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Mastering Colons: Your Essential Guide to Proper Usage in Writing

This week's grammar tip focuses on the punctuation mark "colon" and its correct usage according to Strunk and White’s "Elements of Style." A colon is used after an independent clause to introduce lists, appositives, amplifications, or illustrative quotes. Learn the nuances—like how a colon differs from commas and semicolons—and the common pitfalls to avoid. We'll explore functions beyond simple listing, including formal letter salutations and separating titles. Elevate your writing with these essential colon guidelines for clarity and precision.

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Mastering Colons: Your Essential Guide to Proper Usage in Writing

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Grammar Tip of the Week! Week Five Colons (from Strunk and White’s Elements of Style)

  2. When Should a Writer Use a Colon? • Use a colon (:) after an independent clause to introduce: • a list of particulars, • an appositive (provides info about a noun), • An amplification of an idea, or • An illustrative quotation • A colon tells the reader that what follows is closely related to the preceding clause. • The colon has moreeffect than the comma, less power to separate than the semicolon, and more formality than the dash.

  3. Colons • A colon follows an independent clause and should not separate a verb from its complement or a preposition from its object. • WRONG: Your dedicated whittler requires: a knife, a piece of wood, and a back porch. • CORRECT: Your dedicated whittler requires three props: a knife, a piece of wood, and a back porch.

  4. Colons • A writer may join two independent clauses with a colon ONLY IF the second clause interprets or amplifies the first clause. • CORRECT: But even so, there was a directness and dispatch about animal burial: there was no stopover in the undertaker’s foul parlor, no wreath or spray. • ALSO CORRECT: But even so, there was a directness and dispatch about animal burial; there was no stopover in the undertaker’s foul parlor, no wreath or spray.

  5. Colons and Quotations • A colon may introduce a quotation that supports or contributes to the preceding clause. • CORRECT: The squalor of the streets reminded him of a line from Oscar Wilde: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”

  6. Other Uses for the Colon • The colon also has certain functions of form: • The salutation of a formal letter, • To separate hour and minute in a notation of time, • To separate the title of a work from its subtitle, • To separate a Bible chapter from a verse • Examples: • Dear Mr. Montague: • An Image of Africa: Racism in Heart of Darkness • The train departs at 10:48 p.m. • John 3:16

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