Question

Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

a. One question you should always ask yourself: “Am I pleased with the results?”

b. Always ask yourself this question: “ Am I pleased with the results?”

c. One question you should always ask yourself is : “Am I pleased with the results?”

d. Always ask yourself a question like: “Am I pleased with the results?”

Answer 1

b. Always ask yourself this question: “ Am I pleased with the results?”

A colon should be used when there is a complete sentence before it. In option B, "Always ask yourself this question" is a complete sentence.

Option A is incorrect because after "yourself" your brain automatically wants to say "is ...". Option B is incorrect because the quotation is embedded within the sentence so there should not be any punctuation after "is". Option D is also incorrect. There should not be any punctuation after the word "like" either.