Some Notes on Colons

SOME NOTES ON COLONS  (:)

Kevin Crittenden Version 31May10

A colon is used as a punctuation mark of anticipation.  When you have a sentence which contains two statements, the colon alerts the reader to the close connection between the first statement and the second.

Here are two sentences:

Bob hung his head in shame.  The baseball team had lost again.

These two sentences are independent of each other.  We don’t know why Bob hung his head in shame.  Maybe he had lied to his mother or got caught cheating on a test.

Now let’s combine these two sentences into one sentence containing two statements.

Bob hung his head in shame:  the baseball team had lost again.

Now it is clear that Bob is ashamed because his team had lost the game.  These two statements are closely connected as shown by the use of the colon. 

When a colon is used between statements, the second statement clarifies or illustrates the first.

There was never any doubt:  she had to tell her father.

There were two problems with his plan to buy a car:  he didn’t have the money nor did he know how to drive.

A colon may be used to link (connect) an appositive phrase to its related statement for emphasis.   (An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that follows and amplifies another  noun or noun phrase.  For example “Kevin Crittenden, a CCP volunteer, enjoys his work.”  The appositive “a CCP volunteer” amplifies or adds information about the noun “Kevin Crittenden.” )

She only wanted one thing in a husband:  wealth.  

There were three cities that he loved to visit:  New York, Paris and Rome.

The new water system worked superbly except for one problem:  leakage.

A colon may be used if the first statement is followed by a list.

She kept three pairs of shoes in her closet:  ones for hiking, a pair of sandals, and high-heels for formal occasions.

There were four children in her family:  Bob, Mary, Elizabeth, and Fred.