Dash or colon. Colon or dash. Some people always want to put a dash, others prefer a colon. No one seems to remember the rules. But they exist. Let's deal with dashes and colons in complex non-union proposal(these are those where there is no conjunction or allied word between the parts of the sentence, but they are connected by intonation).
For those who are preparing for the main school exam
When to use a colon
Right: PIRLS results showed: Russian schoolchildren read the best
You can’t do without serious rules here. But they are really not as difficult to remember as it might seem on the first line of this text. In the non-union complex sentence A colon is placed if the second sentence complements the first and it is quite possible to put the conjunction “what” between them. The following verbs can also be a hint: see, look, hear, understand, recognize, feel, and so on. If there is something similar in the first part, then it is secret sign, that here you still need to reluctantly cross out (or delete with a key) the dash and put a colon. And after the colon there will most likely be a description of what someone saw/heard or a fact. By the way, find out what PIRLS is and why Russian schoolchildren read better than anyone else -.
Right: In Russian there is a dilemma: put a dash or put a colon
And the truth is that there is still a dilemma. But if the second sentence explains, clarifies what is written in the first part, then it’s time for a colon. You can check with the conjunctions “namely” or “that is.”
Right: Volodya slept through the first lesson: he watched TV series all night
Well, the third case is when you need to put a colon instead of a dash. Probably the simplest. If in the second part of the sentence the reason for what happened in the first is stated, there is a time for a colon (we often put a dash, but we will explain why below). You can check with the conjunction “because”. Yes, you guessed it, all colons and dashes can be checked by conjunctions. Therefore, remember the conjunctions. This is how you will become literate.
When to use a dash (more often than a colon)
Right: Schoolchildren will do poorly on the Unified State Exam - everyone will start scolding the organizers again
It may seem to some that rule number 2 of colons is quite suitable here: the second part clarifies the first. But no. Here the first part expresses the meaning of time or condition. And you can check with conjunctions “when” or “if”, only they need to be substituted not between parts of a complex sentence, but at the beginning of the first: if schoolchildren do poorly on the Unified State Exam, everyone will again begin to scold the organizers. And no, that won't happen. Everyone will definitely pass everything well. We believe.
Right: I have innate literacy - I passed the Unified State Exam in Russian with 100 points
Everyone would like such literacy. But for now we have to read Rosenthal (or “Literacy at the Chalk”). And here it’s even easier to confuse it with a colon. It seems like the reason is explained. But it’s unlikely that innate literacy is because someone passed the Russian language with 100 points. Quite the contrary. If the second part of the sentence expresses the meaning of some result or consequence, put a dash. From the conjunctions you will have to remember: “so”, “therefore”, “as a result of which”.
Right: It's cold outside - the kids still went to school
The harsh truth about the life of children somewhere in Yakutia. And a dash is also used when one thing is opposed to another. You can check with the most popular conjunctions “a” and “but”. Are they suitable? So, draw a line.
Right: Veronica watched films only in English - that’s how she learned the language
Well done Veronica, but in the meantime we’ll tell you a little more about the “result”. This case of placing a dash slightly overlaps with the example above about innate literacy. Both there and there in the second part of the sentence are a consequence and result of the first. Only here we still have a few cheat words that may appear in the second part: “so”, “such” or “this”.
Right: The bell rang - and there was no one left in the class
Here, in general, is also the result. And you can even rejoice: where in the second part there is some result of the first or its continuation, you can put a dash! And additional clues can be the conjunction “and”, which can be placed between the parts, or the words “suddenly”, “immediately”, “suddenly”.
Photo: still from the film “The Diamond Arm”
All textbooks contain many rules that are not connected by any general idea, and when choosing a sign you have to go through them sequentially. That's why It’s better to make a note for yourself and use it.
1) Intonation helps to choose the right sign
Exist two types of dashes: separating and connecting. Dividing a dash with ascending-descending intonation clearly divides the sentence into two parts. Connection the dash has a descending-falling intonation, which is from explanatory intonation (also descending-descending), characteristic of a colon, is distinguished by an emphasized pause (therefore, it is the connecting dash that often replaces the colon).
