{"id":88,"date":"2020-05-22T22:04:52","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T22:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oluwatoyosiabikoye.com\/?p=88"},"modified":"2024-06-10T09:46:47","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T09:46:47","slug":"errors-in-the-use-of-punctuations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/errors-in-the-use-of-punctuations\/","title":{"rendered":"Errors in the use of semicolons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Errors in the use of semicolons are avoidable!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, the two golden rules of the use of the semicolon is an everyday use of the English language punctuation that is commonly ignored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, semicolons unite highly related thoughts. Instead of using a period to end too many independent short sentences, a semicolon unites the thoughts and add variety to your sentence structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>E.g. instead of \u201cTomiwa likes cake. Toni likes Jollof rice\u201d \u2013 because they are two short sentences with the period, you use \u201cTomiwa likes cake; Toni likes Jollof rice\u201d (the semicolon unites the related thoughts).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second rule states that before using a semicolon, ask yourself whether the sentence would still make sense if you flipped the thoughts to opposite sides of the semicolon. If yes, then you are on the right track.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>E.g. \u201cAs a matter of grammar; I advise you to use the oxford comma\u201d.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If we flip it, it would still make sense, i.e. \u201cI advise you to use the oxford comma; as a matter of grammar\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Same for \u201cI have a big test tomorrow; I can\u2019t go out tonight\u201d. (Flip it, and it is grammatically correct)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In conclusion, one must take note that many sentences place a transition word or phrase immediately after the semicolon (example of transition words are, however, nevertheless, despite, etcetera).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>E.g.&nbsp;<em>NCDC provides official numbers of those affected with coronavirus; however, we do not trust their numbers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can see that semicolons not only make our writings look better, it also unites our thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So now place your hand on your head and take the pledge \u201cI, (name) will no longer make errors in the use of semicolons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ok, Bye!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image-5.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1016\" style=\"width:218px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image-5.png 400w, https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/image-5-300x150.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For more on grammar, see&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.english-grammar-revolution.com\/punctuation-rules.html\">https:\/\/www.english-grammar-revolution.com\/punctuation-rules.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For previous post see <a href=\"http:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/22\/the-oxford-comma-the-lagbaja-of-punctuation\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/22\/the-oxford-comma-the-lagbaja-of-punctuation\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Errors in the use of semicolons are avoidable! Unfortunately, the two golden rules of the use of the semicolon is an everyday use of the English language punctuation that is commonly ignored. First, semicolons unite highly related thoughts. Instead of using a period to end too many independent short sentences, a semicolon unites the thoughts&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-journey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1017,"href":"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/1017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oluabikoye.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}