Colons and Semicolons as Vocal Signals

Distinguish the pause and pitch of a colon from that of a semicolon when reading aloud.

Colons and semicolons both create pauses, but they promise different things. A semicolon joins two balanced, closely related independent clauses: 'The first draft was chaotic; the second was worse. ' The pause is a little longer than a comma, and your pitch after it often starts fresh, giving the second clause equal weight. A colon, by contrast, announces that what follows will explain, list, or deliver the payoff of what came before: 'She had only one goal: to finish before sunrise.

' Before a colon your pitch typically holds or rises with anticipation, and the pause is a beat of expectation; after it, you deliver the explanation with emphasis. Mixing these up changes meaning. If you read the colon sentence like a semicolon, 'to finish before sunrise' sounds like an afterthought instead of the point. Train yourself to scan ahead for these marks so your voice is prepared before you reach them.

• 1A semicolon balances two equal clauses.
• 2A colon sets up an explanation, list, or payoff.
• 3Pitch tends to hold with anticipation before a colon.
• 4Scan ahead so your voice prepares for the mark.