2) The dash is characterized by two themes:
A) Analogue of SSP (separation intonation): BSP is an analogue of BSP with missing conjunctions A, BUT, AND ; meaning comparisons, contrasts, abrupt transitions, different sentence structures: I would be glad to serve, but being served is sickening. The falcon flies up into the air and huddles close to the ground. Seven times measure cut once. A week passed, then another - suddenly a stroller drove into my yard. Another moment - no answer.
b) Direct sequence of events: BSP is an analogue of NGN with omitted subordinating conjunctions and a direct sequence of events: time - event, condition - event, reason - event, fact - conclusion, generalization, fact - comparison. Separating intonation: The windows opened - the smell of hay entered the veranda. If you don't love what you do, you won't be a master. There was no way to leave unnoticed - he came out openly. A birch tree in a forest without a top is a mistress without a husband in the house. Connecting intonation: The sun is shining brightly all around - you can still hunt. The road was bad - people in the back were thrown from side to side.
3) The colon is characterized by three themes (explanatory intonation):
a) Explanatory meaning: I jumped out of the wagon and saw: my mother greeted me with an air of deep grief. I turn around: Grushnitsky! I looked out of the wagon: everything was darkness and whirlwind. We asked in surprise: will Silvio really not fight?
b) Explanatory meaning: And a gloomy winter is coming to us: the steppe has dried up, the forest is dying and turning yellow. There’s one thing I don’t understand: how could she bite you?
c) Reverse sequence of events: I am sad: my friend is not with me. However, they did not dare to mock Gerasim: he did not like jokes. Grushnitsky could not bear this blow: like all boys, he has pretensions to being an old man. An artist is a mirror of his environment: it reflects his society, nation and time.
4) Demonstrative pronouns when distinguishing dash and colon
Dash: the pronouns in the second part refer to the first part: No need to rush - I So I understand this situation. Colon: the pronouns in the first part refer to the second part: I understand this situation So: No need to rush.
Dash: I could hear the sound of water all the time - This There was a river flowing next to the road. Go forward or die - So there was a question. There is little time - that's what Badly. Colon: The ignorant judge So: If they don’t understand the point, then everything is nothing to them. Such There are many examples in the world: no one likes to recognize themselves in satire.
5) Replacing a colon with a connecting dash
For modern language Characteristic is the replacement of a colon with a dash in all its meanings, that is, to express explanatory, explanatory and effect-causal relationships. For explanatory and effect-causal relationships the reverse order of meanings characteristic of a colon is not indicated, but only the interdependence of the predicative parts is indicated. For explanatory relations the replacement is associated with certain features (accelerated speech rate, absence of an extended pause, the effect of the presence of the author):
I see it’s bad! One thing is clear: it is dangerous to stay here. Sometimes I think I need to run. He looked around - standing behind him was Seryozha in a long shirt, barefoot and with his throat tied. Everything became clear - a horse was feeding in the clearing, and somewhere here, nearby, someone was spending the night. No one wanted to settle on this land - it turned out to be too scarce. It's time to go - everything is ready.
The colon is one of the punctuation marks in the Russian language, which is usually placed either in complex sentences with non-union connection between predicative parts, or in sentences where there are homogeneous members expressed by any part of speech.
The placement of a colon in the Russian language is governed by the following rules:
1. A colon is placed before the listing that ends the sentence (the enumeration, as a rule, is expressed by homogeneous members that relate to one general concept). For example:
- He saw funny faces from everywhere: from stumps and logs, from tree branches barely trembling with leaves, from colorful herbs and forest flowers.
- Everything here seemed familiar to me: the creative chaos on the table, the randomly pasted posters on the walls, and the CDs lying around everywhere.
- In this forest you can even meet predators, such as wolves, foxes, and sometimes bears.
- School supplies were scattered on the table: notebooks, textbooks, sheets of paper and pencils.
2. In sentences with enumeration, it is also appropriate to put a colon in in that case, if there is no general word. Then this punctuation mark acts as a signal that what follows is an enumeration. For example:
- Around the corner appeared: a short-haired girl in a short dress, a funny toddler with plump legs and a couple of older boys.
3. A colon is placed in a sentence before the listing if before it there is a generalizing word or words “like that”, “namely”, “for example”:
- And all this: the river, and the bars of the rope climber, and this boy - reminded me of the distant days of childhood (Perventsev).
4. A colon is placed after one of the parts of a non-union complex sentence, which will be followed by one or more other parts. Naturally, in this case no alliances are assumed. The semantic connections between the predicative parts in a non-union complex sentence with a colon can be as follows:
a) Explanation, clarification, disclosure of the meaning of the first part, for example:
- She was not mistaken: the guy really turned out to be Peter.
