Semicolon Rules

The following rules and examples will help you know when and where to use the semicolon as a punctuation mark.

• Use a semicolon to combine two very closely related complete sentences.

  Toni Morrison uses parabolic storytelling in her writing; she seldom writes in a linear mode. Many people believe the state quarters released from the United States Mint will be valuable someday; although this is possible, the coins may also turn out to be worth no more than their actual value of 25 cents.

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• Use a semicolon along with a conjunctive adverb and a comma to clarify the relationship between two closely related complete sentences. Conjunctive adverbs include however, therefore, in addition, moreover, subsequently, consequently, instead, and additionally.

  The Leaning Tower of Pisa is in danger of falling over; however, engineers are trying to stabilize its foundation. The Five Nations respects the abilities of all its people; therefore, both women and men participate in making tribal decisions.

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• Use a semicolon to separate a series of phrases or clauses that are long or have punctuation, like commas, within them.

  In Walden, Henry David Thoreau encourages individuals to find their own way of life rather than conforming to the ideas of others; to seek the truth and beauty of life in nature; and to learn about themselves and the world by experiencing life instead of just studying it. The University's community outreach committee was led by three individuals: Erica Hunt, a full-time student; Dave Woods, a Center for Information Media administrator; and Joyce Wilkins, a business professor.

Colon Rules

The following rules and examples will help you know when and where to use the colon as a punctuation mark.

• Use a colon to signal the reader that a series of words, phrases, or clauses follows a complete sentence.

  The baseball coach claimed that the team's success stemmed from four things: consistent hitting, solid pitching, good fielding, and excellent teamwork. The Greasy Spoon restaurant had several house specialties: a hot turkey sandwich, a roast pork dinner, a walleye platter, and a barbecued chicken wing basket.

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• Use a colon to signal the reader that a second complete sentence explains a closely related preceding sentence.

  The supervisor's remark was straight to the point: I won't tolerate workers who show up late. Religion and politics can be sensitive subjects: many people hold opinionated views and are easily offended by other peoples' remarks.

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• Use a colon to signal the reader that a name or description follows a complete sentence when you want to put a lot of emphasis on that item.

  The local anglers had a nickname for the large muskie that had cruised the lake's shoreline for years without being caught: Old Mossback. The preoccupied burglar didn't notice who was standing right behind him: a smiling police officer.

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• Use a colon to introduce a long quotation after a complete sentence.

  In his book, Language is Sermonic, rhetorician Richard Weaver described how language may influence us: Sophistications of theory cannot obscure the truth that there are but three ways for language to affect us. It can move us toward what is good; it can move us toward what is evil; or it can, in hypothetical third place, fail to move us at all. (60)

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• Colons are also used...

  ...to separate titles and subtitles:

  Richard Nixon: The Tarnished President

  ...to express time:

  The accident occurred at approximately 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday.

  ...to cite a law or Biblical passage:

  According to Minnesota statute 1:49:002, it is unlawful to feed licorice or peanut butter to goats.

  ...to end a salutation:

  Dear Rachel:

  ...to separate the place of publication and the publisher in a bibliographic entry:

  West, Gerald. How to Write Best Sellers. New York: Henry

  James Publishing, 1973.

Apostrophe Rules

1. The apostrophe indicates that a number or a letter has been omitted:

   it is = it’s	‘65 = 1965
   does not = doesn’t	‘90 = 1990

2. Apostrophes are also used to show possession orownership. The apostrophe follows the noun that is owning something.Apostrophes can be troublesome when we need to think about singular nouns vs. plural nouns.

