{"id":3950,"date":"2012-04-12T12:54:58","date_gmt":"2012-04-12T04:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/?p=3950"},"modified":"2024-01-15T14:25:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T14:25:16","slug":"when-to-use-a-colon-9-simple-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/when-to-use-a-colon-9-simple-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"When to Use a Colon: 9 Simple Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Picture<\/a>It is important that you know when to use a colon,<\/strong> as good writing in English will usually make use of this punctuation mark. A colon consists of two dots, one above the other, and it should not be confused with the semi-colon<\/a>, which looks similar but has very different uses.<\/p>\n

There are several rules that are useful when you are learning when to use a colon.<\/p>\n

When to use a colon: Nine Simple Rules<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>You should use a colon to introduce a list:<\/h3>\n

The dog loved four things: sleeping, playing, eating and chasing cats.<\/p>\n

Two things kept me awake last night: stress and my husband\u2019s snoring.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>You should use a colon before an explanation:<\/h3>\n

Never work with children or animals: you never can predict how they may behave.<\/p>\n

When I start to feel tired I take a break: it clears my mind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>Use a colon when you want to place emphasis on the name or description of an item that follows a complete sentence:<\/h3>\n

We have a name for people who don\u2019t pull their weight at work: slacker.<\/p>\n

He was so busy trying to impress the young girls that he didn\u2019t notice who was standing right behind him: his wife.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>Use a colon to introduce a quotation of seven or more words that follows a complete sentence:<\/h3>\n

Miele (1993, p. 276) established the following: “The placebo effect … disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner.”<\/p>\n

After looking at the mess in the kitchen, Molly commented: \u201cI hope you are not expecting me to clean this up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Take a look at our guide to\u00a0using a colon before quotation marks<\/a>\u00a0to learn more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>Use a colon to separate titles and subtitles:<\/h3>\n

Colons: Do we Really Need Them?<\/p>\n

Richard Nixon: The Tarnished President.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>When stating time, use a colon between the hour and the minute.<\/h3>\n

10:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

7:00 a.m.<\/p>\n

3:00 p.m.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>When referring to passages in the Bible, use a colon between the chapter and the verse.<\/h3>\n

John 11:35<\/p>\n

Job 3:2<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/a>When writing formal letters, use a colon after the salutation. When writing informal letters, a comma will suffice:<\/h3>\n

To Whom it May Concern:<\/p>\n

Dear Sir:<\/p>\n

Dear Mr. Spiegler:<\/p>\n

If you’re still confused as to when to use a colon, or think that you could benefit from the assistance of a professional editor, check out our online proofreading services now.<\/p>\n

Want some more great advice on how to use punctuation? Take a look at our what punctuation mark should I use?<\/a> cheat sheet.<\/p>\n

Free instant quote<\/strong><\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is important that you know when to use a colon, as good writing in English will usually make use of this punctuation mark. A colon consists of two dots, one above the other, and it should not be confused with the semi-colon, which looks similar but has very different uses. There are several rules … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar-guides"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9613,"href":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3950\/revisions\/9613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vappingo.com\/word-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}