olzcorporation.blogg.se - How to introduce a quote with a colon

Colons, like semicolons, should be used sparingly. It's definitely not a strict rule.Like a semicolon, a colon can connect two independent clauses, but it has several other uses as well. (Note: This is just a guideline to remove the need to think about what punctuation to use. There is a useful guideline out there which states that if your quotation is longer than six words (and you're not worried about controlling the flow of text), then use a colon. However, it could have been introduced with a comma or with nothing. In this example, the quotation is introduced with a colon. It's hard to disagree with Frank Zappa, who said: "Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.".(Colons used as a separator in times.) Read more about colons in references, times and titlesĬolons can be used to introduce quotations. (Colon used as a separator in a Bible reference)Ġ8:30 - Meet at the lake and prepare the kayaks Genesis 1:1 starts "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.".(Here, the colon is used to separate the main title from the subtitle.) I am currently reading "How To Get Your Own Way: Who's Manipulating You?".Read more about using bullet points (3) Using Colons in References and TimesĬolons can be used to divide the parts of references, titles, and times. Note: You cannot use a semicolon ( ) for this purpose. The Victorian printing set is missing the following characters: Q, R, K, and the question mark.The wording to the left of the colon will introduce whatever follows on the right. I would like to change just one aspect of your draft: then you can publish it.Ī colon can be used after an introduction.I need one personal trait: I have others but not the one I need.

You cannot introduce a new idea with a colon.

I have made an important discovery: alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, produces all the effects of intoxication.

Sometimes, the ideas either side of the "equals sign" are a little harder to marry up. (two reasons = the visa idea and the flying idea)

There are two reasons why I don't believe the alibi: there is no visa in his passport, and he is petrified of flying.

He blamed his divorce on one thing: beer.

Usually, the information on the right is an expansion of whatever is mentioned on the left. The information on the left of the colon equals the information on the right. Think of a colon (:) as the language version of an equals sign (=) in mathematics. (If you can master this idea, you'll have a useful tool in your writing toolkit.) It is worth learning how to use them - especially how colons allow you to expand on an idea previously mentioned in the sentence.