A cause for a pause can be indicated by the use of punctuation marks such as a semicolon, COMMA, or emdash. A semicolon is a punctuation mark that is used to separate two independent clauses in a sentence; it is similar to a period but indicates a closer relationship between the two clauses than a period does. A COMMA is a punctuation mark that is used to separate items in a list or to indicate a pause in a sentence. An emdash is a punctuation mark that is used to indicate a break in thought or to emphasize a phrase. All three of these punctuation marks can be used to indicate a pause in a sentence and thus can be considered a cause for a pause.