When to Use a Colon (:)

Use a colon to explain, illustrate, and elaborate. A colon directs the reader’s attention to the information that follows.

• The pandemic didn’t create the digital divide: it revealed a problem that already existed.
• There was just one thing we needed now: luck.

Place a colon after a grammatically complete sentence to introduce a list.

• We want three things: equality, opportunity, and liberty.
• To cancel your subscription, follow these steps:
  1. Log into your account.
  2. Request cancellation.
  3. Take a screenshot of the message you see on the screen.
  4. Build a time machine.
  5. Go back in time, and don’t ever subscribe to anything you don’t want to be stuck with forever.

A colon may also be used instead of a comma to introduce quoted text and emphasize it.

• The writer speaks of growing old: “Time is suddenly your worst enemy and your closest friend.”
• Camus says: “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

Use a colon to separate a title from a subtitle.

• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

A colon is also used as a separator in listings, citations, dialogue, and ratios.

What is the colon?

The colon (:) is a punctuation mark used to introduce a list or a quotation, or to explain and amplify a statement. Its purpose is to direct attention to the information that follows. It can also serve as a sign or separator.

• Anita collects antiques: typewriters, lanterns, clocks, and cameras.
• Woolf provides useful advice: “So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters.”
• Maya likes to travel: it lets her escape reality by immersing herself in it.
• Non-voters outnumber voters 4:1 in this state.

The colon, which conveys the sense of “as follows” or “which is/are,” is a useful punctuation mark to present ideas clearly to your reader. In this article, we discuss when and when not to use the colon.

To introduce a list

Use a colon after a complete sentence to introduce a list. It is often used after expressions like “as follows” and “the following.”

• Here are two things you will need in the apocalypse: tissues and moisturizer.
• The steps are as follows: first, cut the board to size; second, cut the legs and trim; third, glue legs and board together; fourth, dry and sand.
• A successful birder always has the following: (1) a pair of binoculars, (2) some chocolate, (3) a book on birds, and (4) patience.
• Follow these steps:
  1. Weigh out the ingredients.
  2. Mix them together.
  3. Bake for 40 minutes.
  4. Go online and order pizza.
• To complete this DIY project, you will need the following:
  • A hammer
  • Three nails
  • A step ladder
  • The phone number of a good carpenter
  Tip

  After expressions like “for example,” “for instance,” “namely,” and “that is,” a comma is generally used instead of a colon.

  • You can present this information in various ways. For example, you could include some charts.
  • The class (that is, the students who filled the feedback form) wanted additional coaching.

  Don’t use a colon if a list starts with an incomplete sentence or a fragment . Also note that no colon is needed after including, such as, and like.

  • Incorrect: We need emergency supplies like: blankets, medicines, food packets, and water bottles.
    Correct: We need emergency supplies like blankets, medicines, food packets, and water bottles.
    Correct: We need emergency supplies: blankets, medicines, food packets, water bottles, etc.
  • Incorrect: To store your gold coins safely:
    1. Dig a hole in the garden.
    2. Bury a decoy jar full of pebbles.
    3. Keep the real gold in a safe.
    Correct: To store your gold coins safely,
    1. dig a hole in the garden,
    2. bury a decoy jar full of pebbles,
    3. keep the real gold in a safe.
    Correct: To store your gold coins safely, follow these steps:
    1. Dig a hole in the garden.
    2. Bury a decoy jar full of pebbles.
    3. Keep the real gold in a safe.

  Don’t use a colon after a list heading or caption.

  • Ingredients (no colon needed)
    • flour
    • eggs
    • sugar
    • butter
    • luck
    1. Completed application form
    2. Résumé
    3. Recommendation letter
    4. List of all social media handles

    A colon can sometimes also follow a list of words or phrases, with an explanatory statement after. Such usage is seen more often in creative than in formal writing.

    • Buttons, thread, scissors, and fabric: that’s all you need to stitch a shirt.
    • Raindrops, whiskers, snowflakes, mittens: these are some of her favorite things.
    • Work, work, work: that’s all we ever talk about.

    To explain and amplify

    Use a colon to introduce information that describes, explains, or amplifies. It is a way of saying “which is/are” or “as follows.” By using a colon, you ask the reader to focus on the information that follows.

