Writing Academic English 4th Edition

286 }\ppe~ulixBI PunctuationRules

INCORRECT

CORRECT

CORRECT

INCORRECT

CORRECT

Caution

1. Donotusea colontointroducea listaftertheverbtobeunlessyouadd
   thefollowingorasfollows.

Tome,themostimportantthingsinlifeare:goodhealth,a happyhomelife,

anda satisfyingoccupation.

Tome,themostimportantthingsinlifearegoodhealth,a happyhomelife,

anda satisfyingoccupation.

Tome,themostimportantthingsinlifearethefollowing:goodhealth,a

happyhomelife,anda satisfyingoccupation.

2. Donotusea colonaftera preposition.Usea colononlyattheendofan
   independentclause.

Aftera longdayatwork,I lookforwardto:enjoyinga quietdinnerathome,

playingwithmychildren,andwatchinga littleTV.

Aftera longdayatwork,I lookforwardtoenjoyinga quietdinnerathome,

playingwithmychildren,andwatchinga littleTV.

BeforeA.ppositives

Usea colonafteranindependentclausetodirectattentiontoanappositive(aword

orwordgroupthatrenamesanotherwordorwordgroup).

Hehadonegreatloveinhislife:himself.

A doctorhastwoimportantabilities:theabilitytolistenandtheabilitytoanalyze.

Beforel.ongOuotations

Usea colontointroducea quotationlongerthanthreelines.Thistypeofquoteis

indentedonbothsides,andnoquotationmarksareused.

AsAlbertC.BaughandThomasCablestateintheirbookTheHistoryofthe

EnglishLanguage:

Thereis nosuchthingasuniformityinlanguage.Notonlydoesthe

speechofonecommunitydifferfromthatofanother,butthespeechof

differentindividualsofa singlecommunity,evendifferentmembersof

thesamefamily,ismarkedbyindividualpeculiarities.

BeforeSubtitles

Usea colonbetweenthemaintitleandthesubtitleofa book,article,orplay.

A popularbookonnonverbalcommunicationisSamovarandPorter's

InterculturalCommunication:A Reader.

ThetitleofanarticlefromtheNewYorkTimesis"ManonMars:DreamorReality?"