{"id":9310,"date":"2020-11-15T14:47:50","date_gmt":"2020-11-15T14:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/?p=9310"},"modified":"2023-04-12T06:52:57","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T06:52:57","slug":"colons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/colons\/","title":{"rendered":"Colons in the English Language: The Complete Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>img#mv-trellis-img-1::before{padding-top:150%; }img#mv-trellis-img-1{display:block;}<\/style><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have you been using your <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lynchburg.edu\/academics\/writing-center\/wilmer-writing-center-online-writing-lab\/grammar\/a-quick-guide-to-punctuation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>punctuation marks<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> properly?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If not, then you must have had caused a heart attack to a grammar pedant or two.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, no one actually blames you for that. Don&rsquo;t worry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, punctuations are &ldquo;all Greek&rdquo; symbols to many normal human beings, both historically <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-after-and\/\"><b>and <\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">idiomatically speaking.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, if you think you often get mystified by how your colons, semicolons, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/coma-vs-comma\/\"><b>commas<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> work, then you&rsquo;ve come to the right site.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br>\n[toc]\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>When should we use a colon?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several rules dictate colon placements in written text.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are the most common ones, though: linking <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/clauses-vs-phrases\/\"><b>clauses<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, introducing a serial list and quotations, and writing dialogues.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">See how I used it in one of its functions above?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, it is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-before-or-after-also-the-definitive-guide\/\"><b>also<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> used in salutations and greetings, book titles, bible chapters and verses, dialogues, and time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read on to fully understand its other usages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>What is the purpose of a colon?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The crowded nature of old texts essentially gave birth to punctuations as a means to clarify the writer&rsquo;s message.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This quite intimidating, yet really humble punctuation called &ldquo;colon&rdquo; is of Ancient Greek origin, which means &ldquo;a limb&rdquo; or &ldquo;a part of a whole&rdquo;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It used to refer to a clause or a sentence part rather than a punctuation mark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thanks to the Christians who were fond of passing on colon-loaded bible verses, the colon has survived up until modern times.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A colon, the punctuation that consists of a dot positioned vertically on top of another dot, generally functions like an arrow sign in texts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It links specified information to an introductory independent clause which means it has an emphatic clarification effect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A colon&rsquo;s main job is to specify a general idea introduced by an initial clause, which can be done either horizontally or vertically.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Usually, the first part is a vague introduction to the more specific example or explanation that can be found in the second part.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This punctuation is also weaker and less terminal than a period, but stronger than either a comma or <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/semicolons\/\" title=\"semicolon\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">semicolon<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Using the colon properly<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The colon can be used in several ways, and this section enumerates its sentential and other common usages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Colons to link sentences together<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As briefly used and explained earlier, colons can be used to tether two sentence parts and specify a general idea.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rule of thumb, though, is that the first clause needs to be an independent one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This clause must not end in a preposition or a verb, especially &ldquo;including&rdquo; because doing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-before-after-so\/\"><b>so<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> would yield an ungrammatical sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Style guides have not fully agreed on whether to generally use an uppercase in introducing the second clause or not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, as language ought to be both prescriptive and descriptive, let&rsquo;s just leave the capitalization issue behind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More importantly, let&rsquo;s just not forget the capitalization rule if the first word is either a proper noun, a capitalized abbreviation, or the pronoun &ldquo;I&rdquo;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let&rsquo;s look at some more specific examples below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Colons in Series<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Serial listing can be done either horizontally or vertically.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For a vertical list, the first letters may or may not be capitalized.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We may also mentally read the colon as &ldquo;and they are&rdquo; or &ldquo;as follows&rdquo;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-before-or-after-although\/\"><b>Although<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> word typing tools automatically encode an uppercase letter after a bullet point, this is actually optional.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">We have three newborn puppies: Luna, India, and Zulu.<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">\n<p>These are the things I need to buy for next weekend&rsquo;s camping: a new hammock, an insect repellent, and a sunscreen lotion.<\/p>\n<p>I have yet to buy the following ingredients:<\/p>\n<p>(E)eggs<\/p>\n<p>(B)butter<\/p>\n<p>(E)evaporated milk<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Colons with clauses and phrases<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In connecting a second clause or some set of words via the colon, it means that the reader should expect an emphasized idea.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This idea is, again, a more specific version of the introductory independent clause which aims to elaborate or define further.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">I have finally decided: I&rsquo;m never going back to my hometown.<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">When mom already says my complete name, it can only mean one thing: I&rsquo;m in trouble.<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">Punctuation rules can be described in two words: algebraic and Greek-like.<\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Colons in Block Quotations<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Block quotations, or a set of direct statements written in verbatim and paragraph-form for the sake of referencing ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are normally indented from the introductory clause for clarification and emphasis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">\n<p><i>One of my students once said: <\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Success is analogous to planting. When burying the seeds, they have to be buried neither too deep nor too shallow to allow enough room for light, water, and air to get in.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><\/i><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Colons &amp; Dialogues<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dialogues or transcripts between or among character names are also normally signaled by the semicolon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We do this to indicate the transition of speakers in the script, and to separate the speaker from the speech delivered.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">Dan: Hey, sis! Mom has been looking for you all night. Ruby: Yeah, yeah. I know I&rsquo;m in trouble.<\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Other Common Usages<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Colons are also used in other more common areas such as in business letter greetings, between the bible chapter and verse, book title elements, and in writing time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><b>Using a colon in formal letters<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Formal business letters typically require a salutation <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/before-vs-by-dates\/\"><b>before <\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the official message.