2022-01-20 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – C – colons & semicolons
2022-01-20
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – C – colons & semicolons
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Dictionary.com:
ออกเสียง colons = “KOH-luhn”
ออกเสียง semicolons = “SEM-i-koh-luhn”
Common Errors in English Usage Dictionary:
colons & semicolons
Colons have a host of uses, but they mostly have in common that
the colon acts to connect what precedes it with what follows.
Think of the two dots of a colon as if
they were stretched out to form an equal sign,
so that you get cases like this:
“he provided all the ingredients: sugar, flour, butter, and vanilla.”
There are a few exceptions to this pattern, however.
One unusual use of colons
is in between the chapter and verses of a Biblical citation,
for instance, “Matthew 6:5.”
In bibliographic citationa colon separates the city from the publisher: “New York: New Directions, 1979.”
It also separates minutes from hours in times of day
when given in figures: “8:35.”
It is incorrect to substitute a semicolon in any of these cases.
Think of the semicolon as
erecting a little barrier with that dug-in comma under the dot;
semicolons always imply separation rather than connection.
A sentence made up of two distinct parts
whose separation needs to be emphasized may do so with a semicolon:
“Mary moved to Seattle; she was sick of getting sunburned in Los Angeles.”
When a compound sentence contains commas
within one or more of its clauses,
you have to escalate to a semicolon to separate the clauses themselves:
“It was a mild, deliciously warm spring day;
and Mary decided to walk to the fair.”
The other main use of semicolons is
to separate one series of items from another
—a series within a series, if you will:
“The issues discussed by the board of directors were many:
the loud, acrimonious complaints of the stockholders;
the abrupt, devastating departure of the director;
and the startling, humiliating discovery that he had absconded with half the company’s assets.”
Any time the phrases which make up a series contain commas,
for whatever reason,
they need to be separated by semicolons.
Many people are so terrified of making the wrong choice
that they try to avoid colons and semicolons altogether,
but I’m afraid this just can’t be done.
Formal writing requires their use, and
it’s necessary to learn the correct patterns.
The A-Z of Correct English Common Errors in English Dictionary:
Colons
(A) Colons can introduce a list:
Get your ingredients together:
flour, sugar, dried fruit, butter and milk.
Note that
a summing-up word should always precede the colon
(here ‘ingredients’).
(B) Colons can precede an explanation
or amplification of what has gone before:
The teacher was elated: at last the pupils were gaining in confidence.
Note that
what precedes the colon must always be able to stand on its own grammatically.
It must be a sentence in its own right.
(C) Colons can introduce dialogue in a play:
Henry (with some embarrassment): It’s all my own fault.
(D) Colons can be used instead of a comma
to introduce direct speech:
Henry said, with some embarrassment: ‘It’s all my own fault.’
(E) Colons can introduce quotations:
Donne closes the poem with the moving tribute:
‘Thy firmness makes my circle just And makes me end where I began.’
Semicolons
Semicolons have two functions:
(A) They can replace a full stop by joining two related sentences.
Ian is Scottish. His wife is Irish.
Ian is Scottish; his wife is Irish.
(B) They can replace the commasin a list which separate items.
Semicolons are particularly useful with longer items
where commas might be needed for other reasons.
Emily has bought some lovely things for her new flat:
five huge, brightly coloured floor cushions;
some woven throws, in neutral colours and of wonderful textures;
an Afghan rug; a brilliant blue glass vase;
and a wine rack, very elegant, shaped like two Ss on their backs
Dictionary.com:
Punctuation Marks
Published May 21, 2020
The semicolon
A semicolon (;) separates sentences that are closely related
but grammatically independent.
For example:
- My brother isn’t feeling well; he’s been sick for a week.
The two independent sentences could be separated by a period,
but the semicolon works here since the two sentences are closely related.
You can also use semicolons to separate a list of items that contain commas.
For instance:
- I’ve been to Paris, France; London, England; Rome, Italy; and Madrid, Spain.
Imagine how confusing reading that would be if there were commas where the semicolons are.
The colon
A colon (:) can introduce a list or a single item.
For example:
- I need a bunch of supplies for school: pencils, glue, crayons, and scissors.
Here’s an example of a colon introducing a single item:
- There’s one thing I want for my birthday: a car.
(May we suggest a more realistic series
separated with commas instead?
The only things I want for my birthday are a car, some cash, and a waffle maker.
See, what a difference a comma makes!)
What is a colon?
A colon ( : ) is used after an independent clause
to add information that helps illustrate or clarify what it says.
It is most commonly used to introduce a list,
but it can also introduce words, phrases, or entire clauses
that complete the meaning of the clause that came before it.
First, we’ll look at when it is appropriate to use a colon,
and then we’ll look more closely at all the specific ways it can be used.
When to use a colon.
When using colons, the general rule is
to only place them after an independent clause
—that is, a clause that can stand on its own as a complete sentence
and is not grammatically dependent in any way
on the information that the colon introduces.
Don’t use a colon after a single word or a sentence fragment,
in which case a comma or no punctuation at all
would be more appropriate.
If you feel a colon is necessary or helpful,
try to reword the introductory clause
so that it could stand on its own as a complete sentence.
Additionally, because colons act as an introductory element,
they stand in place of words that would perform the same task:
we should not use colons after words or phrases
like for example, e.g., or namely*
because they serve the same purpose,
and the sentence would seem redundant if a colon were used as well.
We must either use a colon on its own,
or an introductory adverb with a comma
(or no punctuation at all) instead of a colon:
Note that
you can also use dashes before words like for example and namely
if you want to put emphasis on the text that follows,
or you can simply use a dash on its own
(but you would not use dashes and colons together).
