Other Punctuation Marks

The Colon (:)

The colon has three important uses:

1. To introduce a list.

2. To introduce a long or literary quotation.

3. To introduce a final fact or explanation, between two independent clauses if the second summarizes or explains the first.

Examples:

1.The homeless man’s possessions were few: a shopping cart, a flannel blanket, and two cardboard signs.

2. Charles Dickens begins his classic novel A Tale of Two Cities with these well-known words: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…..”

3.There’s only one excuse for being late: you have died.

Also use a colon after the salutation in a formal letter, to indicate hours and minutes, to show proportions, between a title and subtitle, and between city and publisher in bibliographic entries.

Examples:

To Whom It May Concern:

5:14 p.m.

The ratio of men to women was 17:5

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

New York: Zondervan, 1993

Avoid common misuses of the colon. A colon must be preceded by a full independent clause.

1. Do not put a colon between a verb and its object or complement.

Example: Some important qualities he lacks are: humor, kindness, and compassion.

2. Do not put a colon between a preposition and its object.

Example: The heart’s two pumps each consist of: and upper chamber, or atrium, and a lower chamber, or ventricle.

3. Do not use a colon after such as, including, or for example.

There are many trees on the university campus such as: redwoods, sequoias, and weeping willows.