Mrs. Williams said a colon introduces a list: dogs, cats, and lizards.
Mrs. Williams had a room full of unruly children. She was going for a quick, relatively truthful, constant.
In fact, a colon introduces information that expands upon or further explains information stated before the colon.
The day was strange: flowers drooped in healthy sunshine and paint buckets would not empty.
The party came to a halt: Janey had swung for the pinata but mistakenly shattered the chandelier.
Consider the stop power of colons, semicolons and periods.
The party came to a halt: Janey had swung for the pinata but mistakenly shattered the chandelier.
The party came to a halt; Janey had swung for the pinata but mistakenly shattered the chandelier.
The party came to a halt. Janey had swung for the pinata but mistakenly shattered the chandelier.
Wild April winds blew hard: spring seemed stuck somewhere in the Carolinas.
Wild April winds blew hard; spring seemed stuck somewhere in the Carolinas.
Wild April winds blew hard. Spring seemed stuck somewhere in the Carolinas.
A common mistake is placing a colon after words or phrases that introduce a series.
Literary scholars have disagreed in the past over issues such as: first-tier author status, whether intention can be interpreted, and spacing after periods.
Zoey has many attractions including: a curly coat, floppy ears, and a bobbed tail.
The colons in the two examples above are incorrect. Such as and including perform the function of a colon and need no further punctuation.
Sentences in Green are incorrect.
Worksheet about colons