Here’s what they look like:
a colon is two dots – :
a semi-colon is a dot on top of a comma – ;
a comma is a little curly thing (for want of a better description!) – ,
The colon is often used to introduce a list, like so: point one; point two; point three.
As you can see from the above example, the semi-colon can be used to break up the different components in a list – it divides one item of a list from the next one. It can also be used to break up two parts of a sentence, if two separate – but connected – points are being made. Here’s an example:
Many people are trying to make a living on the internet; most of their friends think they’re mad.
If you read what you’ve written out loud, taking note of the punctuation, you should find that a semi-colon creates a shorter pause than a full stop (period), but a longer pause than a comma.
The comma, along with the apostrophe, is one of the most frequently misused punctuation marks in the English language. This is partly because there are few hard and fast rules about it in English (unlike, for instance, in Russian, where certain words demand to be preceded by a comma). Commas can be useful where you want to break up strings of words, or make a slight pause in a sentence, or separate off certain words or phrases – such as “for instance” or “however”. But you should never over-use the comma, or try to connect unrelated ideas with it. If, when you read something out loud, you find you want to leave quite a big gap between two ideas or thoughts – then don’t use a comma.
The best guidance to follow, particularly when you’re writing for online purposes, is to use short, uncomplicated sentences. Lists can be useful, because they’re clear and easy to follow – so you may find you use colons and semi-colons quite a bit. But if you find you’re using a lot of commas, you might greatly improve your writing style and make your copy easier to read by chopping up your sentences into shorter ones, taking out the commas and using full stops (periods) instead.
Virginia Rounding is a published writer whose website of
Internet Resources for Writers looks at additional ways for
writers to earn money, in the hope of making it possible
for them to keep writing without having to resort either to
full-time employment or to destitution. For a selection of
free resources or to subscribe to her new ezine Poetry
Competition Updates, go to
http://www.virginiarounding.com/links.html
