Mastering Punctuation: Semicolons, Colons, and Conjunctions for Effective Writing

1. Punctuation Semicolons and Colons

2. Semicolon • Can join two sentences together. • Ex: Jimmy took my suitcase upstairs. He left his own bag in the car. Jimmy took my suitcase upstairs; he left his own bag in the car. • If a sentence has too many commas, use a semicolon to join them instead. • Ex: I wrote to Ann, Ramona, and Mai, and Jean wrote to Charles, Latoya, and Sue. I wrote to Ann, Ramona, and Mai; Jean wrote to Charles, Latoya, and Sue.

3. Semicolon (cont.) • When you are listing things, use semicolons to join items that already contain commas. • Ex: They visited Phoenix, Arizona; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and San Antonio, Texas. • Ex: Mr. Schultz, my science teacher; Ms. O’Hara, my English teacher; Mrs. Gomez, my math teacher; and Mr. Jones, my social studies teacher, attended the seventh-grade picnic.

4. Where does the semicolon go? • We went home mom made us lunch. • I have lived in Long Beach, CA Durham, NC and San Antonio, TX. • Your grades have improved you will graduate. • I called Liz, Mike, and Jim and she called everyone else.

5. CONJUNCTIONS • And, but, or, for, nor, yet, so • Join two sentences together using comma • Ex: I went running. Steve went hiking. • Can’t join these sentences together with only a comma; you need a conjunction too! • Ex: I went running, and Steve went hiking. • Also join to items together. • Ex: I like basketball and football. • Ex: She sings and dances.

6. Combine these using conjunctions • She left for work. She was still late. • Luke walked for three hours. He was tired. • I wanted ice cream. I went to Ben and Jerry’s. • My homework wasn’t done. I got a zero. • I hoped to go to Hawaii. It was my dream.

7. Colons • Use a colon before a list of items. • Ex: You will need these items for the project: a ruler, colored pencils, and tracing paper. • Ex: Jack’s pocket contained the following items: a key, a note, and a quarter. • Note: You must have an expression like “the following” in order to use a colon. • Ex: Your heading should contain the following: your name, the date, and the title. • Your heading should contain your name, the date, and the title.

8. Colon (cont.) • Use a colon between the hour and the minute. • 8:30AM • Use a colon after the greeting in a business letter. • Dear Sir: • When listing Bible verses and titles. • Ex: John 3:1-12 • Ex: “My Biography: Life as a HSA Student”

9. Place the colon • We have studied the following subjects math, science, and history. • I went to bed at 1100 pm. • I memorized Matthew 5 6-7. • The name of the story is “Jackie A Girl from the South.”