Rules for using the colon

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The rules of spelling and punctuation are fundamental when we express ourselves in a written way in Spanish, since a bad use of punctuation can lead to misunderstandings. Thanks to punctuation marks, we can organize the information in a coherent and sensible way. Poorly punctuated text is difficult to understand and often leads to errors.

In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to explain what the colon usage rules and we are going to see several examples to understand it better.

The two points (:) are a punctuation mark that refers to the greater degree of pause, greater than the comma and semicolon but, nevertheless, it supposes a smaller pause than that of the final period. They are used to momentarily pause the speech and direct attention to the information immediately afterwards, which, in most communicative situations, supposes a clarification or clarification of what has been said previously.

The two points are written glued to the previous word which is placed in front and, just after, you must leave a blank space that separates the colon of the next word. The two points generate, on certain occasions, a lot of confusion when it comes to knowing how to use them correctly.

Next, we are going to study some of the most frequent cases in which we use the colon:

• When we want list different elements that belong to the same group or set with the same characteristics, always with a mainly explanatory value: I have bought the necessary ingredients to make the lasagna: pasta, tomato, cheese, minced meat and béchamel.
• When we want play a quote or some words that another person has said verbatim: As Julius Caesar said: "I came, I saw and I conquered."
• When we want start a letter, At the beginning of everything, in the upper left margin, we must write the corresponding greeting formula, which follows the following structure: Dear Juanma: or Dear Ana, among many other formulas. In this case, it is very important to keep in mind that, when we write in English, we must use a (,) instead of the colon (:) because that is what English custom establishes. However, if it is a text in Spanish, we must always use the colon (:).
• The colon (:) is also used when we want establish a separation between an instantiation and the rest of the previous sentence: We have argued again: she has told me that she did not know how she could continue to be my friend.
• With the same specifying value and exemplification, on certain occasions we resort to the use of the colon (:) to set a pause with greater emphasis after phrases or connectors of discourse such as "said in another way", "in other words", "well then", "this is it", "now well", "even more", etc. In this case, the following sentence should not begin with capital letters since, in the vast majority of these cases, the colon could be replaced by a comma (,) without causing any kind of problem, so it is not correct to start the next sentence with a letter capital letter. The main difference between choosing to use the comma (,) and the use of a colon (:) is the emphatic pause that is preferred in one case or another.
• Finally, the colon (:) can be used with a nexus function; that is, to join sentences together: I have bad news for you: I have lost my house keys.

We hope we have resolved your doubts about the use and value of the colon (:). If you have any questions, do not hesitate to write us a comment.