SEMICOLONS AND COLONS
The semicolon and the colon serve altogether different functions. Nobody should ever have cause to confuse them.
The Semicolon
The semicolon is just like the period in a couple of ways—that is, it makes the reader come to a complete stop, and it has to have complete sentences both before and after it. But it has one huge difference: instead of just “stop,” it means “stop but don’t go away till you’ve read the next part too.” In other words, when the grammar calls for a total stop, but the thought calls for continuity, then you use a semicolon.
Examples—in which the writer wants to be sure that the reader doesn’t stop before getting to the end of the sentence:
The stock could be bought on margin; I certainly do not recommend ...
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