Colons

Colons introduce further thoughts added to explain the first thought. Using a colon, a writer declares: "What follows will clarify/explain/identify/elaborate what I've just said." Unlike semicolons, colons are all muscle. Here are some instances and illustrations of use of the colon:

• place between two main clauses (ideas) if the second exemplifies, explains, or summarizes the first

  Like semicolons, colons join two sentences into one. Their difference is this: a semicolon says only that two main clauses are related; a colon says that the second clause gives an example or explanation of the point made in the first clause. Think of a colon as shorthand for "that is" or "for example."

  Martin was a little strange: he wore cornbread on his head and sang "Yankee Doodle" in a duck voice while walking backward to school.

  She tried everything: she scoured the library, made dozens of phone calls, wrote letters, even consulted a lawyer.

• to introduce a list or a series

  This is how most people are familiar with using the colon. It introduces phrases or series of words, and is often shorthand for "such as" or "for instance." Sometimes an introduction is made stronger by using the words as follows or the following.

  The dance steps are as follows: step, step, dip, turn, step.

  Always remember the following advice: don't eat yellow snow.

  Many people fill the campus on weekdays: students, professors, vendors, service staff, police.

  As shown in this last example, a list of things need not include the word and before the last item unless all possible examples have been stated.

• to introduce an appositive

  An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames another noun (not exactly the same as a pronoun, which replaces a proper noun altogether).

  I have discovered the key to surviving college: pizza. [Here, "pizza" is the appositive for "key"]

  She has but one objective: success. [Here, "success" is the appositive for "objective"]

  Most students reach a stumbling block early in their academic careers: finances. [Here, "finances" is the appositive for "stumbling block"]

• to introduce a long or comma-filled quotation

  Sometimes you cannot conveniently introduce a a quotation with a comma, because the quotation is too long or heavily punctuated within itself. Also, you prefatory remarks may demand a longer pause than a comma provides.

  I firmly believe in the advice of my Aunt Winsiscia: "To be truly happy in life you must have patience, love, health, friends -- and a Rolls Royce."

• use colons ONLY at the end of a main clause (idea)

  Colons always come after clauses (whole ideas), never phrases. Try not to place colons between verbs and their objects, between prepositions and their objects, or before a list introduced by such as. If you're in doubt whether to use a colon, first make sure that the preceding statement is a complete sentence by itself.

  incorrect	correct
  My siblings are: Nell and Boris.	My siblings are Nell and Boris.

  Here, the preceding statement isn't a main clause, unless you really mean to say, "My siblings are" -- meaning quite simply that your siblings exist and that's that.

  incorrect	correct
  I like fruits, such as: pears, apples, and grapes.	I like fruits, such as pears, apples, and grapes.

  In this case, "I like fruits" is a complete thought, but not "I like fruits, such as." Anyway, only three fruits hardly constitute enough to deserve being introduced as a list.

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Exercises

1. Experienced hikers take three things with them on the trail a compass, a canteen filled with fresh water, and matches.

2. Children in the crowd were delighted to see: clowns, elephants, and a unicorn.

3. The point is best stated by Fran Lebowitz "If you are of the opinion that the contemplation of suicide is sufficient evidence of a poetic nature, do not forget that actions speak louder than words."

4. The principal causes of sickness and death were: beatings, overwork, snake bite, and malnutrition.

5. The new fabric consists of: cotton, nylon, and Dacron.

(1)As we have noted, modern writers of English use capital leters and periods to mark the end of declarative sentences; so that readers can tell one sentence from another. (2)In contrast, the ancient Greeks followed no such conventions when writing inscriptions on stone, in fact, they did not even separate words. (3)Readers saw nothing but unbroken lines: of Greek letters. (4)Interestingly, were you to see one of the inscriptions today; the absence of punctuation would not trouble you unduly if you knew: how to write ancient Greek. (5)You would be able to identify the sentences in all those lines because you would know the grammar: the system governing the the forms of words and their roles in a sentence. (6)This last remark is important, every language has a grammar a system of rules governing words that enables people who know the system to communicate with one another. (7)Whether written on stone or paper: words will make sense to a reader provided the writer has formed and arranged them as the system allows.

(8)You already know much of the grammar of the English sentence, indeed, the very fact that you understand these remarks is evidence of your knowledge. (9)You know more than just various lexical items; words and their dictionary meanings. (10)You also know how to interpret the forms of words such as: book, elect, and big, to you book signifies something different from books or book's, elected says something different from electing, and the distinctions signalled by big, bigger, and biggest matter. (11)In addition, you appreciate the importance of two other grammatical points the role of words in a sentence and their place in the sequence. (12)Consider the following two examples, "A large bear is hunting Ben" and "Ben is hunting a large bear." (13)The lexical items are the same and the forms are the same but the positions and roles differ. (14)These last two facts make all the difference.