Question

Correct the four errors below which involve colons and semi-colons.

Answer 1

Original:

As the nights draw in and the rain lashes down, it's all too easy to keep yourself indoors wrapped up against the ills and  chills. Or, if you have to venture out, doing so only if cocooned in your car with the heating on full blast...  Dr. Terrence Latimer, Chief Medical Officer for the famous Team Turbulence, says;  "The key is not to separate riding a bike from your other daily activities, but on the contrary to integrate it. Riding to work  is the best activity, as that gets you in the saddle every day however, not everyone lives close enough to the office to do  that. You don't have to pedal the whole distance, though, as some trains do allow bikes on board. Where to put your bike  at work can also be a concern, but if space is an issue then technology has the answer folding bikes.

Corrected:

As the nights draw in and the rain lashes down, it's all too easy to keep yourself indoors wrapped up against the ills and  chills. Or, if you have to venture out, do so only if cocooned in your car with the heating on full blast...  Dr. Terrence Latimer, Chief Medical Officer for the famous Team Turbulence, says, "The key is not to separate riding a bike from your other daily activities, but on the contrary: to integrate it. Riding to work  is the best activity, as that gets you in the saddle every day; however, not everyone lives close enough to the office to do  that. You don't have to pedal the whole distance, though, as some trains do allow bikes on board. Where to put your bike  at work can also be a concern, but if space is an issue then technology has the answer: folding bikes.

I'm about 95% sure I got the 4 mistakes (I tried making them bold and underlined to stand out)! I want to explain the usage of colons/semi-colons though to help you in the future.

Colons are usually used in place of a dash (-) and can be used for listing items or noting them. I think the last sentence is a perfect example of that. Notice how "folding bikes" is being noted as "the answer." This would be the perfect place to put a colon, therefore: "... if space is an issue then technology has the answer: folding bikes."

Semi-colons are used as a break in a sentence. Sometimes people use it as a "period" to continue two thoughts in a sentence that go together, but are different enough to where they need a break in between. Semi-colons are also used many times before words like "therefore" or "however." I'm sure there's a list out there, but those two were the first to come to mind.

I hope this helps! :)