Misuse Of Colon

A colon should not separate a noun from its verb, a verb from its object or subject complement, a preposition from its object, nor a subject from its predicate. If you are unsure, it would be better to leave the colon out than misuse it.

The four directions are: north, south, east and west.

While this sentence does have a list, the colon is incorrectly used because it separates the verb are from its object north, south, east and west. The colon could be removed, or the sentence could be re-written to use the colon properly (with an independent clause on one side of the colon and the list on the other side).

There are four directions: north, south, east and west.

When I graduate, I want to go to: Rome, Israel and Egypt.

The colon should be removed from this sentence because it separates the preposition to from its objects Rome, Israel and Egypt.

Michael like desserts such as: cake, cookies and doughnuts.

Such as doesn’t require a colon after it.