Hi language lovers
2 simple questions

1. Is it acceptable if I insert an exclamation point, when necessary, before (semi) colon:

They share their affection ; that is love!; it's love that binds them ( this is a list and I need to show the exclamation mark because I want to talk about it )

They share their affection; it's love that binds them ; that is love!: these sentences reveal ..... ( here the exclamation appears at the end of the list but I don't want to remove it because I want to talk about it too ).

I feel in this case I should use it with round brackets (!). What do you think?

2. This article is 3-minute read
(this usage of "read" is mainly British, right?)

Answers

GM1776

27 Nov 2022

English (US)

1) No. A semi-Colon is used to separate two independent sentences, and is the only punctuation used in between them. If you wanted to use an exclamation mark, you would separate the sentences with the semicolon and use the point at the end, like so:

• They share their affections; It’s love that binds them!

In this case, I feel a dash (-) would be more appropriate, as you are inserting an idea or thought, rather than a complete sentence. For example:

• They share their affections- that is love!

For the most natural format:

• They share their affections- that is love! It’s love that binds them!

2) “This article is a three-minute read.” Is a common format in American English as well.

Highly-rated answerer

everything42

27 Nov 2022

English (US)

1. According to answers to a similar question, you might be better off doing it like (that is love!), in either of the places in the list.
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/252...

2. We use it that way in the US. I don't know about UK.

Highly-rated answerer

clashroyaleantho2

27 Nov 2022

Arabic

Thank you both for question 2.

But in question 1, I need to talk about the exclamation mark, so I need to show it.
I want to say something like that :

They share their affection; it's love that binds them; that is love! : these clauses talk about love. The exclamation mark shows the deep feeling of the author....

(I'm not binding sentences. I'm listing them for explanation. This is a series of clauses not a paragraph).

Thank you

GM1776

27 Nov 2022

English (US)

@clashroyaleantho2

They share their affection; It’s love that binds them; that is love! - These clauses talk about love. The exclamation mark shows the deep feelings of the author…

Highly-rated answerer

clashroyaleantho2

27 Nov 2022

Arabic

@GM1776 great! That is what I'm looking for! I know it's trivial. I just like to gain insight from others 😅

As for question 1, "read", I wanted to make sure it's an American usage too because in the dictionaries, they restrict its usage to British English only.

So thank you again.