3. Using colons, semi-colons and dashes

To introduce a list
◦ e.g. To make puff pastry you require the
following ingredients: plain flour, salt, butter.
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

To introduce an explanation (or expansion
of what has just been said)
e.g. She couldn’t eat another thing: she
had already consumed a seven-course
meal.
3

To introduce a quotation
◦ The following statement was released from
Downing Street: “No further comment at this
time.”
4

To introduce a set of bullet points. For
example
You should always bear in mind:



your assailant may be armed
s/he may not like you
s/he may have martial arts training
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



joins two clauses
usually to draw attention to the contrast
but sometimes to point the similarity
For example:
◦ “She was charming; he was rude.”
◦ “He was Algerian; she was Rumanian.”
◦ “He was fed up; so was she.”
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 separate
items on a list, if the
items are wordy and contain
commas (instead of a comma)

e.g. She went to the grocers and bought
two pounds of Conference pears; five
large, pink, luscious grapefruits; a
pineapple which was reduced by 50 pence;
and finally a huge bunch of beautiful red
grapes.
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


To introduce a list (it can only separate
items on the list)
To introduce a set of bullet points
To substitute for a comma just because
you think it looks nice
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



Should not be confused with hyphens
A hyphen joins two words together and
makes one e.g. semi-detached
Hyphens have no spaces round them: they
take up the same space as an ordinary
letter inside a word
whereas dashes always have a single space
before and after - like - this.
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
Can be used to make an emphatic pause
◦ e.g. How can I wear - this?

To indicate an explanation will follow (like
a colon but more dramatic)
◦ e.g. She was just a baby - barely four months
old.
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
to indicate a hesitation or interruption
◦ “I think I should - er - go now.”
◦ “Please help me,” she screamed. “I -”

or to separate points of information, like
bullets, as they do on this slide
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
can be used to separate a piece of
information from the rest of the sentence
e.g. She was going to get out the little sharp
vegetable knife - the one she had carefully
sharpened the previous day - and she was
going to slice the ham.

This way of using dashes helps the
reader see the main thread of the
sentence
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


You often need to use a colon (:)
Semi-colons (;) are occasionally useful
Dashes ( - ) are rarely used in business
writing, but frequently occur in short
stories or newspaper reports
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
There’s the new use for colons, semicolons and dashes in curious
combinations
:-) in e-mail signifies a smile
;-) is a wink and a smile
:-( is too sad to explain…
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



Vincent began to worry when his girlfriend
wanted something besides flowers she
wanted one of his ears.
For breakfast, Matilda always consumes the
following a hard boiled egg, a piece of toast,
and a pitcher of fresh cod-liver oil.
Buzzy has a serious addiction to chewing pen
caps he has recently joined a twelve-step
program.
Cicero is too short to play basketball however
he is the National Limbo Champion.
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

“I know what type of car I’m going to buy
either a blue one, a green one, or a yellow
one and I hope the dealer has a fifteen-year
finance option,” said Trixie.
Vacationers should rule out certain places for
instance, villages near active volcanoes when
making their travel plans.
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



Vincent began to worry when his girlfriend
wanted something besides flowers: she
wanted one of his ears.
For breakfast, Matilda always consumes the
following: a hard boiled egg, a piece of toast,
and a pitcher of fresh cod-liver oil.
Buzzy has a serious addiction to chewing pen
caps; he has recently joined a twelve-step
program.
Cicero is too short to play basketball;
however, he is the National Limbo Champion.
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

“I know what type of car I’m going to
buy – either a blue one, a green one,
or a yellow one – and I hope the dealer
has a fifteen-year finance option,”
said Trixie.
Vacationers should rule out certain
places – for instance, villages near
active volcanoes – when making their
travel plans.
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