- Moreover, the worries of a large family constantly tormented her: either the feeding of the infant did not go well, then the nanny left, then, as now, one of the children fell ill (L. Tolstoy).
- It turned out that this was the case: he stirred the soup, but forgot to remove the pan from the heat.
b) The reason for what happened in the first part. For example:
- You won’t be able to catch up with the crazy troika: the horses are well-fed, and strong, and lively (Nekrasov).
- It’s not for nothing that I didn’t see a future husband in you: you were always secretive and cold.
5. If two sentences are combined into one without the help of conjunctions, then a colon is placed between them if if the first sentence contains the words “see”, “hear”, “look”, “know”, “feel”, and the following sentences reveal the meaning of these words (thus, the first sentence warns what will be said in the subsequent ones). For example:
- And then the beacon keeper and the Kyrgyz assistant see: two boats are floating along the river (A. N. Tolstoy).
- I crawled through the thick grass along the ravine, I saw: the forest ended, several Cossacks were leaving it into a clearing, and then my Karagyoz jumped out straight to them... (Lermontov).
- Finally we climbed to the very top, stopped to rest and looked around: the heavens opened up before us.
- Pavel feels: someone’s fingers are touching his arm above the elbow (N. Ostrovsky);
- I understood: you are not a match for my daughter.
But (without a hint of warning):
- I see you are not as simple as you seem.
6. A colon is placed in sentences introducing direct speech, after the words of the author. For example:
- They were silent for two minutes, but Onegin approached her and said: “You wrote to me, don’t deny it” (Pushkin).
- The cat looked at me as if she wanted to ask: “And who are you to tell me?”
- And I thought: “What a heavy and lazy fellow he is!” (Chekhov).
Note. A group of sentences with direct speech, where the hero’s words are introduced directly, should be distinguished from groups of sentences with indirect speech. In them, the hero’s words are introduced using auxiliary parts of speech, as a rule, conjunctions or allied words (“which”, “what”, “than”, etc.), and not a colon, but a comma. For example:
- I thought about what a great person he really is.
- I didn't know what to do in the evening.
- Will he again remind you of what happened a year ago?
The colon is one of the oldest punctuation marks. It is already almost 600 years old, and the colon appeared in the distant 15th century, almost immediately after the very first punctuation mark - the period.
At S.Ya. Marshak has a poem called "Punctuation marks". So the colon in this poem says the following words about itself:
However, despite the importance of the colon, in terms of the number of rules this punctuation mark is significantly inferior to all others. To use the colon correctly writing, you only need to remember four rules.
Rule one. Colon and generic words
A colon is placed in those sentences that use generalizing words and homogeneous members of the sentence. This punctuation mark must be placed after generalizing words and before listing.
Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov writes in one of his works: “Hunting with sharpness requires three conditions: dark night, light water and completely clear weather".
The generalizing phrase in this sentence is underlined with one line, and homogeneous members of the sentence are in italics.
Do not forget that if the generalizing word comes after homogeneous members sentences, then we put not a colon, but a dash. The same sentence in reverse order would look like this:
Dark night, light water and completely clear weather - three conditions, which are needed for hunting with a sharp edge.
Rule two. Colons and non-union complex sentences
A colon is placed in non-union complex sentences in several cases, namely: if the second part explains or reveals the content of the first part, indicates the reason for what is being discussed in the first part, and also warns that the matter does not end there. To remember this rule, you need to learn the words that can be used to complete the sentence.
1. If the sentence indicates a reason, then the conjunctions will fit harmoniously between the two simple parts because And because. Let us remember the well-known words of Maxim Gorky about books:
Love the book: it will help you understand the motley confusion of thoughts, it will teach you to respect a person.
Instead of a colon we can easily put and because, And because. In this sentence, you can see how the second part reveals the reason for the first, giving us good reasons why we should love the book - the source of knowledge.
2. If the second part explains the first, then you can put the words namely or like that. Here is an example from the work of A.S. Pushkin:
The weather was terrible: the wind howled, wet snow fell in flakes.
Instead of a colon, it is appropriate to put the words namely.
3. If one part of a sentence warns of further presentation, then you can put the words and I will see what and hear how. Let's look at an example from Nikolai Ostrovsky's play:
You can see for yourself: everything around is in a powerful movement.
