Coordinating conjunctions are sometimes referred to as the FANBOYS – For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.
We use coordinating conjunctions to join together two complete thoughts.
It is raining, so practice is canceled.
One complete thought: It is raining.
Second complete thought: Practice is canceled.
The conjunction so joins the two statements into one sentence.
We can do the same thing with a semicolon.
It is raining; practice is canceled.
The semicolon replaces the coordinating conjunction in this sentence.
More sentence examples using a semicolon to join two complete thoughts:
Jan has a law degree; I’m her first client.
School starts tomorrow; I have to be in early tonight.
I washed the car; it needs to go into the garage.
Whenever you have two statements with closely related information, you can connect the two thoughts with a semicolon and make them into one sentence.
▶Now you try it. Put a semicolon into this sentence: The books are heavy, so we need to get more help.
Did you take out the comma and coordinating conjunction when you put in the semicolon? Good for you!