Which sentence correctly uses a colon to introduce an explanatory list?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. The pantry was stocked with four culinary staples: flour, sugar, olive oil, and rice.
- Step 1: A colon must follow an independent clause (a grammatically complete thought).
- Step 2: 'The pantry was stocked with four culinary staples' is a complete independent clause that can stand alone as a sentence.
- Step 3: Options A, B, and D place colons immediately after prepositions or verbs, which is grammatically incorrect.
Answer
The pantry was stocked with four culinary staples: flour, sugar, olive oil, and rice.
Why not the others: '...stocked with: flour...' places a colon after the preposition 'with'; '...such essentials as: flour...' places a colon after prepositional 'as'; 'The pantry was: stocked...' splits the verb phrase with a colon.
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