Dot-dot or dot-comma? When to use colons and semicolons

Colleen Trolove | November 30, 2018

What’s the difference between colons and semicolons, and when should you use them?

The dot-comma — the semicolon

The semicolon’s first job is to show that two ideas, though separate, have a close relationship.

Imagine you’ve just written two sentences. But they’re closely related ideas and it doesn’t feel right to separate them. Swap the full stop for a semicolon.

I slept well last night; I’m bursting with energy and enthusiasm.

The semicolon’s second job is to separate items in a list that already has commas. Notice how you’d get confused if only commas were used in the lists below.

Meet Jayne, my manager; Lynda, the chief executive; Reece, our coordinator; and Inez, a consultant.

Lucy’s three grandmothers are Nana Trina; Nana, who should really be ‘Nana Josie’; and Nana Coll, who’s actually Lucy’s great aunt.

The dot-dot — the colon

You’ve written an idea, but then you want to explain or illustrate that idea. Put a colon before your explanation.

Lucy told me yesterday she has three nanas: Nana Trina; Nana (Josie); and Nana Coll, who’s actually Lucy’s great aunt.

I’ve come along with four of my workmates: Jayne, Lynda, Reece, and Inez.

I like colons: they allow you to expand on your ideas.

That same concept of explaining or illustrating applies when colons introduce lists.

I like colons because they:

• show that each item in a list is expanding on the words before the colon
• give you a chance to support your main point with extra items.

Learn more with Great Grammar

If you understand the basics of grammar, punctuation, and word use, you can craft great documents. Find out how to fix problems in your writing so it’s professional and easy to read.

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(Last updated: December 2024)