The colon creates anticipation. It tells the reader that the information is still incomplete. Don’t hesitate to use a colon where it serves this purpose. What stands before the colon doesn’t have to be a complete sentence.
Use colons to:
▪introduce a list ▪introduce an example ▪introduce an explanation or elaboration of what preceded the colon ▪separate two clauses when the second clause explains the first Don’t use colons at the end of headings and subheadings. Here, the formatting already does the job of creating anticipation, so you don’t need the colon. However, it sometimes makes sense to use a colon within a heading. If you must use a colon within a heading, capitalize the first word after the colon.
Place colons outside quotation marks and parentheses (international style).
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