Grammar help

[jeff2005]

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When is the proper time to use a colon or semi-colon? How about the dash?
Please fill in where I have a #.

For example#

Andy has a very sophisticated sense of humor#he loves poop jokes the best.
(related sentences)

Yaah is quite a catch#He's tall, handsome, intelligent, and likes cutting up dead bodies. (a list)

 

[deschutes]

I am a great fan of dashes. I normally use them when interjecting - to bracket the thought - or when elaborating.

I usually only use the colon preceding a bullet list, for instance:
a)
b)
c)

(But if you see below, I break that rule.)

As for semi-colons, I don't use them very often since I prefer dashes - I think they are almost interchangeable except for certain situations which I can't think of right now.
As for semi-colons, I don't use them very often; what do others think?

So, to fill in the blanks...

For example#

Definitely a colon.

Andy has a very sophisticated sense of humor#he loves poop jokes the best.

Either a large bowel or a dash here.

Yaah is quite a catch#He's tall, handsome, intelligent, and likes cutting up dead bodies. (a list)

Dash here. Unless it was a bulleted list.

But that's just me.

Are you working on your thank-you's already? 😉

~
By the way, does punctuation fall under grammar? I thought they were separate categories. Just wondering.

 

[jeff2005]

By the way, does punctuation fall under grammar? I thought they were separate categories. Just wondering.

I have no idea. The entire English language frightens and confuses me. I think I'm borrowing phrases from our friendly neighborhood caveman.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Hmm...deschutes beat me to this one.

Other scenarios utilizing the various punctuation marks:

1) Andy has been told that he has a sophisticated sense of humor; he likes poop jokes best. However, Andy also revels in other types of jokes as well; for example, booger and fart jokes.

2) Coming from the Canadian education system, deschutes has a profound grasp of proper grammar--so she thinks--and will go out of her way to share this knowledge with other members of the path forum.

3) Women like yaah and his various qualities including: tall stature; handsome looks; twisted sense of humor; taste in expensive cars; thunderous farts; and expertise in cutting up dead bodies.

 

[yaah]

3) Women like yaah and his various qualities including: tall stature; handsome looks; twisted sense of humor; taste in expensive cars; thunderous farts; and expertise in cutting up dead bodies.

Where are these women you speak of?

The grammar advice so far is pretty solid, I believe. Personally, I always have trouble with the semi-colon.

 

[deschutes]

I find the written word a lot less intimidating than the spoken word. That seems to be the opposite of a lot of people.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Where are these women you speak of?

What are you? Blind as a bat? Mad as a hatter?
This has been uttered in other threads.

 

[deschutes]

However, Andy also revels in other types of jokes as well; for example, booger and fart jokes.

I could write that as -

However, Andy also revels in other types of jokes as well: for example, booger and fart jokes.

Coming from the Canadian education system,

Do recall that I've spent a grand total of 2+ years in the Canadian education system. Compare that with 20+ in Malaysia!

Personally I doubt the education system has anything to do with it. There are good spellers and bad spellers everywhere.

3) Women like yaah and his various qualities including: tall stature; handsome looks; twisted sense of humor; taste in expensive cars; thunderous farts; and expertise in cutting up dead bodies.

I suppose I would leave that alone. Staring at all those semi-colons is making me confused.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

Yes I agree that the semicolons look a bit awkward. However, I believe my early grammar schooling days in Britain teached me that lists followed by colons are to be seperated by semicolons.

 

[PFCortex]

Semicolon ; (I've always thought of the semicolon as an "and")
In addition to using a semicolon to join related independent clauses in compound sentences, you can use a semicolon to separate items in a series if the elements of the series already include commas.

Members of the band include Harold Rostein, clarinetist; Tony Aluppo, tuba player; and Lee Jefferson, trumpeter.Colon :

Colon: (I think of this one as "hey - a list of something is coming")

in the following situations:

* after a complete statement in order to introduce one or more directly related ideas, such as a series of directions, a list, or a quotation or other comment illustrating or explaining the statement.
The daily newspaper contains four sections: news, sports, entertainment, and classified ads.
The strategies of corporatist industrial unionism have proven ineffective: compromises and concessions have left labor in a weakened position in the new "flexible" economy.

