Question

Which sentence uses a colon correctly?

A long winding road: it seemed as if the day would never be over.
A long winding road was like the day it seemed: it would never be over.
The day felt like a long winding road: it seemed as if it would never be over.
The day felt like: a long winding road that seemed as if it would never be over.

Answer 1

Explanation:a

Answer 2

What are colons?

Colons are a type of punctuation mark used to usually introduce a description, lines of dialogue, introduce lists or clarify ideas.

* Many times, colons are mistaken for semi-colons, which are more commonly used to join two independent clauses and improve run-on sentences.*

Let's take each answer choice one-by-one to determine if they adhere to the colon rules:

1. A long winding road: it seemed as if the day would never be over. This choice is correct. Following the noun, winding road, there is a description after the colon.
2. A long winding road was like the day it seemed: it would never be over. While, technically the sentence following the colon can qualify as a description, it reads more as an incomplete run-on/ exclamatory sentence.
3. The day felt like a long winding road: it seemed as if it would never be over. This once again reads as an incomplete, run-on sentence
4. The day felt like: a long winding road that seemed as if it would never be over. The first clause is incomplete and the second clause is a run on sentence.