Many ESL students here at Hancock International College don’t make the full use of punctuation symbols like the colon, which is the two free standing dots that looks like this “:”. There are many uses for the colon that ESL students can take advantage of. Grammar-monster.com, a great website for grammar explanations, breaks down how to use the colon in their post titled “Using Colons”.

Grammar-monster.com says,

“Colons are used:

To extend a sentence to expand on something previously mentioned in the sentence (e.g., I’m looking for just one personal trait: discipline.

After an introduction (e.g., I’ve seen the following: ants, a cockroach, and a rat.

In references, times, and titles (e.g., Read Genesis 1:1 before 07:30.

With quotations (e.g., He said: ‘Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect.’”

Check out the following URL to see explanations on the above examples of using colons!

Full Article: https://www.grammar-monster.com/punctuation/using_colons.htm

Idiom of the Day

Ballpark figure

Meaning: a general estimate.

Example: John says, “I am not quite sure how expensive the car is.”

Ethan replies, “Can you give me a ballpark figure?”

John says, “Oh, maybe about $30,000?”