Day 242: When to use a colon when creating a list or series.

First we need to understand the difference between a list and a series.

List: You create a list when you have an independent clause followed by some items. The items ARE NOT part of the grammatical sentence, and the sentence is complete if you remove them.

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Series: A series contains multiple items that ARE part of the grammatical sentence, and the sentence is incomplete if you remove them.

Now let’s look at what a colon does.

A colon is used to end an independent clause and link it to something else.

When you create a list, you have an independent clause followed by some items, so you need the colon. With a series, you don’t have an independent clause followed by some items, so you cannot use the colon.

Maybe some examples will help.

List (with colon): “We bought 4 pieces of fruit: 2 bananas and 2 apples.” (“We bought 4 pieces of fruit” is an independent clause.)
Series (without colon): “We bought 2 bananas and 2 apples.” (“We bought” is not an independent clause.)

List (with colon): “The team comprises many experts: an engineer, a salesperson, a computer technician, a receptionist, and a manager.” (“The team comprises many experts” is an independent clause.)
Series (without colon): “The team comprises an engineer, a salesperson, a computer technician, a receptionist, and a manager.” (“The team comprises” is not an independent clause.)