Replace em dash with semicolon

Question

There is the following sentence:

I love the big and funny dog — Cooper.

This is absolutely fine to my understanding.

Now I was wondering if I could also simplify my sentence by writing it as follows.

I love the big and funny dog; Cooper.

May I replace the em dash with a semicolon in this case?

(Cooper is a name)

So is the big and funny dog called Cooper or is Cooper the one saying "I love the big and funny dog"? — KillingTime, Oct 23 '23 at 16:55
It's at best very unusual to offset a renaming appositive with a semicolon. A comma or brackets; perhaps a dash or ellipsis if you want a pause for effect. — Edwin Ashworth, Oct 23 '23 at 16:57
@EdwinAshworth Do you have any other way to make the reader pause like with the dash? — Henrik, Oct 23 '23 at 17:02
The comma signals the usual slight pause in reading << I love the big and funny dog, Cooper. >> It's the typical way of showing non-defining (non-specifying) appositives. Contrast non-defining 'There's my sister, Anne' (= 'There's my sister, who is called Anne') with defining 'There's my sister Anne' (as opposed to my other sisters). With your example, a non-defining reading is necessary. The dash or ellipsis may replace the comma, showing lengthening pauses (comma , dash , ellipsis). I suppose you could put in a double ellipsis or full stop and fragment ('Cooper' already has a capital). — Edwin Ashworth, Oct 23 '23 at 18:15
... << I love the big and funny dog ... ... Cooper. >> or << I love the big and funny dog. Cooper. >> But these are messy, some would say unacceptable. But the rules of punctuation are fairly loose and always in flux to some extent. Semicolons before fragments though are rare. — Edwin Ashworth, Oct 23 '23 at 18:17
Does this answer your question? Is it ... correct to separate a complete sentence and an incomplete sentence {fragment} with a semicolon? Or this? Semicolon or comma? — Edwin Ashworth, Oct 23 '23 at 18:22

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 23 '23 at 17:21

No, the semicolon does not function like the em-dash in this case.

The semicolon is usually placed between independent clauses, or clauses that could function as standalone sentences (Punctuation Guide):

The upperclassmen are permitted off-campus lunch; the underclassmen must remain on campus.

In your example, Cooper is not an independent clause, so a semicolon would be infelicitous. Cooper could be considered nonessential information, further identifying "the big and funny dog." Instead, em-dashes usually stand in for commas, parentheses, or colons. In that case, one could use a comma instead (Punctuation Guide):

I love the big and funny dog, Cooper.

Another alternative would be a colon, which is occasionally used to add emphasis to the last word or phrase of a sentence (Punctuation Guide):

I love the big and funny dog: Cooper.

Finally, you could use parentheses, which are another way to set off nonessential or additional information (Punctuation Guide):

I love the big and funny dog (Cooper).

Replace em dash with semicolon

1 Answers1