The semicolon — ; — serves as a valuable piece of punctuation in English writing. However, sometimes writers may be confused with its usage.

The fact is, there are only three uses for the semicolon. Here are the rules and an example of each.

Rule 1: Use a semicolon to join two closely related independent clauses.

One student decided to study the night before the test; another student decided to “cram” an hour before.

Rule 2: Use a semicolon before a conjunctive adverb if it is used to join two complete sentences.

The student who studied the night before made a passing grade; however, the one who decided to wait made a failing grade.

Rule 3: Use semicolons to separate items in a series that contain internal punctuation.

I went fishing with Jimmy, my best friend; Mike, my brother; and Jase, my oldest son.

In the simplified example above, if only commas were used, then the reader might mistake that I went fishing with five or six people.

So, there you have it. That’s a short lesson on semicolons and their three usages.