To colon or to semicolon

The colon is a common cause of bellyache. The semicolon can leave people dazed and confused. But rather than cutting them completely from your punctuation diet, refer to the following guidelines and you’ll soon find just the right dosage for all your writing needs.

The colon

The colon is very useful for introducing things, for example:

* bullet points
* lists within your text, eg I learned three things from this article: how to use colons, how to use semicolons, and that the writer liked extended metaphors.
* long, indented quotes.

It can also act like an arrow, pointing the reader on from a statement to the reason for, or outcome of, that statement. For example: she was elated to know what those two little dots were for: she started using them with confidence and glee.

The system here always implies a link between the two sections, and can be generally summed up as:

* cause: effect, or
* fact: explanation.

In UK English, always use lower case after a colon. (American style guides usually recommend the opposite.) The only exception is if you are introducing bullet points that are each full sentences.

The semicolon

Think of the semicolon as the ‘super comma’: they act in a similar way, but indicate a longer pause. They can also be used to show a link between parallel ideas.

Use them to separate long phrases in a list when at least one of the phrases contains a comma, eg My favourite mediums for writing semicolons are: crayons; 2B pencils; fountain pens, in blue or black; and, obviously, huge magic markers.

Semicolons are also good for linking two related clauses. In this way, the semicolon replaces the word ‘and’ or ‘but’ eg I prefer the explanation about colons; Denise prefers the semicolon section.

So don’t be afraid: used fairly sparingly, these two punctuation marks can bring much more clarity and variety to your documents. Bon appétit!

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Author: Catie Holdridge

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Catie joined Emphasis with an English literature and creative writing degree and a keen interest in what makes language work. Having researched, written, commissioned and edited dozens of articles for the Emphasis blog, she now knows more about the intricacies of effective professional writing than she ever thought possible.

She produced and co-wrote our online training programme, The Complete Business Writer, and these days oversees all the Emphasis marketing efforts. And she keeps office repartee at a suitably literary level.