Act Prep

Semicolons and Colons

What do you notice about the following

sentences?
I am.
He read.

The semicolon and two

independent clauses

Independent clauses must have:

a subject
a verb
Independent clauses must stand by itself as
a complete sentence, thus making it
independent.
Length isnt an issue as long as it is a
complete sentence.

The semicolon and two

independent clauses

SO where does the

SEMICOLON come in?

What do you notice about the following

sentences?
Mrs. Carr ate six cookies; Mr. Carr ate
one.
Mr. Haygood needed to buy oil; he ran to
Napa Autoparts.

The semicolon and two

independent clauses

The semicolon functions as a weak pause

versus the complete stop a period would
create between two sentences.
ACT will not offer a choice between a
semicolon and a period.

The semicolon and two

independent clauses

What do you notice about the function of

transitional adverbs?
consequently
however
furthermore
indeed
moreover
nevertheless
therefore
thus

The semicolon and two

independent clauses

What do you notice about the following

sentences?
Mrs. Carr ate six cookies; however, Mr.
Carr ate one.
Mr. Haygood needed to buy oil; thus he
ran to Napa Autoparts.

The semicolon and two

independent clauses

Most transitional adverbs should be

followed by a comma, but for short adverbs
such as thus, the comma is omitted.
Mrs.

Carr ate six cookies; however, Mr.

Carr ate one.
Mr. Haygood needed to buy oil; thus he
ran to Napa Autoparts.

The semicolon and two

independent clauses

What do you notice about the following

sentence?
The tennis tournament featured the
surprise comeback player, Alec, who
dropped out last year due to injuries; the
up-and-coming star, Curt, who dominated
the junior tour; and the current favorite,
Mr. Partee, who won five of the last six
tournaments.

The semicolon and the series: when

the commas already taken

Without all the specific information, the sentence

would be a comma in a series.
The tennis tournament featured Alec, Curt, and Mr.
Partee.
Since there is a series that already require commas,
the semicolons replace the commas in a series.
The tennis tournament featured the surprise
comeback player, Alec, who dropped out last year
due to injuries; the up-and-coming star, Curt, who
dominated the junior tour; and the current favorite,
Mr. Partee, who won five of the last six
tournaments.

The semicolon and the series: when

the commas already taken

What do you notice about the following

sentence?
The wedding had all the elements to make
it a classic: the elegant bride, the weeping
mother, and the fainting bridesmaid.

Colons and lists

The colon is used to introduce a list.

The wedding had all the elements to make it
a classic: the elegant bride, the weeping
mother, and the fainting bridesmaid.
Without the list, the sentence can stand alone.
The wedding had all the elements to make it
a classic.
The list further explains and expands upon the
independent clause. Therefore, a colon must
have an independent clause that precedes it.

Colons and lists

What do you notice about the following

sentence?
The wedding had all the elements to make
it a classic: the elegant bride beamed as
her mother wept and as the bridesmaid
fainted.

Colons that explain

What do you notice about the following

sentence?
The wedding had all the elements to make
it a classic: the elegant bride beamed as
her mother wept and as the bridesmaid
fainted.

Colons that explain

In this case, the colon joins two

independent clauses, but the clause
following the colon is used to expand and
explain.
The wedding had all the elements to make
it a classic: the elegant bride beamed as
her mother wept and as the bridesmaid
fainted.

Colons that explain

What do you notice about the following

sentence?
The wedding had all the elements to make
it a classic: If only the bridesmaid hadnt
fainted!

Colons that quote something.

The colon is used to list the mothers

exclamation.
The wedding had all the elements to make
it a classic: If only the bridesmaid hadnt
fainted!
Note: the quoted material must be related to
the independent clause before the colon.

Colons that quote something.

In a nutshell, colons:
list
explain
quote information

The function of colons

Colon trip-ups on the ACT:

A colon should always be preceded by an independent
clause.
Wrong:

The ingredients I need to make a cake: flour,

butter, sugar, and icing.

Right:

I need several ingredients to make a cake: flour,

butter, sugar, and icing.

The ingredients I need to make a cake is not a complete

sentence by itself; therefore, it is a dependent clause, not
an independent clause.

The function of colons

Colon trip-ups on the ACT:

There should never be more than one colon in a
sentence.
Wrong:

He brought many items on the camping trip:

a tent, a sleeping bag, a full cooking set, warm
clothes, and several pairs of shoes: sneakers, boots,
and sandals.

Right:

He brought many items on the camping trip: a

tent, a sleeping bag, a full cooking set, warm clothes,
sneakers, boots, and sandals.

The function of colons