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Singular Nouns (not ending with -s)

Owner	Thing Owned	Correct form
a child	shoes	a child’s shoes
anyone	idea	anyone’s idea
society	values	society’s values
a person	income	a person’s income
a country	leader	a country’s leader

Singular Nouns (ending with -s)

Owner	Thing Owned	Correct form
Chris Jones	dog	Chris Jones’ dog
James	room	James’ room

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Plural Nouns (not ending with -s)

Owner	Thing Owned	Correct form
people	beliefs	people’s beliefs
children	songs	children’s songs
women	rights	women’s rights
men	shoes	men’s shoes

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Plural Nouns (ending with -s)

Owner	Thing Owned	Correct form
two weeks	vacation	two weeks’ vacation
ten dollars	worth	ten dollars’ worth
the Joneses	house	the Joneses’ house
students	addresses	students’ addresses
two singers	performances	two singers’ performances

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Additional Notes

1. The following pronouns are already possessive and do not require apostrophes: yours, ours, its, theirs, his, hers, and whose.

2. Usually, "of" is used to show possession for non-living things: the walls of the room, the color of your pants. Money and time words are exceptions: one week’s vacation, four dollars’ worth.

3. Sometimes you may see a short word, like James, written with an s after the apostrophe. This is not incorrect; it is only a variation. Weadvise that you stick to the commonly used system in this web document.

Adopted From LEO

Comma Rules

Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, nor, yet, for, so) that separates two independent clauses.

State censorship boards flourished, but the pressure groups wanted a more comprehensive ban on objectionable material.

Traditional classroom methods are under fire from educators nationwide, and many are advocating that methods for individualizing instruction be incorporated into K-12 curricula.

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Use a comma after an introductory word, phrase, or clause that comes before a main clause.

words		Strangely, no one has suggested that Watergate gave us a "new Nixon."
		Nevertheless, many critics of the new administration point to its inability to develop a coherent strategy for decreasing the budget deficit.
phrases		In addition to television's influence, some parents and teachers ascribe children's diminished drive to play to recent changes in the elementary school curriculum.
		Despite immigrant's high hopes, their illusions were often shattered.
clauses		Since the new system was implemented, payroll has been processed 25% faster than it had been using the prior system.
		As they move through the twilight world of big-time narcotics, Crockett and Tubbs constantly break the law to do their jobs.

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Use commas around words, phrases, and clauses in themiddle of a sentence when they aren't essential to the meaning of thesentence.

words		By "imagination," then, I mean the free intellectual and sensory play of the mind.
		Numerous studies, however, have shown that negative reinforcment affects self-image more extensively than does positive reinforcement.
phrases		This was not, in other words, an invisible 56 percent of the population.
		Karl Marx, an important nineteenth-century sociologist, believed in his role as a social thinker to change the world.
clauses		Senator McGilvery, who is a Democrat from Rhode Island, dealt fully and responsibly with the controversy his new child care bill sparked.
		Newspeak, which greatly reduced people's vocabularies, lessened their ability to understand scientific words.

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Use commas between items in a series.

words		The frigid, snowy, windy day was typical of Minnesota in January.
		Bald eagles, ospreys, herons, mergansers, and kingfishers are native to this area.
phrases		As more and more anti-smoking laws are passed, we see droves of would-be non-smokers chomping on Nicorettes, gnawing peppermints, chewing pencils, knitting sweaters, or practicing self-hypnosis.
		Three reasons for the closing were insufficient enrollment, poor instructional materials, and inadequate funds.
clauses		Though dogs are messy and hard to train, though they chew up my shoes and give me the blues, though they howl like wolves but jump at their own shadows, though they eat me out of house and home, I still find them a necessary part of my existence.
		If the procedure is carefully planned, if that plan is followed with skill and precision, and if the results are carefully analyzed and professionally presented, we might receive the research award.

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Use commas before and after a quotation within a sentence.

"Cooperation between government and industry," the president said, "must exist if the country is to prosper."

The band leader said, "Once the simple marching drill is learned, we will work on more maneuvers."

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Use a comma before an afterthought or contrasting element.

afterthought		For Canada, the War of 1812 was vitally important, far more important than it was for Britain.
contrasting element		To understand a particular culture, we must consider the society as a whole, not its individual parts.

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Use commas to set off geographical names, items in date, and professional titles.

geographical names		The speaker that day was from Atlanta, Georgia; she discussed the discrimination against blacks which still exist there.
items in dates		Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky.
professional titles		Stephanie Glenn, Ph.D., will be the main speaker at the banquet.

Adopted From LEO