How do you properly us a semicolon?

Answer 1

A semicolon joins two independent clauses (an independent clause is basically something that could stand alone as a sentence) that are linked in subject in some way.

So...

Joe was sad; his dog died.

That is a correct way to use a semicolon, although

Joe was sad. His dog died.

and

Joe was sad that his dog had died.

are also just as correct.

However, Joe was sad; Eleanor was excited to be moving to Israel.

would only be correct if Eleanor's impending travel is the reason for Joe's sadness. If they are relatively unrelated people and you are just discussing their different emotions, then making them two separate sentences is less confusing.

Remember... you should never use a semicolon in place of a comma or other punctuation. You can only use it in the place of a period, and then only if the sentences are very closely related.

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Answer 2

The proper way that you use a semicolon is when you need to connect two sentences together. Ex: the fisherman decided to live in a shack; he wanted to sleep outside.