In this sentence we can put the conjunction that, turning a non-union complex sentence into a complex sentence.
Rule three: Colon and direct speech
Finally I said to her: “Do you want to go for a walk on the rampart?”
He turned away and, walking away, muttered: “Still, this is completely against the rules.”
Rule four. Colon and headings
A colon is placed in headings if they are divided into two parts:
First part(nominative) names the place of action, the person, the general problem.
Second part specifies the first part.
For example:
That's all the rules that relate to the placement of colons in sentences. However, do not forget that this punctuation mark can also be used to express feelings. For example, like this:) or:(.Bazhov: reader and book lover.
The country's budget: problems and judgments.
In Russian there are quite a few a large number of punctuation marks. Some are used to complete a sentence, others emphasize intonation and mood, and others divide a passage of text into logical parts. To understand why a colon is used, it is necessary to consider in what cases it is used.
First you need to remember that in most cases this sign is placed in complex sentences, with the exception of some points.
- In the Russian language there is such a thing as a “generalizing word”. For better understanding Consider the example sentence “There were tools on the table: a hammer, a drill, a saw and a jigsaw.” This sentence talks about the tools that are on the table, and then they are all listed. IN in this case the word “tools” will be general. From here we get the first rule, which states that a colon must be placed after the generalizing word. To reinforce this, let’s give another example: “To tomorrow I definitely need to do my homework: biology, algebra and geography.”
- Headlines like “Ivanov: gamer and programmer” also include this sign. If we consider a specific rule, then the first part of the title should indicate actor, some problem or scene. The second part of the title gives specificity to the first. "A country's economy: further development».
- Let's say that there is no generalizing word, but there is an enumeration. In this case, the sign will also be placed, for example: “On the table were: telephone, keys and money.”
Colon in complex sentences
Cases of using this punctuation mark in complex constructions much more, but there is nothing difficult about it.
- Consider this example: “This morning my mother told me: “Don’t forget to stop by the store and buy milk.” This example contains direct speech, and if it comes after the words of the author, then a colon must be placed before it. Please note that if the sentence looks like this: “Go to the store and buy milk,” my mother told me,” then the colon will not be placed, since direct speech comes before the words of the author.
- Unionless complex sentences are unionless because they simply have no conjunctions: “Mom cleans the room, I do my homework.” This is a very simple sentence that does not require any punctuation except a comma. But how about this example: “Read more books: they will increase your lexicon, they will teach you to write and speak correctly.” Why is there a colon in this case? There is a rule that says: if the second part of a non-union complex sentence reveals the meaning of the first part or indicates the reason, then a colon is placed after the first part. The statement encourages reading books and further indicates the reason for the motivation. “The weather was very bad: it was raining and stormy strong wind", - Another one good example rules for this.
- Another rule about placing this punctuation mark says that it must be placed between two simple sentences that are not connected by a conjunction, if the first contains verbs like “see”, “look”, “hear”, “know”, etc. Further. These words seem to hint at further description something. The rule sounds quite complicated, but in reality it’s the opposite. “I peered for a long time and finally understood: the shadows on the wall reminded me of a human silhouette.” “Walking down the street I hear someone calling me.” These two examples illustrate the rule perfectly.
- Words such as “namely”, “for example”, “by the way” require a colon after them. “Last year I visited all the major countries, namely China, the United States, Brazil and Indonesia.” Please note that without the expression “namely”, in in this example The colon would still be included.
Is a colon necessary for indirect speech?
We have looked at all cases in Russian when a colon is placed. I would like to focus special attention on direct speech. The fact is that in addition to it, indirect speech is also used, and they must be distinguished in order to place correct sign punctuation.
- Mom told me: “I need to go to the store and buy milk.” Mom said we need to throw out the trash. The second sentence will be indirect speech. It can be easily identified by several conjunctions, such as “what”, “so that”, “when”, “why” and others. Indirect speech is a subordinate clause in a complex sentence and is not distinguished by a colon.
To summarize, we can say that The colon serves as a dividing punctuation mark, which is placed only in the middle simple sentence in the case of a generalizing word and enumeration. In a complex construction, this punctuation mark is necessary if there is a reason that explains the first part of the sentence, if there is direct speech, if there are clarifying words and verbs hinting at a further description of something.
Video
This video will help you understand when to use a colon in a sentence.
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