Rules of Punctuation ( The Colon)

 The Colon

(a) To introduce a list

e.g. Speaking at Caesar's funeral, Anthony addresses the crowd; "Friends, Romans, countrymen ...."

(b) Before a clause which explains the previous statement. The colon has the force of the word "namely" or "that is":

(c) To express a strong contrast:

e.g. God creates: man destroys.

(d) To introduce a climax or concluding clause:

e.g. After pondering the choices before him, he came to decision: he joined the army.

(e) To make a pointed connection:

e.g. Jeremy became a director in just three months: his father was the chief shareholder.