Semicolons and Colons

Semicolon

 

Used often to add a point that would not make sense by itself.

 

Eg. I went to the beach; I was told it was closed due to a shark attack.

In the above example if you look at the point after the semicolon it would not make sense by itself in a sentence.

They are also used in sentences that have internal points.

Eg. I have been to Nome, Alaska; Las Vegas, Nevada; San Francisco, California and Miami, Florida.

 

Here if you just used commas like Nome, Alaska, Las Vegas, Nevada it would look like you have been to each of these places but Nome is in Alaska and Las Vegas is in Nevada so what we are really saying is we have been to Nome, Alaska.

It is the same as saying you have been to London, England. London is in England so you would not list that you have been to London and England.

Colon

 

Often used to add another point but you need to read the sentence as a whole

Eg. There was only one explanation: the jewellery had been stolen.

 

In the above sentence you need to continue reading beyond the colon to understand the statement whereas in a semicolon the sentence makes sense even if you miss out what is after the semicolon.