semicolon

SEM-ee-koh-lun

meaning in plain English

A punctuation mark (;) that looks like a dot with a comma above it, used to separate parts of a sentence when a comma isn’t strong enough.

for example

I have a big test tomorrow; I should go to bed early.

Imagine you’re writing a list in a sentence and the items are closely related but not quite as separate as full stops allow. That’s where the semicolon steps in—it’s like a gentle pause that keeps the flow going without breaking the thought. Ever seen a sentence where a comma just feels too weak to separate two big ideas? That’s your semicolon’s moment to shine.