Can I use a semicolon to add more information at the end of a sentence?

Solution 1:

As Jim Mack and Jason Bassford wrote, the purpose of the semicolon as stated in your headline is correct; however, your specific usage of the semicolon is incorrect. I purposefully put a bunch of semicolons in my response (so you can see some examples of them in use), so keep an eye out for them; in fact, there is one right here.

A well-written page about semicolons can be found HERE. The use of a semicolon in your case would likely be to link two independent clauses (as you implicitly stated in your question).

The issue with your sentence is that the part after the semicolon (quoted below) isn't an independent clause.

...rendering senior lecturers worried, since they are not quite adept with distance learning technology.

An independent clause, when isolated, can be a sentence. Note: even though a clause might be unintelligible once isolated (due to a lack of context), it is still an independent clause if it is a full sentence.

Here is an example sentence with two independent clauses separated by a semicolon: "Most kids eat lunch in the cafeteria; I prefer the gym."

Let's break it down. If we isolate the segment before the semicolon, we get: "Most kids eat lunch in the cafeteria." This can stand alone as a sentence; therefore, it is an independent clause. The second half is: "I prefer the gym." This can also stand alone as a sentence, so it is an independent clause as well.

Now, let's return to your sentence. The first half is: "This year, the university decided to deliver all courses online." This can stand alone as a sentence, so it is an independent clause. The second half is: "Rendering senior lecturers worried, since they are not quite adept with distance learning technology." Hopefully, you can see that this is not a full sentence, and is therefore not an independent clause.

There is one idea that really makes semicolons easier to understand (for me—hopefully for you as well). Imagine you are studying for the English section of the SAT. The question asks you which punctuation is correct in a given sentence. One of the options is a period; another is a semicolon. Automatically, neither of the two is correct. Here's why: the SAT has to have an objective answer, and the decision between a period and a semicolon is completely subjective; it is the author's choice.

Fundamentally, a semicolon (in this context) is a period, but it implies that the two halves of the sentence are closely related. This is why we can isolate the two clauses to see if they are independent clauses. If you had chosen a period instead of a semicolon (both of which have the same syntactic function in this case), the clauses would have had to stand alone. Therefore, they must be able to stand alone, even though you chose a semicolon.

Note: I didn't talk about what the components of an independent clause are. If you want to learn about them, I recommend that you read THIS.