1.Separating two independent clauses: You can use a colon to separate two independent clauses when the second clause clarifies or explains the first, as in “You can take me to the train station now: I am ready to leave.” Each of these independent clauses can function on its own, but...
Imagine the colon as an arrow pointing to an essential detail in the sentence. Here are the common usages of this punctuation mark. Emphasizes Dialogue In English grammar, a colon is a proper punctuation for showing dialogue. Write the speaker’s name, add the colon, then their statement. Ch...
Use the colon ( : ) rather than a comma ( , ) after an introductory greeting when writing a letter in Spanish. SpanishEnglish equivalentLiteral translationContextFormality Estimado señor/señora/señores:Dear Sir/Madam/All,Esteemed sir/madam/allFormal lettersFormal ...
One of the most common points of confusion with quotes is when to usesingle versus double quotation marks. In American English, single quotation marks are used only for quotes that appear inside other quotes. For example, if you’re quoting a passage that already features a quote, use double...
A semicolon can separate two sentences or independent clauses within a complex sentence. Semicolons are often found in fiction writing in English. The family had never seen Mrs. Baker so mad; everyone thought the maid was...
Playwright and poet Ben Johnson is credited as the first noble English writer to use the semicolon systematically in his work. He was known for relying heavily on quotes of earlier writers. Many among them were protégés and fans of Manut...
Also, in the labels array for non-hierarchical taxonomies, we have addednullfor theparent_itemandparent_item_colonarguments, which means that nothing will be shown in the UI to create a parent item or taxonomy that can have sub-topics. ...
What students need to know about short and long vowels Perhaps the first thing for students to learn is how to spot the colon (:) that shows a long vowel sound in their dictionary, textbook, etc, as seen in /pi:s/ for “peace”. ...
Another reason to use a semicolon is to draw attention to how related your two clauses are. The semicolon in our example sentence highlights that the reason you can’t go out tonight is that you have a big test tomorrow. You wouldn’t write, “English is my fifth period class; I can...
Using a colon in a compound sentence is rare in everyday English as colons are mostly used to introduce lists. You're most likely to encounter this use in complex technical writing. Simple vs. Compound Sentences On some occasions, you may be unsure of whether the sentence you're reading is...