TYPICAL ERROR We were not fighting seriously, we were just having a friendly
wrestling match.
CORRECTION We were not fighting seriously; we were just having a friendly wrestling match.
EXPLANATION In the example above, there are really two sentences. We could thus separate them by a full stop (but not a comma). On the other hand, the sentences seem to be closely related in content; they appear to balance each other. Using a semicolon indicates that relationship between the sentences. These examples model for you the use of semicolons to signal balanced statements:
- Extremists do not take power peacefully; they reach out and take it at the point of a gun.
- Business is not a sport; it is a war fought to ensure the survival of the company.
- I am firm; you are obstinate!
- I worry a lot but seldom is there a real reason to do so; it is just my default setting.
- It is no easy task to clear the mind; mental activity cannot be stilled as easily as physical activity.
- Such tyrants do not reason; they simply use force to eliminate opposition.
- Cosmologists do not know what dark energy is; they just know what it does.