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Qizi Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

The usage of a colon



hello, everyone. I wonder how these colons are used in the following examples. I am totally confused. Could you be so kind to give me some explainations? Thanks in advance.


1.These had settled down for the winter at Chippenham: thither Alfred went.

2.He noticed at once that discipline was slack: the Danes had the self confidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual.

3. But Alfred had deduced that the Danes were no longer fit for prolonged battle: and that their commissariat had no organization, but depended on irregular raids.

  

Top answer

1-- An odd usage; the order is reversed, with the explanatory clause preceding the initial idea. Not according to rule, but effective, I suppose, if used sparingly. 2-- This is more usual: an explanatory clause following a statement.

— Mister Micawber

  • 1-- An odd usage; the order is reversed, with the explanatory clause preceding the initial idea.
  • Not according to rule, but effective, I suppose, if used sparingly.
  • 2-- This is more usual: an explanatory clause following a statement.
  • 3-- The colon is simply incorrect here.
  • There should be no punctuation at all at that point.
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1 Answers
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1-- An odd usage; the order is reversed, with the explanatory clause preceding the initial idea. Not according to rule, but effective, I suppose, if used sparingly.

2-- This is more usual: an explanatory clause following a statement.

3-- The colon is simply incorrect here. There should be no punctuation at all at that point.

Evidently the writer is over-enamoured of
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