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.

Fill in the Blank

Rewrite the sentence with a colon.

Bob gave us good advice for losing weight eat less.

Fill in the Blank

Luca has three major dislikes whiners, bullies, and braggarts.

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

Fill in the Blank

Rewrite the sentence with a semicolon.

Daniel decided to go to the movies he wanted to see Frozen 3.

Fill in the Blank

Rewrite with a semicolon.

Igor likes most people nevertheless, he still refuses to hang out with Chauncy.

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?

• ;

• :

• ,

• .