Capitalize the first letter of an independent clause following a colon if that clause states a formal rule or principle as a complete sentence Our CEO has a golden rule: Treat our customers as if they own you, because they © © 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learning® Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 36 Capitalization Following Colons Capitalize the first letter of a quotation that follows a colon Thomas J Watson said: “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really: Double your rate of failure You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success But it isn’t that at all You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes Make all you can Because remember that’s where you will find success. â â 2017 2017 Cengage Cengage Learningđ Learning® May May not not be be scanned, scanned, copied copied or or duplicated, duplicated, or or posted posted to to a a publicly publicly accessible accessible website, website, in in whole whole or or in in part, part, except except for for use use as as permitted permitted in in a a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise onora service password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.system © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 37 TRY YOUR SKILL Add, change, Disposal of old or remove computer may punctuation as contaminate ; the , needed in environment namely air, , these soil and groundwater sentences Some companies specialize, in disposing , of old computers for example Technology Recycling â 2017 Cengage Learningđ May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a â 2017 Cengage Learningđ May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 38 TRY YOUR SKILL Add, change, Our meeting will begin : 30 a.m or remove promptly at 10 punctuation as Miguel Angel Ramirez : needed in said “Don’t make these assumptions Find the sentences courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. â 2017 Cengage Learningđ May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a â 2017 Cengage Learningđ May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 39 TRY YOUR SKILL Correct this sentence In developing your social media marketing , strategy we must focus on three : key criteria Ccustomer mix Ccompetition Ccapabilities © 2017 Cengage Learning® May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a © 2017 Cengage Learning® May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use © certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Larysa Ray/Shutterstock 40 “What the semicolon's anxious supporters fret about is the tendency of contemporary writers to use a dash instead of a semicolon and thus precipitate the end of the world Are they being alarmist?” – Lynn Truss, English writer/journalist (b 1955) â 2017 Cengage Learningđ May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license â 2017 Cengage Learningđ May be scanned, copied duplicated, or postedwebsite to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, exceptfor forclassroom use as permitted in a license distributed with a distributed with a certain product or not service or otherwise on or a password-protected or school-approved learning management system use © Larysa certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use © Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Ray/Shutterstock 41 ... unless the list is introduced by an independent clause Lists introduced by verbs or prepositions require no colons because the introductory statement isThe incomplete primary colors are red, yellow,... said: “When you lose small businesses, you lose big ideas People who own their own businesses are their own bosses They are independent thinkers They know they can't compete by imitating the big guys;... Larysa Ray/Shutterstock Independent Clauses Separated by Conjunctive Adverbs Use semicolons when two independent clauses are separated by a conjunctive adverb or a transitional expression