A colon is a punctuation mark made up of two points that are one above the other. A colon is used in a complex sentence to separate one part from another for the purpose of explanation, listing, separation of information.
Origin history
Since school years, every person knows this sign. In Russian, it shows that after the colon, a piece of the text of the sentence is interconnected in meaning with the part in front of the sign.
Each person during adulthood also has to meet a colon in everyday or business correspondence.
The story associated with the origin of this punctuation mark is unusual. Even in ancient Greece, the philosopher Plato, who set forth his teachings in books, ended some parts of them with a colon!
Oddly enough it looks, but there are languages in which this sign is placed after the word, and then a space is made after it. And in others, the colon is separated from the word after which it stands by a small space (for example, this is observed in French when writing texts).
When writing in Church Slavonic, the colon function was the semicolon. And the colon itself was used instead of a dot or ellipsis at the end of sentences.
As a sign denoting an abbreviated spelling of a word, it is found in a long-standing European letter, and in Church Slavonic. Currently, in Finnish and Swedish, the colon is still used in this way.
In English, this sign when writing it in the transcription of a word denotes the longitude of the sound.
The colon came to its true meaning, the separator, thanks to the scientist Mikhail Lomonosov and his Russian Grammar.
The use of the mark in Russian
Examples of sentences with a colon are millions. This is evident when reading both old literature (seventeenth to nineteenth centuries), and more modern (twentieth to twenty-first centuries).
The basic rules for its use as a separation mark are as follows:
- In direct speech after the words of the author.
- When there is a generalizing word in a sentence, a sign is placed after it, and then a refinement with an enumeration follows.
- If the sentence has a large number of homogeneous members, then a colon is placed in front of them.
- The sign is placed if the following is a listing of something.
- It is used in a complex proposal that does not have a union.Moreover, in the second part, the reason for what is happening in the first is displayed, that is, they complement each other.
6. If between the two parts of a complex sentence you can put an alliance of "what."
Colon Examples
In order to better understand this topic, practical exercises are needed - just like in a language lesson!
Examples of sentences with a colon are enough to display some of them in this section, according to the above rules:
1. She said: “What a wonderful day today!”.
Jim said, "I'm completely baffled."
The beautiful girl smiled and answered: "Good morning!"
2. Such today’s non-flying weather: it rains with hail, then the cold wind knocks down.
This city has all the features of a real metropolis: a huge area, several million inhabitants, a high level of economy.
Signs of a real man: nobility, generosity, generosity, devotion, hard work.
3. For several years, the artist studied: mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography, astronomy, history, literature and other subjects.
Creating them, the master carefully checked all the documents available to him: prints, maps, written sources, archaeological finds.
4. The basis for a successful piano playing is:
- mastering musical notation;
- training the ability to hear and feel the rhythm;
- daily practice of playing the instrument;
- listening to tape recordings of the game of famous musicians.
5. I know: he is a true friend.
The sun was shining brightly: all people hid under the trees.
We went to the store: the food in the refrigerator was running out.
Colon sentences: examples from fiction
Writers often use colons in their works. This helps to express a thought deeper and more broadly.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery has such lines with a colon.
In the poetry of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, a huge number of complex sentences containing this sign.
Or his famous poem!
A few more words about the colon
In the case of homogeneous members of the sentence, if after the generalizing word there are the words “somehow”, “namely,” “that is,” “for example,” then a colon is always placed after them, and a comma before them.
Example: Today, many varieties of ice cream were brought to the supermarket, namely: vanilla-chocolate ice cream, cream souffle, fruit and berry, chocolate horn.
In general, unlike the punctuation mark dash, the colon has less saturation. It brings with it into the proposal a certain element of logic, consistency, orderliness.
And when reading an example of a sentence with a colon, intonation from the beginning to the middle of the text has a soft decrease in tone and a pause before its second part.
Example: Everyone was happy again: mom came.