Conventional uses of the colon

Colon after the salutation in a formal letter

Dear Sir or Madam:

Colon to indicate hours and minutes

5:30 p.m.

Colon to show proportions

The ratio of women to men was 2:1.

Colon between a title and subtitle

The Glory of Hera: Greek Mythology and the Greek Family

Colon between city and publisher in bibliographic entries

Boston: Bedford, 2008

Colon to divide chapter and verse in biblical references

Luke 2:14

NOTE:The Modern Language Association (MLA) recommends a period instead of a colon (Luke 2.14).

Exercises:

The colon, the semicolon, and the comma 1

The colon, the semicolon, and the comma 2