Semi-colon and Colon Practice Exercises

Part A Directions: Add a semicolon or colon as needed in each of the following sentences.

  1. The following items are needed for a picnic drinks, sandwiches, cups, and plates.
  2. Larisa has light, curly hair Marisa has dark, straight hair.
  3. The library will be closed this week to check the inventory therefore, no one will be able to check out books.
  4. Kerry likes pepperoni pizza Harry will eat only cheese pizza.
  5. Mary is having a party however, she is not sure when it will be.
  6. Mary is my best friend therefore, I need to buy her a present.
  7. We are going to Florida this summer we will be there on my birthday.
  8. I want to see three things when we go to Florida Sea World, Universal Studios, and Epcot Center.

Part B Directions: Add semicolons and colons to the following sentences. If the sentence is correct, write a “C” after the sentence. Do not use a colon after a verb or a preposition.

  1. Rashanda has two flags an American flag and an African flag.
  2. The colors of the African flag are black, green, and red.
  3. Rashanda celebrates three special holidays Harambee, Juneteenth, and Kwanzaa.
  4. She also celebrates the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and New Year's Day.
  5. On Harambee people go to dances, art shows, and movies eat black-eyed peas and sweet-potato pie and listen to jazz, blues, and rap music.
  6. On Kwanzaa Rashanda's dad wears a brown, black, and white dashiki an African hat, which is called a kofi and African beads.
  7. English has borrowed words from Spanish, German, Italian, Algonquian, and many other languages.
  8. The following Spanish words are very similar to English words el chocolate, la ensalada, eltomate, and el vegetal.
  9. English uses the Native American names for opossums, chipmunks, and other animals hickory, pecan, and other trees and kayaks, toboggans, and other things that were first made by Native Americans.

Sentence Fragments

Directions: If the group of words expresses a complete thought, write S (for sentence) in the blank space. If it does not express a complete thought, write F (for fragment) in the blank space. For each fragment, decide what is missing - the subject or the verb - and write that word on the second line.

  1. _____ Escape to Freedom is an exciting book.______
  2. _____ Another great book.______
  3. _____ Starts in an exciting way. ______
  4. _____ To learn about it.______
  5. _____ Is the fifth planet from the sun. ______
  6. _____ Jupiter, made of gas and ice, a huge, red ball. ______
  7. _____ Jupiter is so large that 1,300 Earths could fit inside it.______
  8. _____ Jupiter is a big ball of hot gas like the sun. ______
  9. _____ Could have been a star if it had been a little bigger.______
  10. _____ This ball of hot gas, like a huge, raging storm.______
  11. _____ Jupiter has 16 moons. ______
  12. _____ Has rings around it like Saturn. ______