The rules of Russian spelling and punctuation are considered one of the most difficult for foreigners to learn. And not every Russian-speaking person can boast that he is fluent in the basics of grammar and correctly places commas in the text.
The semicolon due to the lack of knowledge of the writer in a sentence is often omitted or replaced by a more strict period. Although the rules for using the sign are simple and do not require memorization.
In complex sentences
The semicolon can be used in complex allied and non-union sentences.
A compound sentence is such a complex union sentence, the parts of which are equal in meaning and do not depend on each other. If simple sentences in a complex one include too scattered information or are very common, you can put a semicolon between them.
Example:
Kolobok ran away fromgrandmother, deceived the hare, outwitted the wolf and did not even fall into the paws of a hungry bear; but the rogue fox still managed to feast on them.
Complex sentences with conjunctions and allied words, in which one simple sentence is the main one, and the second is dependent, are called complex. If there are several common subordinate clauses in a complex sentence, then a ";" sign is placed between these clauses.
Example:
The goat did not think that it was dangerous to leave her kids alone in a hut standing in the middle of the forest; that a cunning hungry wolf will deceive and eat her children.
Parts of a complex sentence without conjunctions can be both equal in rights and dependent on the parts. The ";" sign is placed between the parts of such a sentence if they are common and contain other punctuation marks.
Example:
The frog and the mouse tidied up in the hut, boiled porridge, and then chatted merrily over a cup of tea; meanwhile, the hedgehog and the rooster were guarding the tower.
When using enums
A semicolon is also placed at the end of list enumerations. Headings should be fairly common and may contain other punctuation marks, but still not be independent sentences. To comply with punctuation rules, each rubric must begin with a lowercase letter.
Example:
In the bears' hut Masha:
- sat on a chair and looked around;
- ate delicious, but already a little cold porridge;
- lay on the bed and fell asleep by the arrival of the owners of the hut.
Between sentence members that are homogeneous
According to the rules of Russian spelling and punctuation, the use of the sign ";" in a sentence possible to separate sufficiently expanded homogeneous members, especially if they already contain commas.
Example:
Everything in Alyonushka was good: and mischievous eyes squinting in the sun; and freckles covering a radiant face; and a tight braid to the waist.