* in a business letter greeting.
Dear Ms. Winstead:

* between the hour and minutes in time notation.
5:30 p.m.

* between chapter and verse in biblical references.
Genesis 1:18


Dash -- (i use this one as "hey i'm interjecting my own thought here - take it or leave it") 🙂
Use a dash (represented on a typewriter, a computer with no dashes in the type font, or in a handwritten document by a pair of hyphens with no spaces) . . .

for example:

* to emphasize a point or to set off an explanatory comment; but don't overuse dashes, or they will lose their impact.
To some of you, my proposals may seem radical--even revolutionary.

In terms of public legitimation--that is, in terms of garnering support from state legislators, parents, donors, and university administrators--English departments are primarily places where advanced literacy is taught.

* for an appositive phrase that already includes commas.
The boys--Jim, John, and Jeff--left the party early.


As you can see, dashes function in some ways like parentheses (used in pairs to set off a comment within a larger sentence) and in some ways like colons (used to introduce material illustrating or emphasizing the immediately preceding statement). But comments set off with a pair of dashes appear less subordinate to the main sentence than do comments in parentheses. And material introduced after a single dash may be more emphatic and may serve a greater variety of rhetorical purposes than material introduced with a colon.

Ref: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_overvw.html

 

[yaah]

Yes I agree that the semicolons look a bit awkward. However, I believe my early grammar schooling days in Britain teached me that lists followed by colons are to be seperated by semicolons.

Your recommendations and advice lose a bit of oomph when you spell "separated" incorrectly.

😛

Always remember - there is "a rat" in the middle of separate.

You know what's odd? When you have to dictate something and use colons. Because sometimes what you are dictating is a colon. So it comes out something like


Diagnosis colon sigmoid colon comma biopsy semi colon colon with focal cryptitis period
(Diagnosis: Sigmoid Colon, biopsy; Colon with focal cryptitis.)

Typists have to deal with this!

 

[b&ierstiefel]

you missed another purposeful mistake I made 🙂 It's like playing "Where's Waldo" except in this little game Waldo is big, fat, and takes up half the page!

 

[yaah]

I found it. You should have used "learned" instead of "teached." That one always threw me - because I grew up in an area of the country where "learned" was not used as a synonym for "taught." So I could never figure it out when I saw it written somewhere.

Thus: That teacher learned me how to read.

 

[QuietSylph]

Coming from a former English major...

Good advice thus far. I too love dashes -- they allow for concise, dramatic speech. 🙂

Semicolons are most often used to join two complete sentences that are closely linked in terms of concept; the second sentence usually is an elaboration upon the idea presented in the first.

 

[Doctor B.]

You know what's odd? When you have to dictate something and use colons. Because sometimes what you are dictating is a colon. So it comes out something like


Diagnosis colon sigmoid colon comma biopsy semi colon colon with focal cryptitis period
(Diagnosis: Sigmoid Colon, biopsy; Colon with focal cryptitis.)

Typists have to deal with this!

A good way around that is when you want it to be the punctuation-type colon, say "punctuation, colon" or "grammatical, colon". That way the transcriptionist knowns you don't mean the large intestine.

 

[yaah]

After a semicolon is the next word capitalized or lowercase? I always thought lowercase but sometimes I see capitalized. Based on what has been posted so far, I am assuming it is lowercase. Is this right?

 

[deschutes]

After a semicolon is the next word capitalized or lowercase? Based on what has been posted so far, I am assuming it is lowercase.

Yes. Unless it is a proper noun, like in PFCortex's post. That's the only exception I can think of.

 

[stormjen]

I LOOOOVE semi-colons; in fact, I use them quite frequently!

I, too, have noticed the problems that may arise when dictating about a colon specimen.