Colons and Dashes
In this lesson, you will learn to
- Identify when to use a colon to introduce lists, explanations, or elaborations
- Understand how to use dashes as substitutes for colons
- Differentiate between the uses of colons and dashes
- Solve questions involving colons and dashes
On the Digital SAT, what comes before a colon must be a main clause. In other words, what comes before a colon must be able to stand on its own as a complete sentence.
As you learned in Lesson 7: Unnecessary Punctuation, a colon cannot be placed between a subject and its verb, a verb and its object, or a preposition and its complement.
❌ subjectNonprofit organization Tango Flight: verbprovides an innovative opportunity for high school students to construct airplanes under expert guidance.
❌ Nonprofit organization Tango Flight verbprovides: objectan innovative opportunity for high school students to construct airplanes under expert guidance
❌ Nonprofit organization Tango Flight provides an innovative opportunity for high school students to construct airplanes under: complementexpert guidance
✅ Nonprofit organization Tango Flight provides an innovative opportunity for high school students to construct airplanes under expert guidance.
In the first example, the colon is incorrectly placed between the subject “Nonprofit organization Tango Flight” and its verb “provides.” In the second example, the colon improperly separates the verb “provides” from its direct object “an innovative opportunity.” In the third example sentence, a colon is incorrectly placed between the preposition “under” and its complement “expert guidance.”
The final example sentence is correct—there is no need for a colon anywhere in this sentence.
Keep going
The rest of this lesson is open to students with an access code.