To begin a bulleted or numbered list, use a colon. The colon appears just before the bulleted list in this example. For single words or brief sentences in bullet points or numbered lists, capitalization and terminating punctuation are optional. However, for longer phrases or complete sentences, adding period endings is recommended to provide clarity about the relationship between items in the list. The following example uses both capital letters and full stops (periods) to indicate the start and end of each item in the list: These are some favorite fruits: Apples, Bananas, Grapes, Oranges. Here is an example of a short list with capital letters indicating separate items within the list: Apples: Delicious fruit used for cooking and eating out of hand. Oranges: Sweet fruit often used as a decoration at holidays and special occasions. Bananas: Fruit that provides food for over 50% of the world's population; high in calories per weight unit; also used as animal feed. Grapes: Considered one of the most nutritious foods on the planet; contains vitamin C; magnesium; potassium; fiber; water; antioxidants.