English Grammar Test English Grammar Punctuation 5

Question 1

Which sentence correctly uses a dash to set off an appositive list?

Accepted Answer

Three cities—Paris, Rome, and Tokyo—are on my list.

Answer

Em dashes effectively set off an appositive list within a sentence, especially when the list itself contains commas.

Question 2

Which sentence correctly avoids a comma splice?

Accepted Answer

I was tired, so I went to bed.

Answer

A comma followed by a coordinating conjunction (so, and, but) correctly joins two independent clauses.

Question 3

Which sentence uses the hyphen correctly in a compound number?

Accepted Answer

She is thirty-five years old.

Answer

Compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine are always hyphenated when written out.

Question 4

Which sentence correctly punctuates a tag question?

Accepted Answer

You're coming to the party, aren't you?

Answer

A tag question is separated from the main clause by a comma and ends with a question mark.

Question 5

In a sentence with a list of items that already contain commas, which punctuation separates the items?

Accepted Answer

Semicolons

Answer

Semicolons are used as 'super-commas' to separate list items that already contain internal commas.

English Grammar Test Practice Test