diff --git a/compiler/parser.nim b/compiler/parser.nim
index df31a7df8..194b61f2a 100755
--- a/compiler/parser.nim
+++ b/compiler/parser.nim
@@ -629,7 +629,7 @@ proc parseTuple(p: var TParser): PNode =
     while (p.tok.tokType == tkSymbol) or (p.tok.tokType == tkAccent): 
       var a = parseIdentColonEquals(p, {})
       addSon(result, a)
-      if p.tok.tokType != tkComma: break 
+      if p.tok.tokType notin {tkComma, tkSemicolon}: break 
       getTok(p)
       optInd(p, a)
     optPar(p)
@@ -652,7 +652,7 @@ proc parseParamList(p: var TParser, retColon = true): PNode =
         parMessage(p, errTokenExpected, ")")
         break 
       addSon(result, a)
-      if p.tok.tokType != tkComma: break 
+      if p.tok.tokType notin {tkComma, tkSemicolon}: break 
       getTok(p)
       optInd(p, a)
     optPar(p)
@@ -1135,7 +1135,7 @@ proc parseGenericParamList(p: var TParser): PNode =
   while (p.tok.tokType == tkSymbol) or (p.tok.tokType == tkAccent): 
     var a = parseGenericParam(p)
     addSon(result, a)
-    if p.tok.tokType != tkComma: break 
+    if p.tok.tokType notin {tkComma, tkSemicolon}: break 
     getTok(p)
     optInd(p, a)
   optPar(p)
diff --git a/compiler/renderer.nim b/compiler/renderer.nim
index 58c60834f..5d8a04198 100755
--- a/compiler/renderer.nim
+++ b/compiler/renderer.nim
@@ -485,14 +485,14 @@ proc putWithSpace(g: var TSrcGen, kind: TTokType, s: string) =
   put(g, tkSpaces, Space)
 
 proc gcommaAux(g: var TSrcGen, n: PNode, ind: int, start: int = 0, 
-               theEnd: int = - 1) = 
+               theEnd: int = - 1, separator = tkComma) = 
   for i in countup(start, sonsLen(n) + theEnd): 
     var c = i < sonsLen(n) + theEnd
     var sublen = lsub(n.sons[i]) + ord(c)
     if not fits(g, sublen) and (ind + sublen < maxLineLen): optNL(g, ind)
     gsub(g, n.sons[i])
     if c: 
-      putWithSpace(g, tkComma, ",")
+      putWithSpace(g, separator, TokTypeToStr[separator])
       if hasCom(n.sons[i]): 
         gcoms(g)
         optNL(g, ind)
@@ -512,6 +512,11 @@ proc gcomma(g: var TSrcGen, n: PNode, start: int = 0, theEnd: int = - 1) =
   if ind > maxLineLen div 2: ind = g.indent + longIndentWid
   gcommaAux(g, n, ind, start, theEnd)
 
+proc gsemicolon(g: var TSrcGen, n: PNode, start: int = 0, theEnd: int = - 1) = 
+  var ind = g.lineLen
+  if ind > maxLineLen div 2: ind = g.indent + longIndentWid
+  gcommaAux(g, n, ind, start, theEnd, tkSemicolon)
+
 proc gsons(g: var TSrcGen, n: PNode, c: TContext, start: int = 0, 
            theEnd: int = - 1) = 
   for i in countup(start, sonsLen(n) + theEnd): gsub(g, n.sons[i], c)
@@ -719,7 +724,7 @@ proc gident(g: var TSrcGen, n: PNode) =
 proc doParamsAux(g: var TSrcGen, params: PNode) =
   if params.len > 1:
     put(g, tkParLe, "(")
-    gcomma(g, params, 1)
+    gsemicolon(g, params, 1)
     put(g, tkParRi, ")")
   
