English Grammar Punctuation Flashcards
7 cards from real English Grammar Test practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 English Grammar Punctuation flashcards as text
Which sentence correctly uses a colon?
Answer: He has three hobbies: reading, hiking, and painting.
A colon correctly introduces a list when preceded by a complete independent clause.
How should two adjectives that equally modify a noun be punctuated?
Answer: a tall, dark building
Coordinate adjectives that each independently modify the noun are separated by a comma.
Which sentence correctly omits the Oxford (serial) comma, yet remains unambiguous?
Answer: She wore red, white and blue.
'Red, white and blue' lists three colors with no risk of ambiguity, so omitting the Oxford comma is acceptable.
A hyphen is correctly used in which sentence?
Answer: She is well-known in her field.
Compound modifiers like 'well-known' are hyphenated when they appear before the noun they modify.
Which sentence correctly uses parentheses?
Answer: The meeting is at noon (12:00 p.m.).
Parentheses correctly enclose supplementary or clarifying information like a time equivalent.
Which is the correct way to write a possessive for a singular noun ending in -s?
Answer: Both A and B are acceptable.
Style guides differ: AP Style prefers James' while Chicago Style prefers James's—both are acceptable.
Which sentence correctly uses an ellipsis?
Answer: She paused... and then spoke.
In informal and most American editorial styles, an ellipsis is three periods with no space before the first and one space after the last.