Introduction

Ah, the age-old argument between semicolon, colon, and dash. Which type of punctuation should you use in this sentence? how did you find out? Is there a definite option where one is right and the others are incorrect, or is it more of a stylistic choice, such as whether to use the Oxford comma?

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Examples

Three things are required to produce a Shirley Temple: ginger ale, grenadine, and a maraschino cherry. The sun was shining, and the flowers were in full bloom. It was a lovely day.

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Semicolon

Bob from Chicago, Illinois, Jessica from New York, New York, Karen from Seattle, Washington, and David from Camden, New Jersey were among the semifinalists.

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My cats enjoy pestering my dog, and they chased him around the house all afternoon.

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Em Dash

As I do every day, I sat on the porch and drank my coffee.

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If you would want to visit, please give my sister Amy—not Rebecca—a call to arrange a time.

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We provide every type of computer here, including HP, Dell, and Apple.

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Hey, hold on, forget it.

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A young person named — — — who lives in the same building as the victim is thought to be the suspect.

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En Dash

Today, I have to work from 10:00 am till 6:00 pm.

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She just won the Pulitzer Prize for journalism.

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If we don't stop, it will take us around eight hours to drive from San Diego to San Francisco.

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Conclusion

The colon But not all lists should use colons.  Only when the list comes after a complete independent clause is a colon required (and appropriate). Here's an illustration:  In my basement, I keep a wide variety of creative equipment, including clay, acrylic paints, watercolours, coloured pencils, and five various types of paper. The list that comes after "I have a lot of various art supplies in my basement" cannot stand alone as a complete thought. The list of items in the previous example sentence clarifies the fact that there are art supplies in the basement without altering its meaning. You can also download our app from the playstore or visit our website.

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