    She wants just one thing: a room of her own.
    The colon replaces the phrase “which is” and emphasizes what follows.

    A colon can be used between two independent clauses to indicate that the second clause explains or builds upon the first. (An independent clause is one that can stand by itself as a sentence.)

    Farley chose to ignore our advice: he went alone on the road trip.

    You could also say, “Farley chose to ignore our advice and went alone on the road trip,” but then the emphasis is lost. The colon makes the reader focus on the clause that follows.

    Thus, a colon can replace a semicolon or a period between two independent clauses.

    Correct: Farley chose to ignore our advice. He went alone on the road trip.
    The two sentences are related, but we are not emphasizing this fact. Correct: Farley chose to ignore our advice; he went alone on the road trip. The semicolon indicates that the two clauses are closely related. Correct: Farley chose to ignore our advice: he went alone on the road trip. The colon tells the reader that the second clause explains or amplifies the first. Caution

    Don’t use a colon between two clauses unless the second clause illustrates or explains the first.

    Incorrect: Farley chose to ignore our advice: nothing we said could change his mind.
    The second clause does not amplify or illustrate the first. It merely presents related information. Correct: Farley chose to ignore our advice; nothing we said could change his mind.

    If the second clause doesn’t explain the first, but you still want to show that the clauses are closely related, use a semicolon rather than a colon.

    Correct: Farley chose to ignore our advice: he went alone on the road trip.

    The second clause explains the first one: it illustrates how Farley ignored the advice. A colon is now appropriate.

    Capitalization after a colon

    Don’t capitalize words or phrases following a colon within a sentence.

    • You need just three things: scissors, glue, and paper.
    • You have what you asked for: a miracle.
    • This shelter is home to various animals: cats, dogs, donkeys, turtles, parakeets, and even a chimpanzee.

    When a colon is used between two independent clauses (each of which could stand alone as a sentence), the second clause is generally not capitalized.

    • My mother loved the outdoors: she would spend all her free time in the garden.
    • Farley is unfortunate: in the last year he has fallen down the stairs, crashed his motorcycle, and missed the bus to work forty-two times.
    • I cannot emphasize this enough: do not go out tonight.
    • That’s what I said: none of us is wrong.
    Note

    Capitalization is a matter of style rather than grammar. Some style manuals, like the Chicago Manual of Style, suggest lowercasing an independent clause that follows a colon. Others, like the AP Stylebook and APA Publication Manual, recommend capitalizing it.

    In general, a single clause after a colon is lowercased, as can be seen in the following examples.

    But that’s the deal: you have to live.
    — Zadie Smith, On Beauty (2005) — Michael Chabon, Wonder Boys (1995)

    When a colon is followed by a series of sentences, all the sentences are capitalized.

    • She makes the effort: She goes out. She exercises. She lives on coffee and hope.
    • Self-help books can be downright dangerous: They misdiagnose. They make you think you are the problem. They give false hope.

    Also see this article on capitalizing list elements after a colon.

    For emphasis

    A colon, which directs the reader’s attention to what follows, can be used for emphasis.

    What we needed we didn’t have: a boat.

    We could also say, “What we needed we didn’t have, which was a boat,” but then the emphasis provided by the colon is lost.

    Before a definition

    As a punctuation mark that explains and amplifies, a colon can be used to define, describe, and explain.

    • Colon: A punctuation mark that precedes an explanation.
    • VPN: virtual private network
    • Hope: that which is left when all else is lost.
    • The only one I could count on was Tumkin: he was a man who kept his promises.

    Between a title and a subtitle

    Use a colon to set off a subtitle from the main title, or a subheading from the main heading.

    • Tamburlaine the Great: A Play in Two Parts
    • The Zombie Apocalypse: A Documentary
    • Path to Recovery: The Book of Hope
    Caution

    Always capitalize a subtitle or subheading after a colon.

    • Incorrect: Twenty Long Years: my Story of Redemption
      Correct: Twenty Long Years: My Story of Redemption

    To introduce a quotation

    If you use a complete sentence to introduce quoted text, follow it with a colon rather than a comma .

