Colons APA 7th (part. 5)

When should I use a colon?

• After a *complete introductory clause and the phrase–clause, or examples–that develop or explain the first clause

There are three different reactions to fear: freeze, fight, and flight (Poumpouras, 2020).

• When a full sentence follows the colon, it must start with a capital letter.

Everybody understood the silence: It was time to leave.

• To describe ratios and portions

The current ratio of TESLA is 2:1

Important:

• Do not use colons when the introductory phrase is not a dependant clause:

The formula to calculate energy is mc²

 My favourite books are War and Peace, Les Misérables, and Crime & Punishment.

My boss told me to

• • Write a quote,
  • Create an invoice, and
  • Receive the payment.

*Complete introductory clauses:  an idea that does not need extra explanation.

Adapted from: (APA, 2020, p. 156)

Exercises

 

Source

The American Psychological Association. (2020).  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7^th edition.