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Stop using colons incorrectly.

When used in a sentence, a colon must be preceded by an independent clause. An independent clause, also called a main clause, can stand by itself as a simple sentence. It contains a subject and a predicate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_clause

The oft-repeated advice that colons precede lists is incomplete. A colon ends an independent clause and indicates that another related clause will follow, and the second clause may be a list. However, not every list is preceded by a colon. Colons are used when the reader would mistakenly conclude that the sentence is finished when, in fact, more follows. Thus, the following sentence is incorrect: "We bought many things including: apples, shoes and ice cream." It should read "We bought many things including apples, shoes and ice cream." There is no need for a colon, and it is incorrect to use one, because "including" makes it obvious that the sentence is not finished.

A simple way to determine if a colon is used correctly, is to determine whether the clause preceding the colon is a correct sentence on its own. Using the previous example, "We bought many things including." is not a correct sentence. Therefore the colon is used incorrectly.

This use follows from the general rule that punctuation may not separate a subject from its predicate, and therefore it is not always stated explicitly when colon use is described. However, there are many sources, some listed below, that do explicitly mention this when describing colon use.

http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/colon-use.aspx http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/ch06/ch06_sec065.html http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/111602colon.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tH2Eg4emrk http://www.whitesmoke.com/punctuation-colon.html)

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