KS3 English Language: Colons and Semi-Colons

Colons and Semicolons…

Colons and semicolons are punctuation marks.

They help express relationships between parts of a sentence.

A colon is used before describing or further explaining something previously mentioned in a sentence, or when introducing a list.

‘Farmer Frank had a sneaking suspicion he had forgotten something: something important.’

A comma would leave you with a run-on sentence.

A full stop would split the clauses entirely. Since ‘something important’ further describes the something that’s been mentioned, a colon is appropriate.

‘He had done all of the following: brought the ostriches in for the night, fed the ostriches and collected the ostrich eggs.’

‘He had done all of the following: brought the ostriches in for the night, fed the ostriches and collected the ostrich eggs.’

Here, the colon is used before the beginning of the list.

A semicolon is used to link phrases. It’s a better transition between two related sentences than a full stop, as it continues the thought.

‘He suddenly remembered what it was; he had forgotten to lock the gate.’

Again, a comma would create a run-on sentence and since these sentences are so closely related, a semicolon makes the transition smoother than a full stop.

Farmer Frank is in trouble. ‘Ostriches have a mean streak; big, powerful legs; and a tendency to charge.’

Because the attribute ‘big, powerful legs’ includes a comma within it, also using commas to separate the attributes would be very confusing. So a semicolon is used.

Oops. This could get messy.

Remember these egg-cellent definitions.

A colon: is used before describing or further explaining something previously mentioned in a sentence, or when introducing a list.

A semicolon; is used to link phrases. It is a better transition between two related sentences than a full stop, as it continues the thought.

Without semicolons, your complex lists could get scrambled. Get it? Scrambled.