Question

Select the correctly punctuated item.

A. At the grocery store, he bought the following items; milk, bread, and eggs.
B. At the grocery store, he bought the following items, milk, bread, and eggs.
C. At the grocery store, he bought the following items (milk, bread, and eggs).
D. At the grocery store, he bought the following items: milk, bread, and eggs.

Answer 1

The correct answer is D. After "items," you want to insert a colon, then go on to list your items. colons set off a list. semicolons, as in choice A, are used to connect two independent clauses--that is, two complete thoughts--and join them into a single sentence if their subject matter is related. semicolons aren't used to set off a list in this way because "milk, bread, and eggs" is not a complete thought. choice B is incorrect because list items do not need to be contained in parentheses. choice C is incorrect because it's unclear; "items" is followed by a comma, but you need to use commas for your list items as well. a reader could mistake "items" as a part of the list, when the list only consists of foods.