Here’s Why Everyone Gets Semicolons Wrong And How to Fix It

Last updated on November 18th, 2025 at 12:45 pm

Look, I get it. Semicolons became my evasion response over several years, so it seemed to me that they laid traps with grammar like a rustic stigmatizer. One day, my boss made me realise that I had made one mistake in an email to a client. Awkward doesn’t even cover it.

Turns out, I’m not alone. The vast majority of individuals would keep out of the way of semicolons or would simply place them causally hoping to sound intelligent. That is what I discovered after getting my butt on the chair to find this out.

The Real Difference between Semicolons and Colons.

This is the point that no one wants to reveal to you; semicolons and colons cannot be used interchangeably. Their line of work is absolutely different.

The colon (:) is a phrase that implies “here, have a look at what I am talking about Colonel,” or here, have a look at this. It adds something – a list, an explanation, some evidence of what you have just told me.

Scenario: There are three items I had to get at the store: milk, bread and eggs.

A semicolon (;) is trickier. It brings two entire ideas that are connected, but might be independent. Imagine it to be a firm pause as compared to a comma but milder than a period.

Demonstration: I have a meeting at noontime; it is with design team.

Both sides of that semi colon might be their own sentences. That’s the test.

The Confusion that Semicolons Cause.

The biggest mistake? Inclusion of lists by the use of semicolons.

I would write down such things as: The recipe requires three ingredients; eggs, butter and sugar.

Wrong. That’s a colon’s job.

Commercial variant: There should be three ingredients in the recipe, i.e., eggs, butter, and sugar.

There is nothing that is introduced with semicolons. They simply bind two ideas, independent of one another, together.

The One Rule That Changed Everything about Me.

This is where the trick comes in that I would wish someone had told me earlier on: When you can substitute the semicolon with the period and both sentences will make sense, you are a-ok.

Let’s test it:

• She is a coffee-lover, but never at night.

Instead of using semicolon employing period:

• She loves coffee. But she does not do it at night.

The two are both fine works of their own? You nailed it.

Now try this wrong example:

• The reason we did this was because of the rain; we were indoors.

Replace it:

• Because it was raining. We stayed inside.

Look how part one does not stand alone? That’s your red flag. There the semicolon is not out of place.

How to use a semicolon when I really should.

There are two applications of semicolons;

Connecting similar ideas without using the words and and but.

All the report was done, the presentation was done by my coworker.

Here you may take a period, but the semi colon indicates that the ideas are interrelated.

Separating complex lists

As list items with commas will already be sorted, meaning lists are not allowed to display chaos with semicolons:

Our destinations were Paris, France; London, England and Rome, Italy.

The absence of semicolons then makes that sentence a mess.

The Colon’s Simple Job

Colons are much easier with the knowledge of their purpose. They’re attention-grabbers. When you feel like enumerating something or just describing what you have just said, use them.

It has only one condition, both thoughts have to be linked up.

Wait, did I mess that up? Nope. The pre-colonial part is a full sentence and the rest elaborates or elaborates on the same. This is just the way that the colons do it.

Rapid Solutions to the Major Gaffs.

• Mistake: Use of colon immediately after opting for a verb.
• Wrong: The ingredients consist of; sugar, flour, eggs.
• Right: I require the following ingredients, sugar, flour, eggs.

• Mistake: Semicolons that are applied to incomplete sentences.
• Wrong: I was exhausted, but I did nothing about it.
• Right: I was dealing aweary; I worked on.

• Mistake: Loss of memory of the existence of semicolons and the forming of run-ons.
• Faux pas: You see the project is final, we can rejoice.
• Right: It is finished we may rejoice.

Why This Actually Matters

This is the reality about it most individuals will not make conscious observation when you use the semicolons properly. However, they will surely feel it when they are misused. It is one of those little details, which can make either you seem carved or funny.

I have also read emails of job seekers in which the way a misplaced semi colon has made them appear careless. I have also seen the use of semicolons by colleagues who have made the perfect use of semicolons in presentations and appear very sharp and detail-oriented.

The difference is tiny. The impact isn’t.

My Actual Advice

There is no need to worry about the use of semicolons in every writing. Frankly, one can go weeks without it. But you should incorporate sentences on both sides when you are going to use.

And if you’re ever unsure? Use a period instead. A wrong semicolon is beaten every time on a simple sentence.

The thing is that semicolons are such a nuanced device that once you learn to use them, your writing will be more comfortable. You no longer as choppy, and your thoughts flow together more ably.

All you have to do is remember: Equals are joined with semicolons and the next thing in a line is joined with colon.

That’s it. That’s the whole thing. The rest is just practice.