Colons and Semicolons: The best looking punctuation?

Colons and Semicolons: The best looking punctuation?

By Jon Steenbeke

Uses of colons review

Musician Wanda Landowska made this statement: "I never practice; I always play​."

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Introduce quotations

The colon is used between numbers showing times.

1:00 p.m.

Uses of colons review

A good student does the following: reads, writes, and remembers.

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Introduces a list

Sets off the phrase for emphasis

The police were missing one important piece of information: a motive.

Open Ended

Rewrite the sentence below so that is uses a colon.

Reading, sleeping, and eating are Aaron's favorite activities.

Open Ended

The one thing I liked about Uncle Bill was listening to his scary stories.

Uses of semicolons review

I have a signed Batman comic; it is the most valuable book I own.

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Join two independent clauses

Join two independent clauses connected by a conjunctive adverb

My English teacher was tough; however, she never got upset.

Uses of semicolons review

My favorite foods are pizza with pepperoni, peppers, and mushrooms; peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; and liver and onions.

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To seperate groups of words or phrases that already contain commas

Multiple Choice

Does this sentence need a colon or a semicolon?

The library doors were locked at exactly at 500 p.m.

• colon

• semicolon

• neither

Multiple Choice

Does this sentence need a colon or a semicolon?

There was only one thing Lisa liked grammar lessons.

• colon

• semicolon

• neither

Multiple Choice

Does this sentence need a colon or a semicolon?

I don't like to eat when I'm watching a movie besides, the food at the theater is expensive.

• colon

• semicolon

• neither

Multiple Choice

Does this sentence need a colon or a semicolon?

Ms. Palini's favorite activities are playing football with her friends, eating kimchi at the beach, and grading student work on Sundays.

• colon

• semicolon

• neither

Multiple Choice

Does this sentence need a colon or a semicolon?

Vera was right about English class being exciting however, I still think social studies in the scariest class.

• colon

• semicolon

• neither

Poll

Which punctuation is your favorite?

• ;

• :

• ,

• .