    • The poet speaks of the very nature of the universe: “Gravity cannot prevail, the stars move away seeking solitude.”
    • The author leaves us with hope: “She hadn’t found the answer; she never would. But she would remain a traveler, a seeker.”
    • Dash speaks of loneliness in cosmic terms: “Physics tells us a time will come when all the stars in the sky will be too far away for us to even know they exist.”
    • Atwood’s character suggests caution in interpreting history: “Nothing is more difficult than to understand the dead, I’ve found; but nothing is more dangerous than to ignore them.”

    A colon also replaces a comma to introduce quoted text when the quotation is more than one sentence long or when it needs to be emphasized.

    Maya said: “We all dream, awake and asleep.”
    You could also use a comma after the word said, but a colon places greater emphasis on the quote.

    A colon may also replace a comma to introduce a question or a thought.

    • She whispered to herself: What if I was wrong?
    • He wondered: What’s the point of it all?
    • As I grew older, I began to think: I too could be frivolous.

    Also use a colon to set up a block of quoted text.

    Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination.

    An entire paragraph of quoted text is introduced by a colon.

    • Kant develops this idea further: Since the narrower or wider community of the peoples of the earth has developed so far that a violation of rights in one place is felt throughout the world, the idea of a cosmopolitan right is not fantastical, high-flown or exaggerated notion. It is a complement to the unwritten code of the civil and international law, necessary for the public rights of mankind in general and thus for the realization of perpetual peace.

    To address someone

    In formal communication, a colon can be used in place of a comma after a salutation or to address someone.

    • Mr. President:
    • Dear Madam:
    • Ladies and Gentlemen:
    • To whom it may concern:

    In dialogue and Q&A

    Use a colon to introduce a character’s speech in dialogue .

    • Rita: We need more time.
      Anita: We always need more time. We never find it.

    In an interview transcript or a list of FAQs, use a colon to introduce question and answer.

    • Q: When did you decide to publish the report?
      A: When I realized it could change everything.
    • Q: How do I cancel my subscription?
      A: You can try, but you never will.

    To show time

    The colon is used as a separator to show time of day or to speak of duration.

    • Shall we meet at 2:30 p.m.?
    • Our flight is at 15:45PST on January 3.
    • Lap time: 2:22:23
    Note

    In British usage, a period (or full stop) is often used instead of a colon to separate hours from minutes: 2.30 pm.

    In ratios and proportions

    A colon can be used to express a ratio or a proportion. It replaces the word to. Don’t use spaces around a colon in a ratio.

    Add butter and sugar in a 2:1 ratio.
    Read aloud as “two-to-one ratio”; can also be written as such, unless you prefer to use numerals.

    In citations

    In citations , a colon indicates a subsection of a larger work. For example, in biblical citations, a colon separates chapter and verse.

    • John 3:16
    • Psalm 36:4
    • Isaiah 53:5

    In reference lists, a colon is used as a separator between location and publisher in most citation styles.

    • Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica
    • Oxford: OUP
    • Gurugram: Penguin
    • New York: Wiley
    • Manila: University Press

    Colon vs. dash

    Both a colon and an em dash can be used to explain, illustrate, and amplify. Both punctuation marks emphasize what follows. But a colon is preferred in formal usage.

    • Informal: It was unfortunate—all the flights out were canceled.
      Formal: It was unfortunate: all the flights out were canceled.
    • Informal: The truth—what we think we want but never do.
      Formal: The truth: what we think we want but never do.
    • Informal: I know what you need—tea.
      Formal: I know what you need: tea.

    A colon is precise: it explains and illustrates. Dashes are more versatile. They can show vague connections between ideas and thoughts, which is why they work in informal writing but are avoided in formal usage. In the following examples, an em dash works, but a colon would not.

    • It was unfortunate—just how unfortunate they didn’t yet know.
    • The truth—is that really what you want?
    • We needed three things—not much, just three things.

    Colon vs. semicolon

    Both a colon and a semicolon can be used instead of a period between two grammatically complete sentences (or independent clauses). A semicolon merely shows that the two clauses are closely related; a colon indicates that the second clause amplifies or explains the first.

    Period: Farley is scared of dragonflies. As a child, he thought they were baby dragons.
    
