A Grammar Lesson

Semicolons are used to connect two complete sentences. "The child did not want to go outside; he was afraid of monsters."

Semicolons are used when two complete sentences are linked by a conjunctive adverb (e.g., however, moreover, therefore, thus, consequently, furthermore, unfortunately). "The man wanted to leave; unfortunately, he had lost his keys."

Semicolons are used to separate items in a list when a comma would be confusing (e.g., when the items in the list include a comma and/or are longer items). "We visited Toronto, Ontario; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Montreal, Quebec."

Do NOT use a semicolon if you use a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to join two sentences; for that, you would use a comma. "The bird flew away from the house, so the cat ran after it."

Do NOT use a semicolon if you are combining two sentences and use a subordinating conjunction (e.g., although, because, since, while, after, before, until, as soon as, if, unless, provided that, wherever, as long as, so that, in order that, though) at the start of one sentence; you either need a comma or no punctuation. "Because she was tired, she decided to stay home." or "She decided to stay home because she was tired."

Finally: Do NOT use a semicolon if you don't know how to use a semicolon.