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The semicolon; (or semi-colon [1]) is a symbol commonly used as orthographic punctuation. In the English language , a semicolon is most commonly used to link (in a single sentence) two independent clauses that are closely related in thought, such as when restating the preceding idea with a different expression.
A leading semicolon;, in column 1 of a line, causes the line to be displayed as the name part of a description list. These lists contain a name, followed by one or more descriptions that apply to it (e.g. in a glossary). These descriptions are indicated by starting them with :.
Line vs. block – a line comment starts with a delimiter and continues to the end of the line (newline marker) whereas a block comment starts with one delimiter and ends with another and can cross lines; Nestable – whether a block comment can be inside another block comment
This rule varies for other punctuation marks; for example, American English follows the British English rule when it comes to semicolons, colons, question marks, and exclamation points. [ 20 ] [ further explanation needed ] The serial comma is used much more often in the United States than in the UK.
Punctuation in the English language helps the reader to understand a sentence through visual means other than just the letters of the alphabet. [1] English punctuation has two complementary aspects: phonological punctuation, linked to how the sentence can be read aloud, particularly to pausing; [2] and grammatical punctuation, linked to the structure of the sentence. [3]
The colon, :, is a punctuation mark consisting of two equally sized dots aligned vertically. A colon often precedes an explanation, a list, [1] or a quoted sentence. [2] It is also used between hours and minutes in time, [1] between certain elements in medical journal citations, [3] between chapter and verse in Bible citations, [4] and, in the US, for salutations in business letters and other ...
Some authorities advise supplying statement-terminating semicolons explicitly, because it may lessen unintended effects of the automatic semicolon insertion. [ 3 ] There are two issues: five tokens can either begin a statement or be the extension of a complete statement; and five restricted productions, where line breaks are not allowed in ...
The 2003 edition of the Oxford Style Manual combined the Oxford Guide to Style (first published as Hart's Rules in 1893) and the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors ("defines the language of the entire English-speaking world, from North America to South Africa, from Australia and New Zealand to the Caribbean"). It states, "In text, use ...