The Colon: How it is

used.

Write like a pro!

The Colon: How it is
used.
The colon comes at a point in the sentence
where the sentence could come to a complete
stop.

I’m going to tell you the names of my

favourite sports.

We could even put a full stop after

the word “sports,” couldn’t we? In
fact, we did.
 The Colon: how it is
used
We know, however, what’s going to come
after this full stop.

I’m going to tell you the names of my

favourite sports.

That’s right, a LIST of

sports.

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 The Colon: how it is
used.
I’m going to tell you the names of my

:
favourite sports athletics, hockey,
basketball, tennis and rugby.

And the proper punctuation mark to

set off this list from what precedes it
is a colon. The colon “announces”
that a list is about to follow; it is the
gateway to that list.
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 The Colon: how it is
used.
My favorite sports are athletics,
hockey, basketball, tennis and rugby.

Would I use a colon in the sentence

above?
No, because the sentence does not come
to a halt here.
Instead, the sentence flows right into the list.
A colon would not be appropriate here.
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 The Colon: how it is
used.
Examine this next sentence carefully.

Mr Macherenje wants just one thing

from this school that it looks its best.

Here, we have an independent

thought (ending with “school”)

followed by another kind of

completer (a noun clause).

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 The Colon: how it is
used.
To set off this completer, this
explanation, we can use a colon.

Mr Macherenje wants just one thing

:
from this school that it looks its best.

These are the two main uses of the colon:

to set off a list or an explanation that we
know is about to follow the main part of
the sentence.
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 The Colon: how it is
used.
We also use the colon to set
off a formal quotation.

My teacher was always using his

favourite quotation: “Punctuation
is important.”

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 The Colon: how it is
used.
Finally Americans also use the
colon to divide minutes from
hours when writing a time.
My teacher has given us until
6:00pm this evening to hand in
our “colons” assignment.
But in British English
people use a full stop
6.00pm) , so don’ t bother
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 The Colon: how it is
used.
Just remember that you usually know what
is going to follow a colon: a list, an
explanation, or a formal quotation.

You have now mastered the uses of the

colon, a very handy device in the
punctuation of your sentences. Don’t
forget to use it in your essays.
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