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Usage Notes
A Guide to Using Colons
What to Know
Colons (:) introduce clauses or phrases
that serve to describe, amplify, or restate what precedes them.
Often they are used to introduce a quote
or a list that satisfies the previous statement.
For example,
this summary could be written as
"Colons can introduce many things: descriptors, quotes, lists, and more."
What Is a Colon?
We all know the colon, right?
It's a punctuation mark that looks like two dots stacked,
like a period with another period hovering above it :
It's typically a mark of introduction,
used to let the reader know that what follows the colon
has been pointed to or described by what precedes the colon.
(This is quite a different function from that of the semicolon,
which is mostly used to separate two independent sentence parts
that are related in meaning.)
In the running prose that we encounter
in books, magazines, articles, and the like,
colons are mostly used to introduce a clause
or a phrase that explains, illustrates, amplifies, or restates
what precedes them.
(Reminder:
clauses and phrases are both groups of words within a sentence;
the basic difference between them is that
a clause has its own subject and verb, while a phrase does not.)
Colons Introduce Clauses and Phrases
Let's first look at some colons introducing clauses
and phrases that explain, illustrate, amplify, and restate
what's come before
In this example,
what comes after the colon explains just what the argument referred to
in the first part of the sentence is all about.
Note that
what follows the colon is not capitalized, but it could be.
As a clause
—it has its own subject and verb and could in fact
function alone as its own sentence,
albeit a sentence of the question variety
—it certainly looks like something that can start with a capital letter,
but whether it does or not is simply a matter of style.
(Note that in British English the style is typically to go lowercase.
Lowercase also happens to be Merriam-Webster's style.)
Be consistent:
capitalize the first letter in every clause that follows a colon,
or always use lowercase.
Here, the phrase following the colon illustrates what comes before it.
Being a phrase and all, there is no capital letter.
(There of course would be a capital letter
if the first word of the phrase were a proper noun or acronym.)
A colon can also introduce something that acts as an appositive. (Reminder:
An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that refers to
the same thing as another noun or noun phrase in the same sentence,
and is usually right next to that other noun or noun phrase,
like in "my neighbor the doctor."
The two nouns/noun phrases
—in this case "my neighbor" and "the doctor"
—are said to stand "in grammatical apposition,"
which means that
they have the same syntactical relation to the rest of the sentence.)
The appositive that follows the colon can be
an amplifying word, phrase, or clause:
How NOT to Use Colons
We note in this aside that a colon is not used to separate
a noun from its verb;
a verb from its object or complement; or
a preposition from its object:
- avoid - The sheer size of Mabel's umbrella collection: is stunning.
- avoid - Harry's favorite umbrella: broke.
- avoid - The umbrella's opening mechanism was: hopelessly jammed.
- avoid - Mabel presented Harry with a choice umbrella of: her own.
Colons Can Introduce Lists and Series
And then there is the colon that introduces a list or series.
What follows the colon is typically a word or phrase,
so capitals are not be expected
unless there's a proper noun or acronym:
Colons Can Introduce Quotations
Colons are also commonly used in prose to introduce quotations.
When the quoted material is lengthy,
it's usually set off from the rest of the text by indentation
but not by quotation marks:
A colon can also be used before a quotation in running text,
especially when the quotation is lengthy;
or when it is a formal statement
or a statement being given special emphasis;
or when a full independent clause precedes the colon.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Semicolon
Did you know?
The semicolon was introduced into modern type
by an Italian printer around 1566.
But since it's actually the same symbol
as the ancient Greek question mark,
it's older than the colon (:), which first appears around 1450.
Don't mix the two up.
A colon introduces something: usually a list, sometimes a statement.
A semicolon separates two independent but related clauses;
it may also replace the comma to separate items in a complicated list.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Usage Notes
A Guide to Using Semicolons
You too can become a semicolon master!
What to Know
Semicolons (;) separate independent clauses that are related in meaning,
and they separate items in a list
when those items themselves are long or include commas.
For example,
this summary could say
"Semicolons are useful; they show that clauses are related in meaning."
What Is a Semicolon?
The semicolon is the colon's quirkier sibling.
While the colon is simply two dots stacked :
the semicolon is a dot hovering over a comma ;
The semicolon does jobs that are also done by other punctuation marks, but puts its own spin on the task.
Like a comma, it can separate elements in a series.
Like a period or colon, it often marks the end of a complete clause
(that is, a sentence part that has its own subject and verb).
And like a colon,
it signals that what follows it is closely related to what comes before it.
Semicolons Separate Independent Clauses
A semicolon separates related independent clauses
that are joined without a coordinating conjunction
A semicolon can also replace a comma between two clauses
that are joined by a coordinating conjunction
like and in cases where the sentence might otherwise be confusing
—for example,
because of particularly long clauses, or the presence of other commas:
Semicolons are used especially
when the second clause is introduced by an adverb or a short phrase,
such as
however, indeed, thus,
in that case, as a result, on the other hand,
for example, or that is:
Such an adverb or phrase can also appear elsewhere in the second clause:
A semicolon can also join two statements
when the second clause is missing some essential words
that are supplied by the first clause.
In short sentences, a comma often replaces the semicolon:
A semicolon is also often used before introductory expressions
such as for example,
that is, and namely, in place of a colon, comma, dash, or parenthesis:
Semicolons Separate Phrases or Items in a List or Series
A semicolon is used in place of a comma
to separate phrases or items in a list or series
when the phrases or items themselves contain commas
or are especially long:
When the items in a series are long or are sentences themselves,
they are usually separated by semicolons
even if they lack internal commas:
Note that, unlike commas and periods,
a semicolon that punctuates the larger sentence
is placed outside quotation marks and parentheses:
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