Writing & Grammar: Proper Use of Colons

by Jennie Ruby 

One grammar and punctuation rule that is violated left and right is the use of a colon after an incomplete statement. The rule states that a colon must be preceded by a complete sentence, like this:

We discussed the following topics:

• Budget
• Advertising
• Programming

However, in every place I teach, I find people routinely using colons like this:

We discussed:

• Budget
• Advertising
• Programming

This week, I'm looking for your opinion. Should we continue to hold out for that complete sentence? Or is this a rule we should drop from the books? Post your comments below.

***

Answers to the challenge on possessives with identifiers are brought to you by Katrina Del Vecchio. I have also included alternative answers by other respondents, as noted below. Thanks everyone! The variety of rewrites is fun to see!

1. Margie, my sister in Baltimore's house has a sump pump.
   • My sister Margie's house, which is in Baltimore, has a sump pump. 
   • My sister Margie's house in Baltimore has a sump pump. [Geri Moran]
   • My sister, Margie, lives in Baltimore. Her house has a sump pump. [Marilyn Flax]
   • My sister, Margie, has a sump pump at her house in Baltimore. [Matthew Hundley]>
2. The tree with the hanging swing's strong limb is beginning to bend.
   • The hanging swing is beginning to bend the tree's strong limb.
   • The strong limb on the tree with the hanging swing is beginning to bend. [Christine Pass]
3. The day on which her son is to graduates's date is May 30.
   • Her son's graduation date is May 30 
   • Her son will graduate on May 30. [Elisia Getts]
4. The cabin with the gravel driveway's fishpond overflowed last week.
   • Last week, the fishpond overflowed at the cabin with the gravel driveway.
   • The fishpond at the cabin with the gravel driveway overflowed last week. [Kay Honaker]
5. The golf cart with the broken wheel's driver was not injured in the crash. 
   • The crash did not injure the broken-wheeled golf cart's driver.
   • The driver of the golf cart with the broken wheel was not injured in the crash. [Karen L. Jones]

Comments

[Barnaby]

I would say your second example is grammatically incorrect, and besides, there's an extremely easy workaround if you're itching for that colon: replace "We discussed:" with "Discussion Topics:".