Hello!
Today on Ask a Teacher we answer a question about
punctuation marks from Luay in Syria.
punctuation marks:
signos de puntuación;
Question:
I hope you can tell
me about the difference between punctuation marks such as the semicolon (;) and
the colon (:).
Luay, Syria.
such as: tales como;
Answer:
Dear Luay, Thank you for writing with this
very interesting question. Even native speakers have trouble with these
punctuation marks when writing English. Let us begin with the simplest one, the
colon.
even
native speakers: hasta los hablantes nativos; have trouble with:
tienen problemas con; when writing: al escribir, cuando escriben; let
us begin: comencemos; the simplest: el más simple;
THE
COLON
The colon is two
dots, one over the other. It has three main uses. One is to introduce a list of
things. The part of the sentence before the colon should be an independent
clause. Here is an example:
two
dots: dos puntos; over: por encima de; main uses: usos
principales;
Ashton likes only three kinds of fruit: apples, bananas and cherries.
A Ashton
le gustan sólo tres clases de fruta: manzanas, bananas y cerezas.
You should not use a
colon when the list is part of the independent clause, as in:
you
should not use: no se debe usar; is part of: forma parte de; as in:
como en (este ejemplo);
Ashton likes apples, bananas and cherries.
A Ashton
le gustan las manzanas, bananas y cerezas.
Note that these things are
separated by commas but there is no comma before “and”. You can also use a colon
between two independent clauses when the second one explains the first.
separated by
commas: separadas por comas; but there is no comma: no hay ninguna
coma; before "and": antes de (la conjunción) "y"; when the second one:
cuando la segunda (cláusula independiente); explains the first: explica
la primera;
We ate all of the ice cream: it was too hot this afternoon.
Nos comimos todo el
helado: hizo mucho calor esta tarde.
Third, you can use a colon to emphasize a phrase or word at the end of a
sentence:
to emphasize
a phrase: para enfatizar una frase; at the end of: al final de;
After hours of work, we saw what we wanted: a clean
house.
Luego de
horas de trabajo, vimos lo que queríamos: una casa limpia.
THE
SEMICOLON
Moving on to the
semicolon, you may say it looks like a period or a dot above a comma. We use a
semicolon to connect two independent clauses that have related subjects. For
example:
moving
on to the semicolon: pasando al punto y coma; you may say: se podría
decir que; it loks like a period: parece un punto y aparte; dot:
punto; above a comma: ubicado sobre una coma; that have related
subjects: que contienen temas relacionados;
I think we should study in the bookstore; my friend works there.
Pienso que
deberíamos estudiar en la librería; mi amigo trabaja allí.
You should never use a comma to connect two independent clauses. Note that the
semicolon takes the place of any conjunction that might
connect two independent clauses.
you should
never use: nunca se debería usar; to connect two independent clauses:
para conectar dos cláusulas independientes; note that the semicolon:
observa que el punto y coma; takes the place of: reemplaza a; any
conjunction: cualquier conjunción; that might connect: que podría
conectar;
A good test of whether you have used the
semicolon correctly is to replace it with a conjunction, that is, “or”, “for”,
“and” or “but.” Here is a sentence with a semicolon between the two independent
clauses:
a good test of:
una buena comprobación de; whether you have used: (saber) si has usado;
correctly: correctamente; is to replace it with: es reemplazarlo con;
that is: es decir, o sea;
The cat came in the door; it was carrying a mouse.
El gato
llegó a la puerta; traía un ratón.
When we use a conjunction, we no longer need the semicolon:
we no longer
need: ya no necesitamos.
The cat came in the door and it was carrying a mouse.
El gato
llegó a la puerta y traía un ratón.
I hope this answers your question, Luay. And
that’s Ask a Teacher. I’m Jill Robbins.