Colons in References, Times, Ratios, and Titles
Colons in References, Ratios, Times, and Titles
Colons are useful to divide the parts of:- References.
For example: - Genesis 1:1 starts "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
- Ratios.
For example: - It's myth that the ratio of women to men in Nottingham is 6:1.
- Times.
For example: - The happiest hour of the day is between 19:00 and 20:00.
- The marathon world record is 2:02:57. The 800m world record is 1:40.91. (Colons are used in timings greater than a minute.)
- Titles.
For example: - "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (A semicolon, a comma, and "or" are also commonly used to separate a title from a subtitle.)


Another Example of Colons Used in a Reference
Here is another example of colons used in a reference:- Learn Chapter XIV: Section 4: Paragraph 6 by tomorrow.
Examples of Colons Used in Titles
Here are two more examples of colons used to separate main titles from subtitles:- "How To Get Your Own Way: Who's Manipulating You?"
- "Grammar Rules: Writing with Military Precision"


Example of Colons Used in Times
Here is another example of a colon used to separate the hours from the minutes in a time:- The alarm clock is set for 07:30.
Interactive Exercise
Here are three randomly selected questions from a larger exercise, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?