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Colons, more formal than commas, are used in greeting higher-ranking individuals.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">Dear Mr. Prime Minister:<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">Dear Sir or Madam:<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">To Whom It May Concern:<\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, for more casual letters, commas would already suffice.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">Dear Jerry, Dear Stacy,<\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The usage of the colon is indicative of a more official and formal tone, and it, therefore, has to be used depending on the message intent.<\/span><br>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><b>Colons in Bible Chapters and Verses<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Referring back to the Christians who were keen on passing the prophets&rsquo; teachings in texts, colons were used to separate the book chapter and the verses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bible books are written in the order of book title, chapter, colon without spaces, and the verse number.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The colon, therefore, helps in separating numerical entities which would then guide a reader of the exact location of a specific biblical text.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">Revelation 2:3 talks about perseverance and patience.<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">The message in John 3:16-20 focuses on love and sacrifice. <\/div><\/div>\n&nbsp;\n<h4><b>Colons and book titles\/subtitles<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Books may have a main title and a subtitle which are also separated by a colon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The colon also acts as a specifying agent in this case.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">If you want to have an in-depth yet entertaining understanding of punctuations, I recommend reading Actually, The Comma Goes Here: A Practical Guide to Punctuation by Lucy Cripps.<\/div><\/div>\n&nbsp;\n<h4><b>Colons and Time (timestamps)<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Timestamps are written in hours, minutes, and seconds format, and they are also separated by colons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to the function colons do to biblical books, they aid in the distinction and specification of numeric symbols, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-before-too-the-definitive-guide\/\"><b>too<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">The footage was taken last night at exactly 21:55:07.<\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Timestamps are also highly valuable elements when doing transcription services because they serve as codes when the speech is exactly delivered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, these tiny punctuation marks are one of the main reasons why movies have their subtitles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9325\" src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons.png\" alt=\"How and When to Use Colons\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons.png 924w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-768x1152.png 768w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-561x842.png 561w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-364x546.png 364w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-728x1092.png 728w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-608x912.png 608w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-758x1137.png 758w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons.png\"><\/noscript><img loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9325 eager-load\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201000%201500'%3E%3Crect%20width='1000'%20height='1500'%20style='fill:%23e3e3e3'\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"How and When to Use Colons\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1500\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons.png\" id=\"mv-trellis-img-1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons.png\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons.png 924w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-768x1152.png 768w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-561x842.png 561w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-364x546.png 364w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-728x1092.png 728w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-608x912.png 608w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-and-When-to-Use-Colons-758x1137.png 758w\" data-svg=\"1\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Semicolons vs. Colons<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although we tend to get confused between these two punctuation bullies, they&rsquo;re not that difficult to tell apart.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Semicolons mainly connect two independent clauses by either omitting <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/coordinating-conjunctions\/\" title=\"coordinating conjunctions\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">coordinating conjunctions<\/a> or by introducing a second clause with a conjunctive adverb.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">I hate music; I know music doesn&rsquo;t like me either.<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">Sally badly wants to move to Atlanta; however, her parents don&rsquo;t like this idea.<\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is also used to separate a complex list that already contains inner commas.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">Gertrude is planning to go to Taipei, Taiwan; Osaka, Japan; and Hanoi, Vietnam.<\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While semicolons aim to connect two independent clauses or clarify a complex list, colons aim to direct the reader to a more detailed explanation or examples.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Colons in American vs. British English<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are two major differences in the colon usage between American and British English.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While time notation in American English is marked by colons, British time is marked by periods <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-before-or-after-instead\/\"><b>instead<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, especially with the 12-hour format.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><strong>AmE:<\/strong> See you at 6:30 tomorrow!<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><strong>BrE:<\/strong> See you at 6.30 tomorrow!<\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The other notable distinction is with the capitalization rule after the colon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">British English supports the standard non-capitalization of the second clause, unless, of course, when it starts with proper nouns or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-after-abbreviations\/\"><b>abbreviations<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-before-or-after-however\/\"><b>However<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, in American English, the second part may be capitalized especially when it is either an independent clause or composed of multiple clauses.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><strong>AmE:<\/strong> Winter last year was horrible: We had a road accident.<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-note\" style=\"border-color:#e5e54c;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#FFFF66;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><strong>BrE:<\/strong> Winter last year was horrible: we had a road accident.<\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although they have a couple of differences, both agree that colons must never be preceded by white space.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The white space must come after the colon instead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, no other punctuations must be used directly before or after the colon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To sum, even though colons may tend to perplex both native and non-native writers alike, their purpose is pretty straightforward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their only mission is to provide readers a thorough elucidation of ideas clearly and definitively.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, never bite your nails again the next time you need to make another colon-decision.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you been using your punctuation marks properly? If not, then you must have had caused a heart attack to a grammar pedant or two. Well, no one actually blames you for that. Don&rsquo;t worry. In fact, punctuations are &ldquo;all Greek&rdquo; symbols to many normal human beings, both historically and idiomatically speaking. So, if you &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable-in-feed":false,"article-schema-type":"","disable-critical-css":false,"_convertkit_action_broadcast_export":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1116],"tags":[190,189],"class_list":["post-9310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-colons","tag-english-grammar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9310"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24811,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9310\/revisions\/24811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}