colons & semicolons

(pdf)

Problem

Many writers are unfamiliar with how to use both colons ( : ) and semicolons ( ; ) in American academic writing. Often they will use both marks interchangeably or inappropriately use another punctuation mark, like a period or comma. Misused colons and semicolons in your writing can result in grammatically incorrect sentence structures, which can confuse readers.

Solutions

USE A COLON TO ...

introduce a list or quotation at the end of a complete sentence.

• Student Writing Support helps students at any stage of the writing process: brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising.
    
• Jarratt questions the pedagogical stance of avoiding conflicts in the classroom when teaching composition: “Only through recognition of and argument over differences can conflict be resolved into homonoia, like-mindedness” (114).

connect titles and subtitles.

• Defining Reality: Definitions and the Politics of Meaning, by Edward Schiappa, won the 2003 Gary A. Olson Award for the Best Book in Rhetorical & Cultural Theory.
   
• In the article “My Life as an Infomercial: On Time, Teaching, and Technology,” Pat Miller discusses the role of technology in teaching online courses.

connect two sentences if the second is a restatement or further explanation of the first.

• Minds are like parachutes: they only work when they are open.
    
• I devised a new exercise plan: I would get up early and jog every morning.

separate the different increments of time.

• The President started his State of the Union Address at 8:35 p.m., EST.
    
• He ran the marathon in 4:27:53.

express ratios.

• In water, the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen is 2:1.
    
• The side ratios of a right-angled isosceles triangle are always 2:2:3.
  

USE A SEMICOLON TO ...  

connect two closely related sentences. Always use a semicolon when you use “however” as a conjunction in a compound sentence.

• Writing centers are great; they teach students how to become better writers.
    
• I had been cycling to work all summer long; however, I rode the bus today because I woke up late.

separate items in a list when those items have commas within them.

• I have visited Boise, ID; Austin, TX; Denver, CO; and Portland, OR in the past year.
    
• Yesterday, I had to visit the doctor's office; edit, print, and mail my job application; and choose a restaurant for our five-year-anniversary celebration.

Works Cited

Jarrat, Susan. “Feminism and Composition: The Case for Conflict.” Contending With Words: Composition and Rhetoric in a Postmodern Age. Eds. Patricia Harkin and John Schilb. New York: MLA, 1991: 105-23.

Miller, Pat. “My Life as an Infomercial: On Time, Teaching, and Technology.” Profession (2001): 137-41.

Schiappa, Edward. Defining Reality: Definitions and the Politics of Meaning. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP, 2003.