Editing Colon (punctuation) (section)

==Usage in English==
In modern English usage, a complete sentence precedes a colon, while a list, description, explanation, or definition follows it. The elements which follow the colon may or may not be a complete sentence: since the colon is preceded by a sentence, it is a complete sentence whether what follows the colon is another sentence or not. While it is acceptable to capitalise the first letter after the colon in American English, it is not the case in British English, except where a proper noun immediately follows a colon.<ref>{{cite web |date=2017-09-20 |title=Colons: How to Use Them |url=https://style.mla.org/colons-how-to-use-them/ |access-date=2020-08-17 |website=The MLA Style Center |language=en-US |archive-date=2020-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810054447/https://style.mla.org/colons-how-to-use-them/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

;Colon used before list
:''Daequan was so hungry that he ate everything in the house: chips, cold pizza, pretzels and dip, hot dogs, peanut butter, and candy.''

;Colon used before a description
:''Bertha is so desperate that she'll date anyone, even William: he's uglier than a squashed toad on the highway, and that's on his good days.''

;Colon before definition
:''For years while I was reading Shakespeare's ''Othello'' and criticism on it, I had to constantly look up the word "egregious" since the villain uses that word: outstandingly bad or shocking.''

;Colon before explanation
:''I guess I can say I had a rough weekend: I had chest pain and spent all Saturday and Sunday in the emergency room.''

Some writers use fragments (incomplete sentences) before a colon for emphasis or stylistic preferences (to show a character's voice in literature), as in this example:
:''Dinner: chips and juice. What a well-rounded diet I have.''

''[[The Bedford Handbook]]'' describes several uses of a colon. For example, one can use a colon after an independent clause to direct attention to a list, an [[appositive]], or a quotation, and it can be used between independent clauses if the second summarizes or explains the first. In non-literary or non-expository uses, one may use a colon after the salutation in a formal letter, to indicate hours and minutes, to show proportions, between a title and subtitle, and between city and publisher in bibliographic entries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hacker |first1=Diana |year=2010 |title=The Bedford Handbook |url=https://archive.org/details/bedfordhandbookw00hack |url-access=limited |publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's |location=Boston-New York |isbn=978-0-312-65269-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bedfordhandbookw00hack/page/n433 384]–387}}</ref>

[[Luca Serianni]], an Italian scholar who helped to define and develop the colon as a punctuation mark, identified four punctuational modes for it: ''syntactical-deductive'', ''syntactical-descriptive'', ''appositive'', and ''segmental''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Serianni |first1=Luca |author1-link=Luca Serianni |last2=Castelvecchi |first2=Alberto |year=1988 |title=Grammatica italiana. Italiano comune e lingua letteraria. Suoni, forme, costrutti |publisher=UTET |location=[[Turin]] |language=it |isbn=88-02-04154-7}}</ref>

===Syntactical-deductive===
The colon introduces the [[logical consequence]], or effect, of a fact stated before.

:''There was only one possible explanation: the train had never arrived.''

===Syntactical-descriptive===
In this sense the colon introduces a description; in particular, it makes explicit the elements of a set.
:''I have three sisters: Daphne, Rose, and Suzanne.''

Syntactical-descriptive colons may separate the numbers indicating [[hour]]s, [[minute]]s, and [[second]]s in abbreviated measures of time.<ref name="ISO8601">{{cite ISO standard |csnumber=40874 |title=Data elements and interchange formats – Information interchange – Representation of dates and times}}</ref>
:''The concert begins at 21:45.''
:''The rocket launched at 09:15:05.''

[[British English]] and [[Australian English]], however, more frequently use a [[decimal mark|point]] for this purpose:
:''The programme will begin at 8.00 pm.''
:''You will need to arrive by 14.30.''<ref name="trask">{{cite web |last1=Trask |first1=Larry |author1-link=Larry Trask |year=1997 |url=http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/colonandsemi/colon |title=The Colon |work=Guide to Punctuation |access-date=26 July 2019 |archive-date=16 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116232539/http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/colonandsemi/colon |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Peters |first1=Pam |editor1-last=Grayston |editor1-first=Graham |date=1995 |title=The Cambridge Australian English style guide |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-43401-0 |location=Cambridge |page=146}}</ref>

A colon is also used in the descriptive location of a book verse if the book is divided into verses, such as in the [[Bible]] or the [[Quran]]:
:"Isaiah 42:8"
:"Deuteronomy 32:39"
:"Quran 10:5"

===Appositive===
:''Luruns could not speak: he was drunk.''<ref>Example quoted in [https://web.archive.org/web/20061209020735/http://eatsshootsandleaves.com/eslguide.pdf ''An Educational Companion to ''Eats, Shoots & Leaves] by Lynne Truss</ref>

