{"id":53,"date":"2019-11-05T20:09:38","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T02:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=53"},"modified":"2022-02-11T16:47:48","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T22:47:48","slug":"colons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/colons\/colons\/","title":{"rendered":"Colons with Lists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rule 1:<\/strong> Use the colon after a complete sentence to introduce a list of items when introductory words such as namely, for example,<\/em> or that is<\/em> do not apply or are not appropriate.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/strong>
\nYou may be required to bring many items: sleeping bags, pans, and warm clothing.
\nI want the following items: butter, sugar, and flour.
\nI want an assistant who can do the following: (1) input data, (2) write reports, and (3) complete tax forms.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rule 2:<\/strong> A colon usually does not precede a list unless it follows a complete sentence.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/strong>
\nTo be successful in sales, one should do the following: (a) dress appropriately, (b) ask customers about their needs, and (c) follow through.<\/em><\/p>\n

To be successful in sales, one should (a) dress appropriately, (b) ask customers about their needs, and (c) follow through.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rule 3:<\/strong> With tabular format, a colon customarily precedes a list. If the introductory statement is a complete sentence and the listed items are complete sentences as well, the listed items are capitalized and punctuated as complete sentences.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/strong>
\nTo be successful in sales, one should do the following:<\/em>
\n(a) Dress appropriately.<\/em>
\n(b) Ask customers about their needs.<\/em>
\n(c) Follow through.<\/em><\/p>\n

If the listed items are each a separate completion of the introductory statement, the listed items are punctuated accordingly and are not capitalized.<\/p>\n

To be successful in sales, one should:<\/em>
\n(a) dress appropriately.<\/em>
\n(b) ask customers about their needs.<\/em>
\n(c) follow through.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is also acceptable to use and<\/em> before the last phrase, making the listed items a continuation of the introductory statement. As continuations, they would be punctuated with commas and not capitalized.<\/p>\n

To be successful in sales, one should:<\/em>
\n(a) dress appropriately,<\/em>
\n(b) ask customers about their needs, and<\/em>
\n(c) follow through.<\/em><\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong>
\nSimilar treatment can be applied to single words or phrases in list form, including bullets, or numbers. The rule of thumb is to be consistent.<\/p>\n

To be successful in sales, one should:<\/em>
\n\u00a0dress appropriately,<\/em>
\n\u00a0ask customers about their needs, and<\/em>
\n\u00a0follow through.<\/em><\/p>\n

To be successful in sales, one should:<\/em>
\n\u2022 dress appropriately.<\/em>
\n\u2022 ask customers about their needs.<\/em>
\n\u2022 follow through.<\/em><\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong> With lists, you may use periods after numbers and letters instead of parentheses.<\/p>\n

For our meeting on Tuesday, please:<\/em>
\na. e-mail the agenda to me by Monday afternoon.<\/em>
\nb. call me 15 minutes before the meeting is set to begin.<\/em>
\nc. distribute the notes to all the board members after the meeting.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/strong>
\nAdd punctuation if needed.
\n1. The following are required (a) wet suits, (b) fins, (c) snorkels.
\n2. Please bring (a) wet suits, (b) fins, and (c) snorkels.<\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The following are required: (a) wet suits, (b) fins, (c) snorkels.
\n2. Please bring (a) wet suits, (b) fins, and (c) snorkels. (CORRECT)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rule 1: Use the colon after a complete sentence to introduce a list of items when introductory words such as namely, for example, or that is do not apply or are not appropriate. Examples: You may be required to bring many items: sleeping bags, pans, and warm clothing. I want the following items: butter, sugar, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-colons"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5821,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions\/5821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}