Comments on: Pesky Colons and Semicolons

By: Claire

Claire — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:31:04 +0000

If the list is of proper nouns, then yes, otherwise, I’d say no.

And to thesoul: yes, that is the correct usage.

By: Suzy-Durham CT

Suzy-Durham CT — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:44:51 +0000

Here’s my question: Should the word following the colon be capitalized (as “should” is in this example)? Should it be capitalized if the words following the colon form a complete sentence, but not if they simply comprise a list?

By: tHeSoul

tHeSoul — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:31:42 +0000

Interesting article!

I’ve been trying my hand at literary translation recently. In the source language that I translate from, it is quite normal to have long sentences made up of smaller sentences joined together by conjunctions, commas and so on. I’ve always thought of the semicolon as a “pretentious anachronism” but have been forced to employ it in my translations in order to remain faithful to the style of the original text. So, I find it reassuring that what I thought about the semicolon is not entirely true.

However, there are some instances where I find to difficult to judge where the semicolon should be used. For example, I came across the following sentence in a translated text.

“There’s just one thing I’d like you to understand: I’m not the least bit proud that I came of age then; I’m simply reporting the facts.”

Has the colon been used properly in this case? Please explain.

Thank you.

By: Amna

Amna — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:45:14 +0000

its still a bit uncleared. i want more examples and tips for this.

By: Praises to the Correct Use of The Semicolon

Praises to the Correct Use of The Semicolon — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:41:50 +0000

[...] We covered it in the past already, specifically outlining the differences between the colon and the semicolon. [...]