IXL | Use semicolons, colons, and commas with lists

Add a comma, semicolon, or colon if needed. Otherwise, submit the text without any additional punctuation.

In order to introduce possible alien beings to Earthlings, the Voyager spacecraft have carried various audio if samples of Bach, greetings in fifty-five languages, Navajo chants, volcanic eruptions, and more.

ref_doc_title.

Learn with an example

question

Add a comma, semicolon, or colon if needed. Otherwise, submit the text without any additional punctuation.

At the first-ever Climate Engineering Conference, geoengineers discussed how gigantic orbiting lasers might be used to fight climate change in three if by breaking down greenhouse gases, by changing weather patterns, and by causing clouds to form.

key idea

Use a colon to introduce a list after a complete sentence. If a list does not follow a complete sentence, do not use punctuation to introduce the list.

My parents have visited much of Western Europe: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.

My parents have visited much of Western Europe, including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.

Use commas to separate three or more items in a series. Put a comma after each item in the list, except for the last one.

Our speakers will be Kevin O'Malley, Rachel Stein, and Linda Wu.

Use semicolons to separate items in a series when using commas would be unclear, such as when one or more items in the series already contain commas.

Our speakers will be Kevin O'Malley, an English professor; Rachel Stein, a print journalist; and Linda Wu, a blogger.

solution

There is a list introduced by a complete sentence, so you should use a colon.

$Confetti$

Excellent!

Now entering the Challenge Zone—are you ready?

Questions
answeredQuestions

Time
elapsedTime

hr	min	sec
00	00	06

SmartScore
out of 100
IXL's SmartScore is a dynamic measure of progress towards mastery, rather than a percentage grade. It tracks your skill level as you tackle progressively more difficult questions. Consistently answer questions correctly to reach excellence (90), or conquer the Challenge Zone to achieve mastery (100)! Learn more

Teacher tools

Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? This can help:

UU.2Use semicolons, colons, and commas with lists

Excellent! You got that right!

Jumping to level 1 of 1

Excellent!