Not all people know how to use a colon in writing. Although some of them are aware of this kind of punctuation, still they find it very confusing on how to apply it in their sentence writing. Have you ever encountered such a writing experienced on how to use a colon effectively? If not, there are guides for to follow in order to correct the way you write them and for you to be aware on what to do next when you apply it into one of your compositions.

First of all, don’t ever confuse a colon from a semi colon in terms of their appearance and their roles in writing. I’ve seen a lot of people who thought colons are just the same as semi colons and they often interchange their uses. If you do that in your writing, your work will be marked with a lot of mistakes which threatens your credibility as a writer if someone who is an expert enough to correct your writing mistakes when you are going to submit your work.

It is so saddening how some writers, practice this kind of a habit in writing where in fact, colons can be easily applied into writing with its unique yet simple rules on how to use them properly. If only, you know how to do it and if only you are aware of its uses then you will be able to write it effectively into your writing.

So, the question is, what are the things that need to be remembered about colon writing and what are these rules or guidelines that you should follow in order to avoid any misconceptions in writing?

Colons aren’t frequently abused as a punctuation mark, not like commas or exclamation points typically are. And that’s a known fact. With that said, some situations will call for plugging them into your text and it’s best you know the rules before going to work.

– When in doubt, start the statement after the colon with a lowercase letter. In fact, many people just avoid uppercase forms altogether, regardless of whether the following line is a sentence or a fragment. Do note that classic English form requires capitalizing under certain conditions.
– For lists and other fragments, starting with a lowercase letter is the default way to lay it out. A dash is an equally acceptable replacement for some situations, especially for less formal situations.
– When a colon is used to introduced a complete sentence, the traditional rule is to start it in uppercase form. Substituting with a dash usually isn’t acceptable.
– When a colon is followed by a complete sentence but doesn’t introduce it, starting in lowercase is the norm. A dash can also be used as a replacement, although a colon is almost always the better choice.

I’ve seen several instances of a colon being used to introduce multiple sentences. While not entirely incorrect (even your grammar software will approve it), it’s very confusing and is decidedly bad form. Try avoiding it at all costs.

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Category: Writing
Keywords: colons, proper punctuation, punctuation