How To Use Colons, Semi-Colons and Periods Simply
The Colon has four main uses:
To introduce a listing as below:
The band consisted of( : ) a singer, a drummer, a guitarist and a bass player
To explain a statement further:
There is one challenge above all others ( : ) the alleviation of poverty
Between the hours and the minutes in time notation
6 ( : ) 30pm
Between chapter and verse when quoting biblical references
Exodus 1 ( : ) 19
When using a colon do not have a space before it but always have one after it. The colon does not need a hyphen after it as in ( :- ). This is not a punctuation mark and is a waste of a keystroke.
The Semi-Colon has two uses:
To join together two sentences together that could stand as independent sentences as in:
This could have been a funny sentence (; ) this could be another one.
As a 'super-comma' where one or more of the listings already contains a comma as in:
I have visited: Africa, America (; ) Vilnius, Lithuania (; ) and France
The following error can occur in the use of semi-colons:
If a comma was used instead of a semi-colon in the example above then a "comma splice" is created which is very bad grammar. In the same example you do not need a semi-colon if you combine the clauses with a connecting word like 'and':
This could be a funny sentence (, and ) this could be another one
The Period is the easiest and simplest of the punctuation marks to use, in that they show where your sentence has ended. Because of its function the period should be the most common punctuation mark on your page.
Periods do not need to be used in people's names, abbreviations or acronyms unless there is the possibility of doubt or error.
Mr D J Valentine
CIA
FBI
USA
FYI
10am
5pm
Titles and sub-titles of books, reports, emails and letters also do not need to have a period.
That's it.
Job done.
Period.
To introduce a listing as below:
The band consisted of( : ) a singer, a drummer, a guitarist and a bass player
To explain a statement further:
There is one challenge above all others ( : ) the alleviation of poverty
Between the hours and the minutes in time notation
6 ( : ) 30pm
Between chapter and verse when quoting biblical references
Exodus 1 ( : ) 19
When using a colon do not have a space before it but always have one after it. The colon does not need a hyphen after it as in ( :- ). This is not a punctuation mark and is a waste of a keystroke.
The Semi-Colon has two uses:
To join together two sentences together that could stand as independent sentences as in:
This could have been a funny sentence (; ) this could be another one.
As a 'super-comma' where one or more of the listings already contains a comma as in:
I have visited: Africa, America (; ) Vilnius, Lithuania (; ) and France
The following error can occur in the use of semi-colons:
If a comma was used instead of a semi-colon in the example above then a "comma splice" is created which is very bad grammar. In the same example you do not need a semi-colon if you combine the clauses with a connecting word like 'and':
This could be a funny sentence (, and ) this could be another one
The Period is the easiest and simplest of the punctuation marks to use, in that they show where your sentence has ended. Because of its function the period should be the most common punctuation mark on your page.
Periods do not need to be used in people's names, abbreviations or acronyms unless there is the possibility of doubt or error.
Mr D J Valentine
CIA
FBI
USA
FYI
10am
5pm
Titles and sub-titles of books, reports, emails and letters also do not need to have a period.
That's it.
Job done.
Period.
