Moulay Ismail University Department of English Studies

Faculty of Arts and Humanities Semester 1: Paragraph Writing

Meknes S. Kerouad

Punctuation

2. Semicolons
A semicolon (;) is more like a period than a comma. It is a very strong punctuation mark.
Semicolons are used in three places:
A. Between two sentences that are closely connected in idea.
B. Before conjunctive adverbs and some transition phrases when they are followed by
an independent clause.
C. Between items in a series when the items themselves contain commas.

A. Use a semicolon between sentences.

We use a semicolon at the end of a sentence when the following sentence is closely connected in
meaning. You could also use a period, but when the sentences are connected in meaning, a
semicolon indicates the connection.
- Andrew did not accept the job offer; he wants to go to graduate school.
- he fell down; his ankle was twisted.
- I went to the gym last night; I woke extremely sore.
- "Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it." (Christopher Morley)
-"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things."(Peter Drucker)

B. Use a semicolon before connectors

We use a semicolon before conjunctive adverbs such as however, therefore, nevertheless, etc. Also
we use a semicolon before transition phrases such as for example, as a result, that is, or in fact
when they are followed by an independent clause.
- I had no intention for attending the wedding; nevertheless I did send a card and a gift.
- Some people take pleasure in doing evil; however others take pleasure in doing good.
- “Words rarely express the true meaning; in fact they tend to hide it.” (Hermann Hesse)
- Everyone knows he is guilty; of course it will never be proved.
(Independent clause; conjunctive adverb/ transition phrase, independent clause.)

C. Use a semicolon between items in a series

Semicolons are used to separate items in a series when some of the items already contain commas.

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 - They have visited Spain, England, and Germany in Europe; Korea, Japan, and China in
Asia; and Peru, Brazil, and Colombia in South America.

- I took a holiday and played soccer which I love, read a lot which I needed to do, and
slept late; which I hadn't done for quite a while.

- She brought bread, milk, butter, and cheese from the corner shop; lamb and beef from
the supermarket; and potatoes, green beans, and onions from the market.

Exercises.
Add the correct punctuation: semicolons or commas in the appropriate places.
1. Professor Smith is at a conference however Dr. Jones who is the department chairman will
be glad to see you.
2. Ahmed works for a prestigious law firm he is their top criminal lawyer.
3. My favorite leisure-time activities are going to movies especially musicals reading novels
especially stories of love and adventure listening to music both rock and classical and
participating in sports particularly tennis and volleyball.
4. The future of our wild animals is uncertain for example illegal shooting and chemical
poisoning threaten many birds.
5. Howework is boring therefore I never do it.
6. The freeways are always crowded during the busy rush hours nevertheless people refuse to
take public transportation,
7. The Smiths’ marriage should succeed they share the same interests.
8. Hoping that he would pass the course he stayed up all night studying for the final exam
unfortunately he overslept and missed the test.
9. In general I enjoy my English class the amount of homework our teacher assigns is
definitely not enjoyable however.
10. If you are a college student an average day is filled with challenges: you have to avoid
running into Professor Jones whose days class you missed because you overslept you have
to race across the campus at high speed to reach your next class which is always at the other
side of the campus and you have to secretly prepare your homework assignment during
class hoping all the time that the teacher will not catch you.
11. The politician was discovered accepting bribes as a result his political career was ruined.
12. My father never cries in fact he never shows any emotion at all.

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 The supporting statements

I. Read the following paragraphs. Locate the topic sentence and underline the supporting
sentences. What type of development (support) does each paragraph illustrate?

Paragraph 1.
Although some people think that red-light running is a minor traffic violation that is no worse than
jaywalking, it can, in fact, become a deadly crime. Red-light runners cause hundreds of accidents,
including deaths and injuries as well as millions of dollars in damages. Each year more than 900
people die, and nearly 200,000 are injured in crashes that involve red-light running. Motorists run
red lights all the time. For example, in Virginia a five-month-long survey at five busy intersections
revealed that a motorist ran a red light every 20 minutes. Red-light runners are seldom caught.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, “Communities do not have the resources
to allow police to patrol intersections as often as would be needed to ticket all motorists who run
red lights”.

Paragraph 2.
I like to remember my old house from San Luis Potosi, in Mexico, because there I enjoyed my
infancy and adolescence. Although it is a small house, for me it always seems that it was bigger,
mainly the patio where I played soccer with my cousins and friends. On the patio there was a small
pool where we played with small boats of paper. I remember each corner of my old house,
especially my favorite place: the window of the living room. From this window I could see the rain
in the summertime, and I could feel the tranquility and freshness of the streets. Moreover, from this
window, I could admire the stars in the dark sky. For all these reasons, my old house occupies a
special place in my mind.

Paragraph 3.
Although my first language, Spanish, has many aspects which are similar to English, for me it has
been very difficult to achieve good pronunciation of words in English due to the number of sounds
that it has. In Spanish we have five vowels and five basic sounds, but in English the vowel ‘a’
alone has five or six sounds. Sometimes two words have a very small difference, but their
meanings are completely different. This particular situation can take away sense from a
conversation and sometimes makes if funny. An example of that happened to me. I wanted to buy a
half-pound of Muenster cheese in slices, but my pronunciation of this word was ‘monster’. The
salesperson began to smile because she could not imagine how to get a ‘monster’ in slices.