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Colons are used after complete sentences to introduce related information that usually comes in the form of a list, an explanation, or a quotation.

The wedding had all the elements to make it a classic: the elegant bride, the weeping mother, and the fainting bridesmaids.

In this example, the colon is used to introduce a list of classic wedding elements. Without the list following the colon, the sentence can stand alone (“The wedding had all the elements to make it a classic”). By naming the classic elements of a wedding, the list serves mainly to explain and expand upon the independent sentence that precedes it.

The wedding had all the elements to make it a classic: the elegant bride beamed as her mother wept and as the bridesmaids fainted.

Here, the clause following the colon also has an explanatory function. In this case, the colon joins two independent clauses, but the clause following the colon is used to explain and expand the first.

Colons can also be used to introduce quotations.

The mother’s exclamation best summed up the wedding: “If only the bridesmaids hadn’t fainted!”

Problems


A COLON SHOULD ALWAYS BE PRECEDED BY AN INDEPENDENT CLAUSE.

WRONG: The ingredients I need to make a cake: flour, butter, sugar, and icing.
RIGHT: I need several ingredients to make a cake: flour, butter, sugar, and icing.

In the “WRONG” example, a sentence fragment precedes the list of items. The sentence should be reworked to create an independent clause before the colon.


THERE SHOULD NEVER BE MORE THAN ONE COLON IN A SENTENCE.

WRONG: He brought many items on the camping trip: a tent, a sleeping bag, a full cooking set, warm clothes, and several pairs of shoes: sneakers, boots, and sandals.

RIGHT: He brought many items on the camping trip: a tent, a sleeping bag, a full cooking set, warm clothes, sneakers, boots, and sandals.