FURTHER READING
Colons:
Colons are typically used as a mark of introduction. Typically, a colon ends an independent clause in order to introduce a related independent clause of example or explanation.
Colons can also serve this function if both clauses are independent but grammatically incomplete:
Notice with these examples that the clause following the colon is not capitalized. While the introduction of explanatory clause are the most common uses of colons, there are six other uses of colons in English:
- Forbearance is the watchword: that triumvirate of Twinkies merely overwhelmed my resolve. (Homer Simpson)
- There is only one solution: we must kill the boy! (Abraham "Grandpa" Simpson)
- We are trapped in the amber of the moment: there is no why. (Kurt Vonnegut)
Colons can also serve this function if both clauses are independent but grammatically incomplete:
- Lamentably, no: my gastronomic rapacity knows no satiety. (Homer Simpson)
- Disingenuous mountebanks with their subliminal chicanery: a pox on them! (Homer Simpson)
Notice with these examples that the clause following the colon is not capitalized. While the introduction of explanatory clause are the most common uses of colons, there are six other uses of colons in English:
- At the end of a sentence before a bulleted list (see above)
- A colon can introduce a subtitle: Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero
- A colon introduces a list: The following are Greek gods: Zeus, Hera, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Apollo.
- Colons can also introduce an appositive phrase or clause: One of the lamps is cyan: a combination of green and blue light.
- Colons can follow the salutation in a letter: To whom it may concern:
- Colons also divide time (12:35), chapter/page or issue/number (5:2), and chapter and verse in scripture (Psalm 22:11).
Semicolons;
As a combination of the comma (which separates) and a colon (which introduces), the semicolon introduces a separate but related thought. The use of the semicolon in modern writing is fiercely debated; while semicolons used to be employed as an alternative to several types of commas, many prominent writers believe that semicolons add pretension to writing without providing substance. Kurt Vonnegut wrote in A Man Without a Country that the first rule for writers should be "Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college." Cormac McCarthy, whose Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Road doesn't contain a single semicolon, has said that people don't naturally speak in semicolons. These authors demonstrate how, in cases of combining two independent clauses, a semicolon is a stylistic choice over using a comma and coordinating conjunction. Both of these are correct . . .
Betty had brilliant blonde hair that shone like the radiant sun, but Veronica's ebony hair gave her a sense of mystery.
Betty had brilliant blonde hair that shone like the radiant sun; Veronica's ebony hair gave her a sense of mystery.
Betty had brilliant blonde hair that shone like the radiant sun; Veronica's ebony hair gave her a sense of mystery.
. . . yet the sentence with the semicolon has a more punctuated and separated feel. Beyond this stylistic choice, there are two cases where semicolons are still required for proper grammar:
- A semicolon must join two independent clauses if the second clause starts with a conjunctive adverb like however, nevertheless, therefore, thus, still, or moreover:
- There are more teachers than ever; however, teacher turnover is also the highest it's ever been.
- Robert knew that if the team didn't summit by three, they would be caught in the evening storm; therefore, he pushed everyone to traverse the trail as quickly as possible.
- Frostbite ate away at his extremities; nevertheless, he grit his teeth and crawled back to base camp.
- A semicolon is used to separates list items instead of a serial comma where the items themselves contain commas.
- In her titular 2017 film, Wonder Woman travels to London, England; Veld, Belgium; and Paris, France.
- The quartet featured in the After Hours sketches are Dan O'Brien, who plays the socially-maladjusted pop culture nerd; Michael Swaim, the buffoon who always derails the conversation and misleads other characters; Katie Willard, who is an ardent feminist intellectual and acts as the cynical moral compass; and Soren Bowie, the athletic everyman who never recognizes his privilege.
- In her titular 2017 film, Wonder Woman travels to London, England; Veld, Belgium; and Paris, France.