Good Monday morning! It’s time for another quiz, this time on using colons and semicolons — the American way. About half of my connections live outside the United States, and they likely follow a different grammar system. But for those who want or need to write the way Americans do, it’s wise to know the rules . . . before you decide to break them. 

Two refresher posts that can help are 3 Rules for Using Colons in Lists and Pity the Poor Semicolon!

In each group below, one sentence is punctuated correctly. Can you spot it?

Group A

1. John needs: his backpack, his glasses, and his books.
2. John needs his backpack, his glasses, and his books.
3. John needs; his backpack, his glass, and his books.

Group B

1. Karthik’s shopping list includes: coffee, tea, eggs, and milk.
2. Karthik’s shopping list includes; coffee, tea, eggs, and milk.
3. Karthik’s shopping list includes coffee, tea, eggs, and milk.

Group C

1. Sarah asked Jim to call Phil: Jim said he would.
2. Sarah asked Jim to call Phil; Jim said he would.
3. Sarah asked Jim to call Phil, Jim said he would.

Group D

1. Dear Mr. Loader:
2. Dear Mr. Loader;
3. Dear Mr. Loader,

Group E

1. Maggi needs the following items for her party; ice cream, cola, and candy.
2. Maggi needs the following items for her party: ice cream, cola, and candy.
3. Maggi needs the following items for her party, ice cream, cola, and candy

Why do I give quizzes? Because I think it’s easy to just hit “like” on a post without reading it, and my goal is to help my connections learn these rules. And most of us are challenged and/or amused by quizzes; we do like to see if we know the subject, almost no matter what it is.

Am I right? 

So, here are the answers:

Group A: 2     Group B: 3    Group C: 2    Group D: 1    Group E: 2

How did you do? If you have any questions, please ask me. I’m here to help.