a piece of punctuation placed after a main clause that can introduce a list or a question

a group of words that contains a verb and makes complete sense

how a text flows to maintain the interest of the reader and achieve text purpose

Colons: first function

English

In this unit, pupils learn how to use the colon and the semi-colon.

In 'Speech punctuation, parenthesis and apostrophes', pupils learnt to punctuate a speech interrupted sentence. In this unit, pupils will learn how to use the colon and the semi-colon. 

Punctuation 

There were many people at the party, including:

There were many people at the party, including the following:

Which of the following could be used to introduce a list?

mince pies, a turkey, potatoes, rice and double cream. 

a book, a hair tie, a cricket bat and a watch.

Match the main clauses to the lists that could follow the colon. 

There were three competition winners, including: Alex, Jun and Sofia. 

There were three competition winners: Alex, Jun and Sofia. 

There were three competition winners: Alex, Jun, and Sofia. 

Which of these sentences is correctly punctuated?

We all had a question running through our minds about: 

Which of these could come before a question introduced by the colon?

As we stepped in, my heart was racing: were we alone in the house?

As we stepped in, my heart was racing: Were we alone in the house?

As we stepped in, my heart was racing I wondered: were we alone in the house

Which of these sentences is the correct version?

to improve text cohesion by joining sentences

Which of the following are possible uses for a colon?

twenty-two thousand, four hundred and forty-seven

Which of these phrases requires a hyphen to create a compound adjective? 

I don't think I'll re-cover this wall with paint - I prefer the bare bricks. 

It will take the country a long time to recover from this shock.

Please re-cover the food in the fridge after you have eaten some.

Which of these sentences uses the word 'recover' to mean 'get back to normal'?

Match the prefixes with hyphens to the root words that they could be joined to. 

Which of these sentences use ellipsis correctly?

Starter Quiz