The "However" Sandwich

Too often we all see sentences mispunctuated like these:

1.  WRONG He arrived 15 minutes late, however, he found a seat.

2.  WRONG He arrived 15 minutes late, however he found a seat.

Each of these sentences consists of an independent clause, then the conjunction however, and then another independent clause. 

Rule:  When however is sandwiched between two independent clauses, it requires a semicolon either before or after it—usually before.

Why?  Because however is one of the conjunctions that may either begin or end the clause.  

Example:

3. “My work is like a diary,” Picasso told me, and I have taken him up on this.  One has to tread carefully, however.  Diaries are nonetheless interesting for embroidering upon the truth.  (House & Garden magazine, March 1991, p. 28)

The second sentence ends, quite correctly, with “however.”  The period could (also correctly) have been a semicolon.

If however appears between two independent clauses, the reader needs to know whether it ends the first clause or begins the second one. This information is provided by the semicolon:

4.  CORRECT   He arrived 15 minutes late; however, he found a seat.

5.  ALSO CORRECT:  He arrived 15 minutes late.  However, he found a seat.

Other “two-direction” conjunctions or conjunctive phrases include therefore,

consequently, in fact, and of course. 

© 2012 Rosemary Camilleri. All rights reserved.