Colons after labels
Use a colon where a formal convention calls for one: after the salutation of a business or formal letter when that style is expected (e.g. "Dear Dr. Ruiz:"), in the opening of a memo — after its salutation line and/or header labels such as "To:", "From:", "Date:" and "Re:" — and after a speaker’s name to show a new speaker in script dialogue ("MAYA: Let’s go."); explain that the colon shows that what follows belongs to that greeting, label or speaker, and recognise contexts, such as a friendly letter, where a comma is used instead.
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BBC Bitesize · Practice link — not the full lesson
KS3 English
Before you open · source notes
KS3 English supports Colons after labels. An adult previews and guides; this is a learning page, not a scored quiz.
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Public BBC Bitesize page. An anonymous GET on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt for this URL. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. An adult should preview and guide the learner.
BBC Bitesize. “KS3 English.” External page; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute materials.
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Check understanding
- In a business-letter task that specifies a colon-based salutation style, punctuates the greeting with a colon; contrasts it with a friendly-letter task that specifies a comma-based style, and explains that greeting punctuation follows the stated convention rather than a universal business-versus-friendly rule
- Sets out a memo opening with colons after the To, From, Date and Re labels; when a salutation line is included, follows the stated memo style for its punctuation
- Writes a short script in which every new speaker’s name is followed by a colon before their words
“When your child is given a letter task specifying a colon-based salutation style, a memo with header labels and a short play script, can they place the colons required by each convention, follow the stated style for any memo salutation, and explain how a comma-based greeting differs?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Procedural
- Subject
- English
- Domain
- Grammar & Punctuation
- Age range
- Ages 11–12
Standards