2.3 Colons
The colon (:) is another punctuation mark used to indicate a full stop. Use a colon to introduce lists, quotes, examples, and explanations. You can also use a colon after the greeting in business letters and memos.
Dear Hiring Manager:
To: Human Resources
From: Deanna Dean
Colons to Introduce a List
Use a colon to introduce a list of items. Introduce the list with an independent clause.
The team will tour three provinces: Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.
I have to take four classes this semester: Composition, Statistics, Ethics, and Italian.
Colons to Introduce a Quote
You can use a colon to introduce a quote.
Mark Twain said it best: “When in doubt, tell the truth.”
If a quote is longer than forty words, skip a line after the colon and indent one default tab, or set the paragraph indentation from the left margin of the quote. Since quotations longer than forty words use line spacing and paragraph indentation to indicate a quote, quotation marks are not necessary.
My father always loved Mark Twain’s words:
There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.
Tip
Long quotations, which are forty words or more, are called block quotations. Block quotations frequently appear in longer essays and research papers.
Colons to Introduce Examples or Explanations
Use a colon to introduce an example or to further explain an idea presented in the first part of a sentence. The first part of the sentence must always be an independent clause; that is, it must stand alone as a complete thought with a subject and verb. Do not use a colon after phrases like such as or for example.
Correct: Our company offers many publishing services: writing, editing, and reviewing.
Incorrect: Our company offers many publishing services, such as: writing, editing, and reviewing.
Tip
Capitalize the first letter following a colon for a proper noun, the beginning of a quote, or the first letter of another independent clause. Do NOT capitalize if the information following the colon is not a complete sentence.
Proper noun: We visited three countries: Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador.
Beginning of a quote: My mother loved this line from Hamlet: “To thine own self be true.”
Two independent clauses: There are drawbacks to modern technology: My brother’s cell phone died, and he lost a lot of phone numbers.
Incorrect: The recipe is simple: Tomato, basil, and avocado.
Key Takeaways
- Use a colon to introduce a list, quote, or example.
- Use a colon after a greeting in business letters and memos.
“10.3 Colons” from Putting the Pieces Together by Andrew M. Stracuzzi and André Cormier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.—Modifications: Removed Learning Objectives and Exercises.
