The Colon has four main uses:

To introduce a listing as below:

The band consisted of( : ) a singer, a drummer, a guitarist and a bass player

To explain a statement further:

There is one challenge above all others ( : ) the alleviation of poverty

Between the hours and the minutes in time notation

6 ( : ) 30pm

Between chapter and verse when quoting biblical references

Exodus 1 ( : ) 19

When using a colon do not have a space before it but always have one after it. The colon does not need a hyphen after it as in ( :- ). This is not a punctuation mark and is a waste of a keystroke.

The Semi-Colon has two uses:

To join together two sentences together that could stand as independent sentences as in:

This could have been a funny sentence ( ; ) this could be another one.

As a 'super-comma' where one or more of the listings already contains a comma as in:

I have visited: Africa, America ( ; ) Vilnius, Lithuania ( ; ) and France

The following error can occur in the use of semi-colons: If a comma was used instead of a semi-colon in the example above then a "comma splice" is created which is very bad grammar. In the same example you do not need a semi-colon if you combine the clauses with a connecting word like 'and':

This could be a funny sentence ( , and ) this could be another one

The Period is the easiest and simplest of the punctuation marks to use, in that they show where your sentence has ended. Because of its function the period should be the most common punctuation mark on your page.

Periods do not need to be used in people's names, abbreviations or acronyms unless there is the possibility of doubt or error.

Mr D J Valentine

CIA

FBI

USA

FYI

10am

5pm

Titles and sub-titles of books, reports, emails and letters also do not need to have a period.

That's it. Job done. Period.

About the Author

I am the author of: www.howtopunctuatecorrectly.com A free-to-buy 25 page report on the correct usage of 12 of the most commonly used punctuation marks