JS Tip 521: Using Supercommas (Semicolons), Part II

Semicolons have two purposes. That’s it. Two. No more. 

We talked about one of those purposes last week (“Semicolons separate items in a series that already contain commas”). 

We’ll talk about the other one this week. Today. Now. Bingo.  

Semicolons separate closely related complete thoughts. 

Let’s suppose you’re writing a damage report. 

You’ve determined that the building basement flooded because the sump pump failed. You have at least four ways to describe the situation:  

The basement flooded because the sump pump failed. 

The sump pump failed. The basement flooded. 

The sump pump failed, so the basement flooded. 

A semicolon allows you a close, causalrelationship in the sentence: 

The sump pump failed; the basement flooded. 

The semicolon allows you a Bam! Bam! picture. Cause and effect. 

A comma (“The sump pump failed, the basement flooded”) will not do it. It’s not strong enough. (Miss Landers, your fourth-grade teacher, called that error a “comma splice” or a “comma fault” and docked you five points.)

This looks like a job for supercomma!

As we mentioned, you have at least four ways to describe the situation. Because you’re the writer, you make the call. It’s your choice. Your option.    

Let us know your questions and concerns. We love this stuff.