SPAG: Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar: Colons and Semicolons

Semicolons do three things.

• They join two closely related independent clauses.
• They separate sentences joined by conjunctive adverbs (words like however, nevertheless).
• They act as "super commas" to separate items in lists that include other punctuation.

To learn more, see:

Colons introduce things: examples, subsets, and lists.

If you do not have a complete sentence, don't use the colon.

Lists can be bulleted or a part of a sentence.

Bulleted lists are sometimes introduced by a colon even when the sentence is not complete.

Examples:

WRONG: He liked to: run, swim, and bike.

RIGHT: He liked to fun, swim, and bike.

John 1:14

The book was called Choices: Decision-making for the Indecisive.

To succeed in college do these things:

• Prepare
• Participate
• Ponder

To learn more, see: