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Fresh off of discussing the hows and how-nots of comma usage (check that post out here if you missed it), this week we'll be discussing an almost equally misunderstood punctuation mark: the colon.
It's not an exaggeration to say that, once again, there are very few people who know how to use a colon correctly. But before I repeat this sentence in every article in our Punctuation Series, let's just say that the vast majority of people don't give punctuation the attention it deserves.
Now back to the colon and how to use it.
1) Colons can be used to introduce a list.
The hungry child ate a whole buffet of treats: cakes, muffins, puddings and pies.
An important rule is that you should only use a colon if the part of the sentence preceding it makes total sense when standing on its own. In the above example, you can use a colon because the following clause makes sense alone.
The hungry child ate a whole buffet of treats.
The next sentence however has no place for a colon.
The hungry child ate: cakes, muffins, puddings and pies.
"The hungry child ate" is not complete on its own, so you would punctuate it as follows:
The hungry child ate cakes, muffins, puddings and pies.
2) Colons can be used to introduce an idea.
This idea should be a continuation of the one that comes before it, or an explanation thereof.
There are only two types of people in this world: those who like chocolate, and those who are wrong.
Once again, remember the colon rule mentioned above, which applies in all cases: You can only use a colon if the clause preceding it makes complete sense when standing on its own.
Note the colon in the previous sentence. The idea following it serves to explain the first part of the sentence, right? So let's repeat it in example green.
Once again, remember the colon rule mentioned above, which applies in all cases: You can only use a colon if the clause preceding it makes complete sense when standing on its own.
When it comes to capitalising the first word after the colon, keep the following in mind:
-If it's a formal quote, capitalise it.
-If the explanation is made up of more than one sentence, capitalise it.
Otherwise just focus on being consistent.
3) Colons can be used to introduce a quote.
Our mother would always repeat her favourite saying: "Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard."
Our mother would always say: "Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard."
Our mother would always say that hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard.
Remember why the red example is incorrect? Because "Our mother would always say" doesn't make sense on its own.
And those are the main uses of the colon in punctuation. Not too bad, right? We'll finish off by once again saying that you shouldn't worry yourself too much about punctuating perfectly. Many of these rules are rather nit-picky and can seem daunting when you try to remember all of them all at once. So take it slowly and focus on one type at a time until you're comfortable with it. Just being aware of these rules will help you understand and be more aware of how you're punctuating in general.
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