Now we get a bit more complicated – using semicolons, conjunctive adverbs or transition words with a comma to join complete sentences.

Conjunctive adverbs are also known as transitional adverbs and include words like:

However

Moreover

Nevertheless

Consequently

Therefore

Otherwise

And many others like them. Transitional phrases and words include:

In the first place

In fact

Still

Indeed

Even so

For example

On the other hand

These phrases can be used with commas and semicolons.

What about a complete sentence, a conjunctive adverb and another complete sentence? These can have a comma and a semicolon.

Have a look at these examples – you can see that the ideas in the complete sentences are related and the meaning the transition or conjunctive adverb adds:

My bicycle is still going strong after three years of constant use; regardless, I’ve booked it in for a tune-up by an expert next week.

I’ve kept up with my exercise regime for nine months; in fact, I will be running a marathon in three weeks.

It seemed as though justice had been meted out when the trial was finished; still, I can't help but think he needed help more than punishment.

When you use a transition or a conjunctive adverb with a comma and a semicolon, you can join related complete sentences together, providing a bit of variety in your writing style.

And semicolons can be used for separating items in lists where other internal punctuation, like the comma, is used.

Usually, a list of items would be separated with commas:

Oranges, lemons, and limes

Cats, dogs, and snakes

Yellow, pink, and blue

However, when each item is part of a group with several items, each with the comma separating it, using a semicolon to separate the groups stops a lot of confusion:

The menu included a selection of appetizers like Steamed Vegetables, Prawn Cocktail, and a choice of cheeses; entrees such as Risotto al Funghi, and Shrimp fra Diavolo; and some wonderful desserts like Cannoli, Tiramisu, and Baked Lemon Cheesecake.

But what if only one of the items is a group?

The chef prepares Prawn Cocktail, Steamed Vegetables, and a choice of cheeses for appetizers, Shrimp fra Diavolo for dinner, and several amazing desserts.

In this case and depending on what order things are in, commas do just fine but what if we had this sentence?

For appetizers, we had Prawn Cocktail, Steamed Vegetables, and cheese; Shrimp fra Diavolo for dinner and several amazing desserts.

Instead of a comma between cheese and Shrimp fra Diavolo, use a semicolon to avoid tripping up. Even better, either reduce the group of items down to one or add more to the other single items. Whichever way you choose, remember they must be equally weighted.

Don’t use too many short sentences one after the other either because your readers will get incredibly bored. Use commas and different sentence types for variety and clarity but, even better, learn to use the semicolon correctly and many more options will open up to you.