Admin Essay: Colons, Semicolons, and Apostrophes, Oh My!

Colons, Semicolons, and Apostrophes, Oh My!

Last time,

I talked about commas

. This time, I'm going to address a few other pesky punctuation marks, specifically semicolons, colons, and apostrophes. Though none of these is as important or as widely used as periods, question marks, exclamation points, or commas, they all still get a fair amount of play, and therefore suffer a fair amount of misuse.

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The Colon

Aside from common uses in things like time, Bible verse references, and ratios, the colon’s conventional purpose is to separate an independent clause (i.e., a word group that can stand on its own as a sentence) from a list of things, an example, or a quotation.

Ex: There’s only one kind of cake that I like: chocolate cake.
Ex: When I grow up, I want to move into a cute little house: something with two floors and a picket fence.
Ex: Whenever I hear someone list three things, I’m always reminded of one of the most popular quotes from Twilight: “About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him — and I didn’t know how potent that part might be — that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.”

You can also use a colon between two independent clauses if the second one is emphasizing or explaining the first. Strunk & White refer to this as “amplification.”

Ex: My favorite supernatural creature is the vampire: I don’t find zombies or werewolves nearly as interesting.
Ex: Forks is a small town: it has just over three thousand people.

Caution! Common colon mistake!

Inserting a colon after a verb or preposition, or otherwise cutting off an independent clause.

INCORRECT: When you go to the store, please pick up: apples, peanut butter, and chocolate.
CORRECT: When you go to the store, please pick up apples, peanut butter, and chocolate.
CORRECT: When you go to the store, please pick up the things Mom needs: apples, peanut butter, and chocolate.
INCORRECT: Three traits of Stephenie Meyer’s vampires are: cold skin, red eyes, and super speed.
CORRECT: Three traits of Stephenie Meyer’s vampires are cold skin, red eyes, and super speed.
CORRECT: The following traits can be attributed to Stephenie Meyer’s vampires: cold skin, red eyes, and super speed.

When you use a colon to precede an explanation or list of some sort, look to see if there is something along the lines of “these are” or “the following” in the first part of the sentence, and make sure that it is a standalone sentence, even without the part after the colon.

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The Semicolon

Next to commas, semicolons are probably the most abused punctuation mark. While they look fancy and are sort of mysterious, the rules around them are

very simple. The basic rules to remember with a semicolon is that it can only be used between two independent clauses that aren’t joined with a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet), or to separate elements in a list if the list elements contain commas.

Use a semicolon if two independent clauses are closely related:

Ex: I usually eat yogurt for breakfast; sometimes I have it with granola.
Ex: My father is the chief of police; at parties, kids rarely offer beer to me.

In the above situations, periods or conjunction/comma combinations can replace the semicolons. To steal an example from the comma article:

INCORRECT: It’s really nice out today, I think I’ll go to the park.
CORRECT: It’s really nice out today; I think I’ll go to the park.
CORRECT: It’s really nice out today. I think I’ll go to the park.
CORRECT: It’s really nice out today, and I think I’ll go to the park.

Use a semicolon to separate an independent clause from another independent clause that starts with a conjunctive adverb. The most popular conjunctive adverb is “however.” Some others: also, besides, indeed, otherwise, therefore, in fact, nevertheless.

INCORRECT: I wanted to go see a movie yesterday, however, it was sold out.
CORRECT: I wanted to go see a movie yesterday; however, it was sold out.
INCORRECT: My sister is allergic to bees, nevertheless, she insists on going to the park on nice days.
CORRECT: My sister is allergic to bees; nevertheless, she insists on going to the park on nice days.

Note: A period would also work instead of a semicolon in both of the above cases.

Second note: Not every case of “however” in the middle of a sentence requires a semicolon.

Ex: Edward, however, seemed completely at peace with his decision.

An example of when to use semicolons in a list:

INCORRECT: When I go to the store later, I need to buy oranges, but only if they’re ripe, pepperoni, peanut butter, either chunky or smooth, and ice cream, but only if they don’t have cake or cookies.
CORRECT: When I go to the store later, I need to buy oranges, but only if they’re ripe; pepperoni; peanut butter, either chunky or smooth; and ice cream, but only if they don’t have cake or cookies.

