Hello everyone:

Guess what? There is a big difference between a colon and a semi-colon. they are not the same thing and they are not interchangeable.

I saw a graduate student’s work recently. He did not know that a semi-colon joins two independent clauses and that a colon is good for when you are listing things or want to point something out.

For example, one might write the following:

Action movies are exciting; they are full of movement.

Did you notice that I used a colon when introducing the sentence that preceded the example? After that, I used a semi-colon to connect two independent clauses. The sentence about the action movies had two perfectly good sentences (aka independent clauses) that I joined together with a semi-colon.

Do NOT write the following:

Action movies are exciting for one reason; full of movement and sense of fun.

Those are NOT two independent clauses. However, you could say:

Action movies are exciting for two reasons: movement and sense of fun.

Do you see the difference? Do let me know if you have any questions; I am happy to guide you along the written path.

Best,

Dr. Sheri