    Two separate sentences. Semicolon: Farley is scared of dragonflies; as a child, he thought they were baby dragons. The semicolon tells the reader that the two clauses are closely related. Colon: Farley is scared of dragonflies: as a child, he thought they were baby dragons. The colon indicates to the reader that the second clause explains and amplifies the first one.

    In the following examples, a semicolon works but a colon would not. This is because the second clause does not in any way explain or illustrate the first.

    • It’s not the discrimination I mind; it’s the fact that nothing ever changes.
    • There are only three types of people in the world; perhaps there are more but I have never met them.
    • She may be richer than me; she can’t possibly be happier than me today.

    The following quotes illustrate the difference between a colon and a semicolon . Note how a colon presents explanatory information, while a semicolon connects two closely related clauses.

    Districts face a hard reality, though: Many children lost a great deal of academic growth last year; some kids didn’t attend school at all.
    — Ron Berger, “Our Kids Are Not Broken,” Atlantic (March 2021) — Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending (2011)

    In the following examples, a semicolon is used instead of a colon. The clause after the semicolon is related to the one before but does not illustrate or explain it.

    It wasn’t only wickedness and scheming that made people unhappy, it was confusion and misunderstanding; above all, it was the failure to grasp the simple truth that other people are as real as you.
    — Ian McEwan, Atonement (2001) — Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy (1993)

    Colon vs. period

    A colon can replace a period to present a series of related sentences. The colon helps build upon the statement that precedes it.

    • It was impossible: He had no money. He had no phone. He had nowhere to go.
    • Lulu had no choice but to leave: She had signed a contract. She had made a promise. And she was a woman of her word.
    • Maya had a choice to make: She could nod and smile. She could walk away. Or she could make a stand.
    Caution

    Don’t use a colon between two statements simply because they are related. Unless one clause builds upon the other, explains it, or needs to be emphasized, a colon can leave the reader dissatisfied by an apparent lack of logic.

    Incorrect: Lulu likes to sing: She likes to dance as well, but singing is her passion.

    The colon does not work: the clauses that follow it don’t explain the one that precedes it. A period would work better after the first sentence.

    Misuse of colon

    Don’t use a colon within a sentence unless after an independent clause (which could stand by itself as a grammatically complete sentence).

    • Incorrect: Maya wanted to spend her birthday: reading a book, sipping on tea, and looking out her window.
      Correct: Maya wanted to spend her birthday reading a book, sipping on tea, and looking out her window.
      Correct: Maya wanted a quiet birthday: she would read a book, sip on tea, and look out her window.

    Don’t use a colon between two clauses unless the second clause explains or amplifies the first.

    Incorrect: Nesbit loves video games: he also likes to read science fiction and fantasy.

    The second clause doesn’t explain, illustrate, or amplify the first one. A period would be more appropriate than a colon.

    Correct: Nesbit loves video games: he enjoys escaping reality.

    The second clause builds upon the first to explain why Nesbit likes video games. A colon is now appropriate.

    Don’t use a colon at the start of a list unless the list is introduced by a complete sentence.

    • Incorrect: Lulu had to: order the cake, buy flowers, and find a gift.
      Correct: Lulu had to order the cake, buy flowers, and find a gift.
      Correct: Lulu had a lot to do: order the cake, buy flowers, and find a gift.
    • Incorrect: In the cave, Maya found:
      • a piece of string,
      • a half-eaten candle,
      • a skeleton.
      • a piece of string,
      • a half-eaten candle,
      • a skeleton.
      • A piece of string
      • A half-eaten candle
      • A skeleton

      Don’t use a colon after a heading or a caption. Since such material is already set off from the rest of the text, a colon is unnecessary. Prefer to use formatting options (like fonts and indentation) to indicate a heading.

      • Desserts (no colon needed)
        • Tiramisu
        • Dutch truffle gateau
        • Banoffee pie
        • Japanese cheesecake

        Examples from literature

        The following examples from published writing illustrate how to use the colon correctly to explain and amplify.

        Call it gossip, if you will, but when Nurse Rooke has half an hour’s leisure to bestow on me, she is sure to have something to relate that is entertaining and profitable: something that makes one know one’s species better.