Punctuation marks in lists of words

[Sped Tiger]

I have just read that when we make lists of words that are all headed by one title ending in a colon, capitalising the first letter of the first word of each sentence and putting any punctuation marks at the end are optional if the list's items are just things and they do not make complete sentences, e.g.:
What we have to take:
1. honey
2. bread
3. water
4. toasts
It can also be:
What we have to take:
1. Honey; (or a comma or a full stop)
2. Bread;
3. Water;
4. Toasts.
But if the items do make complete sentences, capitalisation and "the appropriate punctuation mark at the end" are required. So, my question is "Can I just choose to either put a comma, a semicolon, or full stop at the end?"
That is, can I write:
What happened yesterday:
1. The tree sawn by me was removed;
2. My chainsaw broke down;
3. I accidentally found a rare coin.
Instead of writing the same but with a full stop at each sentence's end?

 

[emsr2d2]

I have just read that when we make lists of words that are all headed by one title ending in a colon, capitalising the first letter of the first word of each sentence and putting any punctuation marks at the end are optional if the list's items are just things and they do not make complete sentences,

Where did you read that? Before we continue, we need the title and author if it was in a book, and a link if it was on a website.

 

[Sped Tiger]

Where did you read that? Before we continue, we need the title and author if it was in a book, and a link if it was on a website.

Capitalization Rules and Examples

Capitalization is the writing of a word with its first letter as an upper case and the remaining letters in lower case.

www.grammarbook.com

 

[Sped Tiger]

More specifically, it's written in the paragraph of colons.

 

[jutfrank]

What we have to take:
1. honey
2. bread
3. water
4. toasts

That's right.

It can also be:
What we have to take:
1. Honey; (or a comma or a full stop)
2. Bread;
3. Water;
4. Toasts.

No, don't do that. There's no need for capitalisation here and even less need for the ugly pointless semi-colons.

But if the items do make complete sentences, capitalisation and "the appropriate punctuation mark at the end" are required. So, my question is "Can I just choose to either put a comma, a semicolon, or full stop at the end?"
That is, can I write:
What happened yesterday:
1. The tree sawn by me was removed;
2. My chainsaw broke down;
3. I accidentally found a rare coin.
Instead of writing the same but with a full stop at each sentence's end?

If you're writing sentences, then yes, capitalise the first word and put a full stop at the end, as you normally would. You don't need semi-colons at the end.

The only time you might use semi-colons is when the list is contained in prose. When writing in the form of a list (one item above the other), it's enough to write each item below the last.

 

[Tarheel]

More specifically, it's written in the paragraph on colons.

 

[Tarheel]

I'm making a grocery list right now. I am not going to use numbers or punctuation.

 

[Sped Tiger]

That's right.

No, don't do that. There's no need for capitalisation here and even less need for the ugly pointless semi-colons.

If you're writing sentences, then yes, capitalise the first word and put a full stop at the end, as you normally would. You don't need semi-colons at the end.

The only time you might use semi-colons is when the list is contained in prose. When writing in the form of a list (one item above the other), it's enough to write each item below the last.

Okay, I understand it now. But let's imagine you're writing a task book and there are questions and the person has to select one.
In this case, would it be permissible for you to make your own consistent system that is a bit against this explained-by-you rule?
For example, could you write (with semicolons and capitalised (the answers)):

What word is missing in the sentence?
I must have [...] lost.
1. Get;
2. Goten;
3. Gotten;
4. Gat;
5. Fled.

Or would you just be highly critised in this case?

 

[5jj]

If you want to use pointless capitals, you won't be shot. Members here might wonder why you would do something so unnatural, particularly as jutfrank showed you the acceptable way to do this.

 

[jutfrank]

What word is missing in the sentence?
I must have [...] lost.
1. Get;
2. Goten;
3. Gotten;
4. Gat;
5. Fled.

Or would you just be highly critised in this case?

You won't be shot, but since I'm a stickler for good presentation of tasks, I probably would avoid you in the staffroom for a few weeks.

Think about the form of the language you're presenting. Is this what you want?:

I must have Gotten; lost.

No, of course not. The idea is to insert the correct word in the gap. So write it like this:

1. get
2. goten
3. gotten
4. gat
5. fled