When should I use a colon in a sentence?
When should I use a colon in a sentence?
You can use a colon to connect two sentences when the second sentence summarizes, sharpens, or explains the first. Both sentences should be complete, and their content should be very closely related. Note that if you use colons this way too often, it can break up the flow of your writing.
What can come after a colon?
A space or return is placed directly after a colon. Using colons in a sentence can be tricky. Without knowing how to use colons, a writer can end up just putting colons everywhere, nowhere at all or interchanging the colon with a semicolon or comma.
Can you have two colons in a title?
Because the colon indicates the beginning of a subtitle, colons should not be used elsewhere in the title or subtitle. If a colon appears elsewhere on the title page, change the punctuation to a comma or semicolon as appropriate.
Does the period go outside the quotation marks?
Put commas and periods within quotation marks, except when a parenthetical reference follows. Place the punctuation outside the closing quotation marks if the punctuation applies to the whole sentence.
Where does the punctuation go after a quote?
Commas and periods always go inside the quotation marks in American English; dashes, colons, and semicolons almost always go outside the quotation marks; question marks and exclamation marks sometimes go inside, sometimes stay outside.
Do you capitalize the first word after a colon in a title?
In title case, capitalize the following words in a title or heading: the first word after a colon, em dash, or end punctuation in a heading. major words, including the second part of hyphenated major words (e.g., “Self-Report,” not “Self-report”)
How do you capitalize a title with a colon?
Capitalization After Colons
- When a colon introduces a list of things, do not capitalize the first word after the colon unless it is a proper noun.
- When a colon introduces a phrase or an incomplete sentence that is meant to add information to the sentence before it, do not capitalize the first word after the colon unless it is a proper noun.