The Semicolon Guidelines Committee

Section 1: The Rules

Rule 1: A semicolon shall never be used as a substitute for a comma, except in the presence of an auxiliary sentence.

Rule 2: A semicolon shall always be used to join two independent clauses in a sentence, unless it is absolutely necessary.

Avoid using semicolons in the following situations:

• When you're trying to be fancy and it doesn't make sense.

• When you're in a hurry and can't be bothered.

• When you want to make a statement, but really you just want to make a mistake.