English Grammar & Punctuation : Do You Use a Semicolon Before or After Conjunctive Adverbs?

A semicolon is used before conjunctive adverbs to join two independent clauses together. Discover why semicolons are used with conjunctive adverbs with help from a certified tutor in this free video on punctuation in the English language.

Expert: Paige Carrera
Bio: Paige Carrera is a certified tutor for both Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.
Filmmaker: Christopher Rokosz

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• English
• grammar
• punctuation
• apostrophes
• quotation marks
• adverbs
• nouns
• adjectives
• verbs
• parts of speech
• language
• linguistics

[1monkeyat1typewriter]

I was never taught that the comma + a conjunctive adverb = not strong enough to join two clauses. I would have thought that a comma, semi colon, or period would have been correct to use.

[18queen4ever]

too hard to understand this

[Argent108]

This is perfectly acceptable English but I really don't like this sentence. To me, the semicolon, the conjunction, and the comma all demand a pause in reading; all three appearing in rapid succession feels like a speed hump in the middle of the sentence.

I would use a full stop in place of the semicolon. This should be two sentences, not one. Alternately, I would use the conjunction without the extra punctuation, as I did in the first sentence of this post. Just my two cents.

[FwVids]

omg i hate the words being on the screen

[SporeInfoProductions]

I use semi-colons sometimes.

[SuperYaziel]

thanks

[drunkchickenTV]

thanks this really helped me understand this better.