   if params.sons[0].kind != nkEmpty: 
@@ -1159,7 +1164,7 @@ proc gsub(g: var TSrcGen, n: PNode, c: TContext) =
     put(g, tkBracketRi, "]")
   of nkFormalParams: 
     put(g, tkParLe, "(")
-    gcomma(g, n, 1)
+    gsemicolon(g, n, 1)
     put(g, tkParRi, ")")
     if n.sons[0].kind != nkEmpty: 
       putWithSpace(g, tkColon, ":")
diff --git a/doc/grammar.txt b/doc/grammar.txt
index 4dcb2d3f8..f378cd140 100755
--- a/doc/grammar.txt
+++ b/doc/grammar.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 module ::= ([COMMENT] [SAD] stmt)*
 
 comma ::= ',' [COMMENT] [IND]
+semicolon ::= ';' [COMMENT] [IND]
+
 operator ::=  OP0 | OP1 | OP2 | OP3 | OP4 | OP5 | OP6 | OP7 | OP8 | OP9
            | 'or' | 'xor' | 'and'
            | 'is' | 'isnot' | 'in' | 'notin' | 'of'
@@ -141,14 +143,14 @@ fromStmt ::= 'from' filename 'import' symbol (comma symbol)*
 pragma ::= '{.' optInd (colonExpr [comma])* optPar ('.}' | '}')
 
 param ::= symbol (comma symbol)* (':' typeDesc ['=' expr] | '=' expr)
-paramList ::= ['(' [param (comma param)*] optPar ')'] [':' typeDesc]
+paramList ::= ['(' [param (comma|semicolon param)*] optPar ')'] [':' typeDesc]
 
 genericConstraint ::= 'object' | 'tuple' | 'enum' | 'proc' | 'ref' | 'ptr' 
                     | 'var' | 'distinct' | primary
 genericConstraints ::= genericConstraint ( '|' optInd genericConstraint )*
 
 genericParam ::= symbol [':' genericConstraints] ['=' expr]
-genericParams ::= '[' genericParam (comma genericParam)* optPar ']'
+genericParams ::= '[' genericParam (comma|semicolon genericParam)* optPar ']'
 
 
 routineDecl := symbol ['*'] [genericParams] paramList [pragma] ['=' stmt]
@@ -180,7 +182,7 @@ objectCase ::= 'case' expr ':' typeDesc [COMMENT]
 
 objectPart ::= objectWhen | objectCase | objectIdentPart | 'nil'
              | indPush objectPart (SAD objectPart)* DED indPop
-tupleDesc ::= '[' optInd [param (comma param)*] optPar ']'
+tupleDesc ::= '[' optInd [param (comma|semicolon param)*] optPar ']'
 
 objectDef ::= 'object' [pragma] ['of' typeDesc] objectPart
 enumField ::= symbol ['=' expr]
diff --git a/todo.txt b/todo.txt
index 2b58fc17f..53bdbb53d 100755
--- a/todo.txt
+++ b/todo.txt
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ New pragmas:
 - document destructors
 
 - ``borrow`` needs to take type classes into account
-- introduce ``;`` to the parser
+- introduce ``;`` to the parser: inc a; inc b
 - make use of ``tyIter`` to fix the implicit items/pairs issue
 - ``=`` should be overloadable; requires specialization for ``=``
 - optimize genericAssign in the code generator
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ New pragmas:
   is that often the scope of ``try`` is wrong and apart from that ``try`` is
   a full blown statement; a ``try`` expression might be a good idea to make
   error handling more light-weight
-  people also want ``inc a; inc b``
 
 
 Bugs
diff --git a/web/news.txt b/web/news.txt
index 5529a9e33..9a46a9f04 100755
--- a/web/news.txt
+++ b/web/news.txt
@@ -128,6 +128,8 @@ Language Additions
 - Unsigned integer types have been added.
 - The integer promotion rules changed.
 - Nimrod now tracks proper intervals for ``range`` over some built-in operators.
+- In parameter lists a semicolon instead of a comma can be used to improve 
+  readability: ``proc divmod(a, b: int; resA, resB: var int)``.
 
 
 2012-02-09 Version 0.8.14 released