Lists

Lists make items in a series easier to read. You might list the following kinds of information:

• steps in a process, rank order, to refer to a numbered item later in the text, elements in time
• materials needed for a project
• parts of an object
• recommendations for changes
• items to be discussed
• criteria for evaluation

Lists are easier to read when they are displayed rather than run into your text. In either case, a list is usually introduced with an independent clause followed by a colon.

List run into text

Movies are rated by the film-rating board of the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) based on several criteria, including the following: overall theme, language use, presence of violence, presence of nudity and sexual content, and combined use of these elements in one film.

Displayed list

Movies are rated by the film-rating board of the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) based on several criteria, including the following:

• overall theme
• language use
• presence of violence
• presence of nudity and sexual content
• combined use of these elements in one film

Tips for good lists

• If the items are all of the same type (not a rank or sequence), use a bulleted list.
• If items are steps, in time sequence, or by rank, number the list. Use arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) followed by periods.
• Introduce a list with a complete sentence followed by a colon.
• Arrange the items in some meaningful order.
• Phrase the items in parallel grammatical form.
• Use periods if the items are complete sentences.
• Avoid long lists, anything longer than 8 or 9 items.
• Don’t use too many lists. Too many of them will give a document a choppy, cluttered look.

Related topics:

Parallel form

Colons with lists

independent clause A word group containing a subject and a verb that can or does stand alone as a sentence.

parallel structure Expression of similar ideas in similar grammatical form.