Colon

How to type it

Right pinky with Shift. Introduced in Lesson 24: Punctuation: : ! ?.

Common uses

• A colon introduces a list, an explanation, or a quotation.
• It separates hours from minutes in a time, as in 9:30.
• It writes ratios such as 3:1 and follows the greeting in a formal letter.

Less common uses

• Bible verses are cited by chapter and verse with a colon, as in John 3:16.
• In web addresses, the colon follows the scheme and precedes a port number, as in https://example.com:8080.
• JSON and Python dictionaries use a colon between a key and its value.