Semicolons & Colons

Used to link two related thoughts

Used with two COMPLETE thoughts - you will never use a semicolon to join a complete thought with an incomplete thought

No comma or conjunction necessary

Example: I love the rain; I find it peaceful and relaxing.

Used to introduce an example, explanation, quotation, or list

Always follows a complete thought

Think of a colon as a replacement for the words "here's what I mean."

Example: There are three types of muscle in the body: cardiac, smooth, and skeletal.

COMMON MISTAKE: Do not use a colon to separate a verb from its object or subject complements

INCORRECT: The three types of muscle in the body are: cardiac, smooth, and skeletal. (no additional punctuation is needed here)

Use a colon when you are adding something to the original thought to make it better/make it make more sense.

Use a colon when you are providing more context or information to the original complete thought.

Use a semicolon when adding a new but related complete thought to the original complete thought.

FYI: no need to capitalize the first letter after the punctuation (for both semicolons and colons)