Proofreading Tips #2 Semicolon Conjunctive Adverbs

...Wow, that's a mouthful! These suckers are used to attach two independent clauses as one single sentence. Many people have confusion about when to use commas, semicolons, and colons. Semicolon conjunctive adverbs are helpful to emphasize the relationship between two thoughts (as opposed to separate sentences). Here is a list of words commonly used for this:

• Consequently
• Furthermore
• However
• Therefore
• Then
• Thus
• Additionally
• Similarly
• Subsequently

Some examples in sentences include:

"She arrived to school late; consequently, the teacher did not accept her homework."

"Man could not overcome the demon army; thus, the age of darkness was born."

"He forgot his lunch; additionally, he had no umbrella for the rain."

Note that these are different from conjunction words such as "and," "but," and "or." These attach two independent clauses with a comma.