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The semicolon is used to indicate a pause, usually between two main clauses, that needs to be more pronounced than the pause of a comma. The hybrid between a colon and a comma, it is often considered ...

The semicolon does not draw a sentence to a close. It holds its breath, waiting for the next clause to continue the message of the first. In the same way, the semicolon is not dead; it merely waits ...

Of all the punctuation marks, the semicolon is far from the most popular. It's fallen in usage since it's heyday in the 1800s. Why was it so big then, and what changed? It might be that folks today ...

While we all slip up from time to time, there are some basic punctuation mistakes you should never make in formal writing. For example, don't confuse "it's" and "its," don't use an apostrophe to ...

Cecelia Watson, author of “Semicolon: The Past, Present and Future of a Misunderstood Mark.” Historian and philosopher of science. Faculty member in Bard College’s Language and Thinking program.

Love or detest it, the semicolon is the most divisive punctuation mark of the modern era. Should we even care? "His kiss was like a flash of lightning; when it was dark again she was free." From the ...