Colons & Semicolons: What's the Difference?
Many students confuse the use of colons with that of semicolons, but they are used in totally different circumstances. This video provides clear explanation and examples of colons and semicolons being used correctly.
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The transcript for this video appears below.
Colons and semicolons are often confused, but they have completely different roles in a sentence. In this video, you’ll learn about those differences and what roles each one has.
Semicolons have two basic roles. The first is to separate two independent clauses that could have been separated by a comma plus a conjunction. You can see here that if we replace the semicolon with a comma and an “and”, the sentence still works. It works because both parts of the sentence are independent clauses.
What are independent clauses? They are clauses that can stand alone because they contain a subject plus its verb. See here that “the students” is the subject and “took” is the verb in the first independent clause; “they” is the subject and “used” is the verb in the second independent clause. If the text on either side of the semicolon is NOT an independent clause, you can’t use a semicolon.
The second use of a semicolon is to separate list items when at least one of the items on the list already has a comma in it. You can see in this example that we have three sets of teams, two of which already have internal commas. Those internal commas require you to use semicolons between each team.
Those are the only two uses of semicolons! Trust me.
Colons also have two main roles. One is to introduce a list of things and two is to provide an example of something you just mentioned in text.
Here I have written pretty much what I just said on the previous slide. I’m using the colon to introduce the list of two things that colons do.
Just remember two important rules: To introduce a list of things with a colon, the information or “stem” to the left of the colon should be a complete sentence. And when the text to the right of the colon is not a complete sentence on its own, the first word should be lowercase.
Here is an example of incorrect use of a colon. See how the stem to the left is NOT a complete sentence. In this case, just delete the colon and the sentence works.
Another option is to make the text to the left of the colon into a complete sentence: The project included three phases. Now, the colon is correct.
One easy way to figure out whether to use a colon or not is to try to replace the colon with “which were” or “which are.” If the sentence works, then it’s OK to use a colon. If it doesn’t work, then don’t use a colon. You can’t say “The project included which were”, so you can’t use a colon. You CAN say “The project included three phases, which were,” so in this case, you can use a colon.
Finally, the colon is used to introduce an example of something just mentioned in text. Here, “cutting out sugar” is an example of “one of the most challenging dietary changes,” so using a colon is appropriate. Just remember the two rules from before: The text to the left needs to be a complete sentence, and the words to the right won’t be capitalized if they don’t form a complete sentence.
Both the APA and AMA manuals contain usage rules for semicolons and colons.
Colons and semicolons are often confused, but they have completely different roles in a sentence. In this video, you’ll learn about those differences and what roles each one has.
Semicolons have two basic roles. The first is to separate two independent clauses that could have been separated by a comma plus a conjunction. You can see here that if we replace the semicolon with a comma and an “and”, the sentence still works. It works because both parts of the sentence are independent clauses.
What are independent clauses? They are clauses that can stand alone because they contain a subject plus its verb. See here that “the students” is the subject and “took” is the verb in the first independent clause; “they” is the subject and “used” is the verb in the second independent clause. If the text on either side of the semicolon is NOT an independent clause, you can’t use a semicolon.
The second use of a semicolon is to separate list items when at least one of the items on the list already has a comma in it. You can see in this example that we have three sets of teams, two of which already have internal commas. Those internal commas require you to use semicolons between each team.
Those are the only two uses of semicolons! Trust me.
Colons also have two main roles. One is to introduce a list of things and two is to provide an example of something you just mentioned in text.
Here I have written pretty much what I just said on the previous slide. I’m using the colon to introduce the list of two things that colons do.
Just remember two important rules: To introduce a list of things with a colon, the information or “stem” to the left of the colon should be a complete sentence. And when the text to the right of the colon is not a complete sentence on its own, the first word should be lowercase.
Here is an example of incorrect use of a colon. See how the stem to the left is NOT a complete sentence. In this case, just delete the colon and the sentence works.
Another option is to make the text to the left of the colon into a complete sentence: The project included three phases. Now, the colon is correct.
One easy way to figure out whether to use a colon or not is to try to replace the colon with “which were” or “which are.” If the sentence works, then it’s OK to use a colon. If it doesn’t work, then don’t use a colon. You can’t say “The project included which were”, so you can’t use a colon. You CAN say “The project included three phases, which were,” so in this case, you can use a colon.
Finally, the colon is used to introduce an example of something just mentioned in text. Here, “cutting out sugar” is an example of “one of the most challenging dietary changes,” so using a colon is appropriate. Just remember the two rules from before: The text to the left needs to be a complete sentence, and the words to the right won’t be capitalized if they don’t form a complete sentence.
Both the APA and AMA manuals contain usage rules for semicolons and colons.