Colons and Semicolons

• To introduce a list

  Our softball team will play the following rivals: Mabank, Malakoff, and Kemp.

• Before an explanation

  There was only one priority left for me to see to: finishing my homework.

  I love going to the movies: action movies are usually my preference.

• To separate an independent clause from a quotation

  My baseball coach loves to use the same phrase before every practice and game:
  “Shut up and play baseball.”

• Between a title and subtitle

  The textbook for our class is called Ideas Across Time: Classic and Contemporary
  Readings for Composition.

​Colons

• Place semicolons between items in lists if some items in the list include commas.

  My classmates are from Milwaukee, Wisconsin; St. Paul, Minnesota; Des Moines, Iowa; and Detroit, Michigan.

• Place a semicolon between two independent clauses to link them in the same sentence.

  I don’t have time to practice fiddling; my schoolwork is too demanding.

• Linking complete clauses with a conjunctive adverb: Place a

  semicolon between independent clauses linked with a conjunctive

  adverb.

  It might rain; however, the weather report suggests sunshine

  all day.

​Semicolons