atm  +  41636 Wed, 11 Aug 04 06:57 AM Hi, Do you think colon is okay in the following two sentences or it should be a dash instead or both are wrong? 1. But when it comes to racing, we know who is the best bet:horses. 2. We worry about all the things around us such as hot jobs, emerging fields, prestigious companies and so on but fail to look for the answer where it actually lies: inside us. Thanks. ATM atm Joined on Sat, Jan 24 2004 New Member 13 Colons

	anon1  +  41656 Wed, 11 Aug 04 07:49 AM Hi Atm, Here is a good link that describes Dashes and Colons. 1. But when it comes to racing, we know who is the best bet:horses. 2. We worry about all the things around us such as hot jobs, emerging fields, prestigious companies and so on but fail to look for the answer where it actually lies: inside us. In both your sentences, I'd use a dash. Hope that helps. MountainHiker anon1 Joined on Fri, Jul 2 2004 Senior Member 2,049 Grammar, Colons

	atm  +  41695 Wed, 11 Aug 04 01:01 PM Hi MountainHiker, Thanks for your reply. My understanding is that a dash can be used in the following cases: 1. Abrupt break or interruption 2. To announce long appositive 3. To summarise Do you agree that these are the only cases where a dash can be used? If yes, how would you explain using it in the two sentences? I mean, which of the three cases applies here? Thanks. ATM atm Colons

	anon1  +  41720 Wed, 11 Aug 04 04:24 PM Hi Atm, Here is another link on dashes you might find useful. Here is another link on colons that you might find useful. With regard to your question, I would say it is 1. Abrupt break or interruption. 1. But when it comes to racing, we know who is the best bet--horses. 2. We worry about all the things around us such as hot jobs, emerging fields, prestigious companies and so on but fail to look for the answer where it actually lies--inside us. To me, a dash is a bit more emphatic that a colon. You want to call attention to what lies beyond the dash. So in your two sentences, you have set up the sentences for this emphatic ending. Here is a another link that discusses dashes giving more emphasis than colons. I tend to think of colons as list generators or short punchy summary points. I tend to think of dashes as having more emphasis. I hope that helps. MountainHiker Useful for my searches later on. Keywords: dash, colon, emphasis, summary Previous link mentioned earlier: http://www.sfu.ca/~gmccarro/Grammar/Dash.html anon1 Regards, Grammar, Colons

	miriam  +  41854 Thu, 12 Aug 04 08:45 AM Hello, ATM. The three cases you mentioned for the use of dashes are correct. Dashes are used similarly to commas, and commas wouldn't do in either sentence. A colon is a much better choice in your examples. Miriam miriam Joined on Mon, May 10 2004 Argentina Regular Member 821 "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." Plato Colons, Commas