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Welcome to the world of double-stacked punctuation!
A colon is like one period stacked on another, and a semicolon is like a period stacked on a comma.
When should I use a colon?
Outside of sentences, colons have a number of uses.
- Colons follow headings in letters and memos.
Dear Ms. Lazarro:
To: Ms. Lazarro
From: Mr. Lazarro
Subject: Baby Lazarro
- Colons separate hours from minutes from seconds.
The incident occurred at 12:35:21 p.m.
- Colons separate biblical chapter and verse.
Can you recite John 11:35?
(The verse is “Jesus wept,” so now you can recite at least one Bible verse.)
- Colons separate parts of a ratio.
The class has a 15:1 ratio of students to teachers.
Within a sentence, use a colon after a complete thought to introduce or summarize the material that follows it.
- Colons follow a complete sentence that introduces other ideas.
At Rankin Technologies, we have three main priorities: customers, customers, and customers.
- Colons follow a complete sentence introducing a formal quotation.
President McMurphy declared our three priorities: “Customers, customers, and customers.”
- Colons follow a complete sentence that introduces a list.
All employees must remember our three priorities:
1. Customers
2. Customers
3. Customers
What’s all this “complete sentence” stuff?
When you use a colon in text, the words before it must form a complete sentence. A colon should not separate a subject from a verb, a verb from an object, a preposition from the object of the preposition, or a modifier from the word it modifies.
What are semicolons for?
A semicolon looks like a cross between a comma and a period, and that’s basically what it is. It’s weaker than a period (it can’t end a sentence), but it is stronger than a comma (it can join two sentences).
- A semicolon joins two sentences into a compound sentence.
I completed the quarterly report; Aidan proofread it for me.
- Semicolons separate list items that already include commas.
I ordered a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich; a ham, cheese, and tomato sandwich; and a bag of sour cream, cheddar, and chive chips.
Note how this list is necessarily complex because of multiple ingredients in food items. Avoid using semicolons just because you have a needlessly complicated sentence.
I plan to perform the following tasks: research, write, and prepare a first draft; revise, edit, and proofread the resulting document; solicit your feedback on the report, listen to your feedback, and incorporate changes into the document; and complete the report and submit it to our supervisor.
That’s thick! Try it instead as a readable list.
I plan to perform the following tasks:
- Research, write, and prepare a first draft.
- Revise, edit, and proofread the resulting document.
- Solicit your feedback on the report.
- Listen to your feedback.
- Incorporate changes into the document.
- Complete the report and submit it to our supervisor.
If you want to express these ideas in text, simplify them.
I plan to research and write a first draft, revise and edit the document, get your feedback and make changes, and submit the report to our supervisor.
That sentence communicates clearly, with no colons or semicolons in sight. That’s right, its semicolonoscopy came up clear!
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