Style Academy #5

I decided to do my style academy assignment on the semicolon because it’s something that I have never fully understood. The rules that come along with the semicolon are as follows. When you have two independent clauses you can use a semicolon to separate them but still keep them in the same sentence. The second rule is that you use to semicolon to separate to causes that are linked with a transitional element. The third is similar to the second, it’s joining two independent clauses that are linked with a transitional phrase. The fourth is a little different. You use a semicolon to separate two elements of a sentence.

            To be honest I had no idea about any of these rules before I watched the video and I realize now that I make way too many mistakes with semicolons in my writing. A good example of a wrong sentence being corrected it:

-               The dog went down to the market, the man went to find his dog.

-               The dog went down to the market; the man went to find his dog.

            I’m still not comfortable using semicolons but I now understand when they are supposed to be used and I can practice in the future.