THAT IS IT. In a non-list situation, both what is on the left and right of the semicolon must be able to stand as a complete sentence. In many situations in which you see a semicolon used, some other form of punctuation, e.g., a colon or dash, should replace it.

INCORRECT: Emmett says eventually he’ll figure out what he wants to be when he grows up; someday.
POSSIBLE CORRECTION: Emmett says eventually he’ll figure out what he wants to be when he grows up – someday.
POSSIBLE CORRECTION: Emmett says eventually he’ll figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. Someday.
INCORRECT: When I grow up, I want a house with certain features; a white picket fence, a swing set, big trees.
CORRECT: When I grow up, I want a house with certain features: a white picket fence, a swing set, big trees.

A note about coordinating conjunctions: After the comma article was published, VampLover1, a former high

school English teacher, PMed me with an easy way for authors to remember coordinating conjunctions: “F-A-N-B-O-Y-S” for “for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.” Thanks, VL1!

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The Apostrophe

The poor apostrophe is one of the most misused punctuation marks in day-to-day life. The misplaced apostrophe on signs such as “Half-priced apple’s” or “Restroom’s that way” is so common that it has its own name: the greengrocer’s apostrophe. Why it is that sign makers so frequently add an incorrect apostrophe is another of life’s great mysteries.

The two most common uses of the apostrophe are to mark contractions and indicate ownership and/or possession.

In a contraction, an apostrophe replaces missing letters:

Ex: She is going swimming. --> She’s going swimming.
Ex: He is not able to go because he cannot swim. --> He’s not able to go because he can’t swim.
Ex: She said she would go to the bank. --> She said she’d go to the bank.

To indicate possession and/or ownership. This is usually done with an apostrophe-plus-s combination.

Ex: Have you seen Alice’s Porsche?
Ex: Carlisle’s hair is blond, and Edward’s is bronze.

When indicating joint possession, use an apostrophe only on the last noun.

• Joint possession – Carlisle and Esme have the same house:

Ex: We went to Carlisle and Esme’s house for dinner.

• Individual possession – Rose and Emmett have separate feelings:

Ex: We can never be sure of Rose’s and Emmett’s feelings.

Caution! Common apostrophe mistake #1!

A very common and confusing apostrophe issue comes from its versus it’s. In this case, the possessive – “its” –

has no apostrophe because possessive pronouns do not use apostrophes (hers, his, its, ours, theirs, whose, yours).

Ex: The snail was very pretty; its shell was sort of a pink color.

“It’s” is only used as a contraction for “it is” or “it has.”

Ex: It’s time to go to the movie.
Ex: It’s been a lovely afternoon.

If you’re unsure which one to use, read your sentence with “it is” and see if it makes sense. If it does, use the apostrophe; otherwise, do not.

Caution! Common apostrophe mistake #2!

This mistake involves improperly placing the apostrophe or incorrectly using it with a noun that is plural but not possessive. This is a very common writing error.

• Cullen’s – Singular possessive of Cullen: something that belongs to only one Cullen.

Ex: “That is Edward Cullen’s book.”

• Cullens’ – Plural possessive of Cullen: something that belongs to more than one Cullen.

Ex: Those are the Cullens’ fancy cars in the parking lot.
Ex: We went to the Cullens’ for dinner.

• Cullens – Plural of Cullen: more than one Cullen.

Ex: All of the Cullens were gathered around the piano.
Ex: We went to see the Cullens.

Looking for something to adorn your wall and remind you of the apostrophe rules? Check out “

How to Use an Apostrophe

” on theoatmeal.com.

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There you have it. Not as fun as commas, but still important! Up next:

dashes

,

ellipses

, and

other miscellaneous items

.

Sources used for this article:

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, p 195;

Son of a Preacher Man by LaViePastiche

;

The Elements of Style by Strunk and White

;

Painless Grammar by Rebecca Elliott

,

Ph.d; A Pocket Style Manual, Fifth Edition by Diana Hacker

;

The Purdue Online Writing Lab

.

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ElleCC betas for – among others – americnxidiot, in.a.blue.bathrobe, and occasionally Pastiche Pen. Her love of commas and all other manner of punctuation is bone deep, regardless of her pesky Computer Science degree. She is currently co-authoring The First Breath with LaViePastiche.