An appositive colon also separates the [[subtitle (titling)|subtitle]] of a work from its principal title. (In effect, the example given above illustrates an appositive use of the colon as an abbreviation for the conjunction "because".) Dillon has noted the impact of colons on scholarly articles,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dillon |first1=J. T. |date=1981 |title=The emergence of the colon: An empirical correlate of scholarship. |journal=American Psychologist |volume=36 |issue=8 |pages=879–884 |doi=10.1037/0003-066x.36.8.879}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dillon |first1=J. T. |date=1982 |title=In Pursuit of the Colon: A Century of Scholarly Progress: 1880-1980 |jstor=1981541 |journal=The Journal of Higher Education |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=93–99 |doi=10.2307/1981541}}</ref> but the reliability of colons as a predictor of quality or impact has also been challenged.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Townsend |first1=Michael A.R. |date=1983 |title=Titular Colonicity and Scholarship: New Zealand Research and Scholarly Impact |url=http://www.psychology.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/NZJP-Vol121-1983-7-Townsend.pdf |journal=New Zealand Journal of Psychology |volume=12 |pages=41–43 |access-date=2017-04-20 |archive-date=2017-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409003450/http://www.psychology.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/NZJP-Vol121-1983-7-Townsend.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lupo |first1=James |last2=Kopelman |first2=Richard E. |date=1987 |title=Punctuation and publishability: A reexamination of the colon. |journal=American Psychologist |volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=513 |doi=10.1037/0003-066x.42.5.513.a}}</ref> In titles, neither needs to be a complete sentence as titles do not represent [[wikt:expository|expository]] writing:

:''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi''

===Segmental===

Like a [[dash]] or [[quotation mark]], a segmental colon introduces [[speech]]. The segmental function was once a common means of indicating an unmarked quotation on the same line. The following example is from the grammar book ''[[The King's English]]'':

:''Benjamin Franklin proclaimed the virtue of frugality: A penny saved is a penny earned.''

This form is still used in British industry-standard templates for written performance [[dialogue]]s, such as in a [[play (theatre)|play]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nycplaywrights.org/p/playscript-template.html |title=Playscript template |access-date=2023-03-13 |archive-date=2023-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313163929/https://www.nycplaywrights.org/p/playscript-template.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The colon indicates that the words following an character's name are spoken by that character.

:''Patient: Doctor, I feel like a pair of curtains.''
:''Doctor: Pull yourself together!''
The uniform visual pattern of <code>&lt;character_nametag : character_spoken_lines></code> placement on a script page assists an actor in scanning for the lines of their assigned character during rehearsal, especially if a script is undergoing rewrites between rehearsals.

===Use of capitals===
Use of capitalization or lower-case after a colon varies. In [[British English]], and in most [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries, the word following the colon is in lower case unless it is normally capitalized for some other reason, as with [[proper noun]]s and [[acronym]]s. British English also capitalizes a new sentence introduced by a colon's [[#Segmental|segmental use]].{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

[[American English]] permits writers to similarly capitalize the first word of any [[independent clause]] following a colon. This follows the guidelines of some modern American style guides, including those published by the [[Associated Press]] and the [[Modern Language Association]]. ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'', however, requires capitalization only when the colon introduces a direct quotation, a direct question, or two or more complete sentences.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Capitalization.html |title=Chicago Style Q&A: Capitalization |publisher=Chicagomanualofstyle.org |access-date=8 November 2011 |archive-date=15 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015022853/http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Capitalization.html |url-status=live}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=January 2024}}

In many [[Europe]]an languages, the colon is usually followed by a lower-case letter unless the upper case is required for other reasons, as with British English. [[German language|German]] usage requires capitalization of [[independent clause]]s following a colon.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071012100137/http://www.duden.de/deutsche_sprache/newsletter/archiv.php?id=21 Duden Newsletter vom 24.08.2001]</ref> [[Dutch language|Dutch]] further capitalizes the first word of any quotation following a colon, even if it is not a complete sentence on its own.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://taaladvies.net/taal/advies/vraag/392/ |title=Hoofdletter na dubbele punt |publisher=taaladvies.net |access-date=8 November 2011 |archive-date=26 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026015501/http://taaladvies.net/taal/advies/vraag/392 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Spacing and parentheses===
{{See also|Sentence spacing}}
In print, a thin space was traditionally placed before a colon and a thick space after it. In modern [[English-language]] printing, no space is placed before a colon and a single space is placed after it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=DeRespinis |first1=Francis |last2=Hayward |first2=Peter |last3=Jenkins |first3=Jana |last4=Laird |first4=Amy |last5=McDonald |first5=Leslie |last6=Radzinski |first6=Eric |title=The IBM Style Guide: Conventions for Writers and Editors |date=2012 |publisher=IBM Press |location=Boston |page=43}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gibaldi |first1=Joseph |title=MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing |date=2008 |publisher=Modern Language Association of America |location=New York |page=91}}</ref> In [[French language|French-language]] typing and printing, the traditional rules are preserved.

One or two spaces may be and have been used after a colon. The older convention (designed to be used by [[monospaced font]]s) was to use ''two'' spaces after a colon.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Paterson |first1=Derek |title=How many spaces after a colon? |url=http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4279434#post4279434 |work=Absolute Write forums |date=19 November 2009 |access-date=4 November 2012 |at=Post 4 |quote=Back in the typewriter day, when fading ink ribbons could result in commas being mistaken for periods and vice versa, typists were taught to insert 2 spaces after the period to differentiate between the two. The same happened with colons and semicolons: 2 spaces were left after a colon; 1 space after a semicolon. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927105919/http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4279434#post4279434 |archive-date=27 September 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In modern typography, a colon will be placed outside the closing [[parenthesis]] introducing a list. In very early English typography, it could be placed inside, as seen in [[Roger Williams]]' 1643 book about the Native American languages of New England.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/keyintolanguageo04will/page/52/mode/2up |title=A key into the language of America |year=1643}}</ref>