Colons highlight the information that comes after them. In many cases, you can quickly bypass the information that comes before a colon and simply focus on what’s written after it. For example:
I have one thing to say: I love you.
Colons can also be used to present a list. For example:
I wrote my grocery list this morning: olive oil, tomatoes, pasta, and cheese.
An independent clause is followed by a colon if the dependent clause is directly related to the independent clause. The dependent clause should clarify or give more information about the independent clause. For example:
Take some leftovers with you: pasta salad or chicken or whatever you like.
You don’t need to capitalize the beginning of the dependent clause after the colon unless it begins with a proper noun or an acronym, or it’s a quote that originally began with a capital letter.
There are a few other uses for colons, such as:
Separating hours, minutes, and seconds:
9:15 a.m.
Separating chapters and verses or acts and scenes in literature:
John 3:16
Separating the speaker’s name from a line of dialogue in a play or film:
Rayna: I love you, Deacon.
After the salutation in a business letter:
To whom it may concern:
To learn more about punctuation, read this blog post about semicolons.
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