back to themselves The committee berated itself in frustration Self forms are also used as
intensifiers: I myself will lead the parade But self forms should never be used when simple
cases of pronouns will su ce. WRONG Fran will accompany herself and myself on the trip RIGHT Fran will travel with her and me The use of myself in these situations is probably attributable to a desire to avoid guring out the correct
objective case form of “I”—easier to say myself than to guess whether it should be I or “me.”
Semicolon. The
punctuation mark called semicolon (;) indicates a stronger
or more definite break in a sentence than a
comma.When two or more independent
clauses are put together to form a sentence, they can be joined by
conjunctions (words like
“and”) or simply stuck to one another without words of explanation. Such unexplained junctures require punctuation,
which is usually the semicolon The writer likes sports the programmer likes books These two clauses could have been
linked by a comma and and or “but.”However, the choice of no conjunction and the semicolon makes the contrast between the writer’s preferences and the programmer’s a little more forceful or stark. Put another way, the semicolon here plays a
rhetorical role in the sentence or its
style; it adds
emphasis.If a sentence is built
from two or more clauses or phrases that include other punctuation, particularly commas, then a semicolon is the best choice to separate the sentence elements and to make clear what belongs where The programmer likes books like
Northanger Abbey, Anna Karenina, and
Rabbit Redux; the writer
likes sports like swimming, baseball, and biking but the kids like music, and they play CDs morning, noon, and night Without the semicolons dividing the independent clauses in this rambling example, readers would be hard
pressed to gure out where the liststhat go with each person end and the next person’s preferences start. Phrases can present the same problem Starting with a cup of our, add two teaspoons of salt;
one cup of smoked, peeled, and grated chiles; and three tablespoons
each of chopped onions, peppers, and garlic Again, the lists would jumble together without semicolons marking the segments that belong together.
Each of the example sentences in the previous paragraph could be revised into less
run-on form. The writer and programmer might appear in one shorter sentence with their likes, whereas the kids could be given a sentence of their own, especially since the structure of the sentence changes somewhat to focus on timing of action rather than list of speci cs.
Similarly, the recipe could be broken up into a more readable form—each ingredient on a separate line, gures used instead of spelled out
numbers, and soon. In short, use semicolons as a signal that sentences might be running on too long and be in need of rewriting or
revision.When two or more independent clauses are part of
a single sentence and one or more of them includes dependent clauses that require commas to set them o within the independent clause, then a semicolon is used to join the independent clauses even if a conjunction appears Having painted the ceiling, Michelangelo moved onto the walls and all the while he made plans for decorating the floors.”
Even long and rambly sentences need not have semicolons if the elements are clearly distinguished and not listed or joined with commas. In fact, it is a common error to put in semicolons before dependent clauses or to mark the beginning of lists.
Like all punctuation, the semicolon should not be overused or misused in these ways.
Semicolons usually appear outside
quotation marks: We don’t use words like ‘damn’
we are above such vulgarity.”
Share with your friends: 
