Semicolons & Colons

Semicolons & Colons

Complete/Incomplete Thoughts Review

Distinguishing between complete and incomplete thoughts is important when determining when to use semicolons and colons. Let's see what we remember.

Multiple Choice

Is the red portion of the text a complete or incomplete thought: After Mr. Filch fed his dog a treat, it wagged its tail happily.

• Complete

• Incomplete

Multiple Choice

Is the red portion of the text a complete or incomplete thought: Until I learn how to braid hair, Andy won't let me work at his barber shop.

• Complete

• Incomplete

Semicolons Refresher

• Used to link two related thoughts

• Used with two COMPLETE thoughts - you will never use a semicolon to join a complete thought with an incomplete thought

• No comma or conjunction necessary

• Example: I love the rain; I find it peaceful and relaxing.

Colons Refresher

• Used to introduce an example, explanation, quotation, or list

• Always follows a complete thought

• Think of a colon as a replacement for the words "here's what I mean."

• Example: There are three types of muscle in the body: cardiac, smooth, and skeletal.

• COMMON MISTAKE: Do not use a colon to separate a verb from its object or subject complements

• INCORRECT: The three types of muscle in the body are: cardiac, smooth, and skeletal. (no additional punctuation is needed here)

Summary

• Use a colon when you are adding something to the original thought to make it better/make it make more sense.

• Use a colon when you are providing more context or information to the original complete thought.

• Use a semicolon when adding a new but related complete thought to the original complete thought.

• FYI: no need to capitalize the first letter after the punctuation (for both semicolons and colons)

Multiple Choice

Which punctuation should go between the red and blue text? The stamps in his stamp collection were of great quality _ they were also hard to find.

• Colon

• Semicolon

Multiple Choice

Which punctuation should go between the red and blue text? Some of the volunteers truly cared about the cause _ others were just hoping to impress their boss.

• Colon

• Semicolon

Multiple Choice

Which punctuation should go between the red and blue text? My plan was straightforward _ walk right up to Mickey Mouse and ask for his autograph.

• Colon

• Semicolon

Multiple Choice

Which punctuation should go between the red and blue text? We can go to the library to do our research _ Mondays are pretty quiet there.

• Colon

• Semicolon

Multiple Choice

Which punctuation should go between the red and blue text? When I graduate, I want to go to three places _ Rome, Israel, and Egypt.

• Colon

• Semicolon