From the course: Writing with Proper Punctuation
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How to use semicolons in complicated lists
From the course: Writing with Proper Punctuation
How to use semicolons in complicated lists
- With simple lists, you use commas to separate each list item. But when your list items get complicated, when they themselves contain commas, then you use semi-colons to separate them. Here's an example. This week's winners are Haru from Las Vegas, Nevada; Kerry from Columbus, Ohio; and Matt from Orlando, Florida. Because each city and state are separated by a comma, you use semi-colons to separate each winner. You do this, even if only one of your list items has a comma. Jordan has turned his yard into a small farm with vegetables, such as carrots, kale, peas, and beets; chickens; and honey bees. If your sentence ends up having so many commas and semicolons that it feels unwieldy it's often better to break it up into two or more separate sentences. Especially in news and business writing where clarity should be your main goal. But if you do want to keep everything together, the semi-colon is a useful tool for…
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