Colons

Colons Are Your Friends

created by The Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill

 

What this handout is about

This handout explains the most common uses of colons (:).  After reading the handout, you will be better able to decide when to use this form of punctuation in your own writing.

 

Colons

Colons follow independent clauses (clauses that could stand alone as sentences) and can be used to present an explanation, draw attention to something, or join ideas together.

Common uses of colons

1. To announce, introduce, or direct attention to a list, a noun or noun phrase, a quotation, or an example/explanation. You can use a colon to draw attention to many things in your writing. The categories listed below often overlap, so don’t worry too much about whether your intended use of the colon fits one category perfectly.

Lists/series example:

We covered many of the fundamentals in our writing class: grammar, punctuation, style, and voice.

Noun/noun phrase example:

My roommate gave me the things I needed most: companionship and quiet.

Quotation example:

Shakespeare said it best: “To thine own self be true.”

Example/explanation example:

Many graduate students discover that there is a dark side to academia: late nights, high stress, and a crippling addiction to caffeinated beverages.
2. To join sentences. You can use a colon to connect two sentences when the second sentence summarizes, sharpens, or explains the first. Both sentences should be complete, and their content should be very closely related. Note that if you use colons this way too often, it can break up the flow of your writing. So don’t get carried away with your colons!

Example:

Life is like a puzzle: half the fun is in trying to work it out.
3. To express time, in titles, and as part of other writing conventions. Colons appear in several standard or conventional places in writing. Here are a few examples:

With numbers. Colons are used to separate units of time (4:45:00 expresses four hours, forty-five minutes, and zero seconds); ratios (2:1), and Bible verses and chapters (Matthew 2:24).

In bibliography entries. Many citation styles use a colon to separate information in bibliography entries.

Example:

Kurlansky, M. (2002). Salt: A world history. New York, NY: Walker and Co.

With subtitles. Colons are used to separate titles from subtitles.

Example:

Everest: The Last Frontier

After the salutation in a formal business letter. A colon can be used immediately after the greeting in a formal letter (less-formal letters tend to use a comma in this location).

Example:

To Whom it May Concern:
Please accept my application for the position advertised in the News and Observer.

Common colon mistakes

1. Using a colon between a verb and its object or complement

Example (incorrect):

The very best peaches are: those that are grown in the great state of Georgia.
To correct this, simply remove the colon.
2. Using a colon between a preposition and its object

Example (incorrect):

My favorite cake is made of: carrots, flour, butter, eggs, and cream cheese icing.
To correct this, simply remove the colon.
3. Using a colon after “such as,” “including,” “especially,” and similar phrases. This violates the rule that the material preceding the colon must be a complete thought. Look, for example, at the following sentence:

Example (incorrect):

There are many different types of paper, including: college ruled, wide ruled, and plain copy paper.
You can see that “There are many different types of paper, including” is not a complete sentence. The colon should simply be removed.

How to check for mistakes

Ask yourself a question: does the material preceding the colon stand on its own? One way to tell if the colon has been properly used is to look only at the words that come in front of the colon. Do they make a complete thought? If not, you may be using the colon improperly. Check above to see if you have made one of the most common mistakes.

Should you capitalize the first letter after a colon?

Different citation styles (such as MLA, APA, Chicago, and AMA) have slightly different rules regarding whether to capitalize the first letter after a colon. If it is important that you follow one of these styles precisely, be sure to use the appropriate manual to look up the rule.
Here’s our suggestion: generally, the first word following the colon should be lower-cased if the words after the colon form a dependent clause (that is, if they could not stand on their own as a complete sentence). If the following phrase is a complete (independent) clause, you may choose to capitalize it or not. Whichever approach you choose, be sure to be consistent throughout your paper.

Example with an independent clause, showing two different approaches to capitalization:

The commercials had one message: The geeks shall inherit the earth. (correct)
The commercials had one message: the geeks shall inherit the earth. (correct)

Example with a dependent clause (which is not capitalized)

There are three things that I love more than anything else in the world: my family, my friends, and my computer. (correct)

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout (just click print) and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Content of this posting create by UNC-CH Writing Center and it is available at http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/semi-colons-colons-and-dashes/