How to Choose Between a Semicolon, Colon and Dash on the SAT

Welcome to SAT Climb. Semicolon, colon, or dash. On the digital SAT these questions feel like a coin flip, but they're not. You never have to guess by ear. You just test what sits on each side of the punctuation, and the right mark falls out every time.

Everything comes down to one question. Is each side a complete sentence on its own? A complete, or independent, clause could stand alone. Here's the whole system. A semicolon joins two independent clauses, complete on both sides, just like a period. A colon needs a complete clause before it, and then a list or an explanation after. And a pair of dashes brackets an aside you could lift right out. Check the sides, pick the mark.

Let's test one. The team trained for months, blank, their effort paid off at the championship. Cover the right side. The team trained for months, that's a complete sentence. Now the left. Their effort paid off at the championship, also complete. Complete on both sides means a semicolon. Quick tell, if you could drop a period in that spot, a semicolon is right. A comma there would be a splice, and a colon doesn't fit because the second half isn't explaining the first, it's just a second full idea.

Two more marks. The colon. What comes before it must be complete, and what follows is a list or an explanation. She packed three things, colon, a map, water, and a compass. The part before is a full sentence, so it works. But watch the trap. She packed, colon, a map, water, a compass. That before-part isn't standing on its own, so the colon is wrong. Now dashes. A pair of dashes brackets a removable aside. The bridge, dash, the longest in the country, dash, opened in May. Lift the middle out and the sentence still works. The trap is mismatched boundaries, a dash on one side and a comma on the other. They have to match.

Your turn. The storm knocked out power for hours, blank, residents lit candles and waited for the lights to return. Test the sides. The storm knocked out power for hours, complete. Residents lit candles and waited, complete. Complete on both sides, so it's a semicolon. A colon wouldn't fit, the second part isn't a list or an explanation, and a comma alone would be a splice.

Three traps. One, a semicolon with a fragment on one side. A semicolon demands a complete sentence on both sides, no exceptions. Two, a colon right after an incomplete clause, usually after a verb or a preposition. Whatever comes before the colon has to stand alone. Three, mismatched punctuation around an aside, a dash on one end and a comma on the other. Pick one and use it on both ends. Test the sides, and the mark is never a guess.

Boundaries, solved. Test each side of the punctuation. Complete and complete gives you a semicolon. A complete clause before a list gives you a colon. And a removable aside gets a matched pair of dashes. Start practicing free at satclimb.com. Your SAT is closer than you think.