Colons
Use a colon to mean “note what follows.”
(1) Use a colon before a list of items, especially after expressions such as as follows and the following.
EXAMPLES
- The stew had several ingredients: potatoes, carrots, and celery. [The colon tells a reader that a list follows.]
- The recipe was as follows: brown the onions, add the broth, and stir in the chopped vegetables. [The phrase as follows and the colon tell the reader that a list follows.]
NOTE
Do not use a colon immediately after a verb or immediately after a preposition.
INCORRECT
- The school offered: fencing, archery, and karate. [The colon after the verb offered cuts off the verb from its complements fencing, archery, and karate.]
CORRECT
- The school offered fencing, archery, and karate.
Quotations and Explanations
(2) Use a colon before a long, formal statement or quotation.
EXAMPLE
- Jane Austen opens Pride and Prejudice with a view of marriage: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” [A colon sets off the long quotation.]
(3) Use a colon between independent clauses when the second clause explains or restates the idea of the first.
EXAMPLE
- Gina grimaced suddenly: The kitten had attached itself to her ankle. [The second clause is set off with a colon because it explains the first clause.]
Conventional Situations
Use a colon in certain conventional situations.
Use a colon between the hour and the minute, between chapter and verse when referring to a passage from the Bible, between a title and a subtitle, and after the salutation of a business letter.
EXAMPLES
- 10:30 P.M.
- John 3:16
- Paw Prints: The Life of a Clever Cat [book]
- Dear Mr. Jones: