English Grammar Test Punctuation Rules 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence uses an em dash correctly?
- She finally arrived-after hours of waiting.
- The answer—though surprising—was correct. (Correct answer)
- He left early -to catch the bus.
- They won the game, —by one point.
Correct answer: The answer—though surprising—was correct.
Em dashes set off parenthetical information or interruptions within a sentence.
Question 2: Which punctuation mark is used to indicate that a speaker's words have been cut off mid-sentence?
- Ellipsis (...)
- Em dash (—) (Correct answer)
- En dash (–)
- Semicolon (;)
Correct answer: Em dash (—)
An em dash indicates an abrupt interruption or break in speech, while an ellipsis shows trailing off.
Question 3: In which sentence are quotation marks used correctly?
- She said she was "fine."
- The article "How to Write" was helpful. (Correct answer)
- He asked if I was "ready".
- She loved the "movie", but not the ending.
Correct answer: The article "How to Write" was helpful.
Quotation marks correctly set off titles of shorter works like articles, poems, and chapters.
Question 4: Which is the correct way to write the plural possessive of 'children'?
- childrens'
- children's (Correct answer)
- childrens's
- children s'
Correct answer: children's
Irregular plurals that don't end in 's' form the possessive by adding apostrophe + s.
Question 5: Which sentence uses a question mark correctly?
- She asked whether I was ready?
- Did you finish your homework? (Correct answer)
- I wonder what time it is?
- He asked if we could leave early?
Correct answer: Did you finish your homework?
A question mark is used at the end of direct questions, not indirect questions.
Question 6: How should two independent clauses be correctly joined using a conjunctive adverb like 'however'?
- She was tired, however she kept working.
- She was tired however; she kept working.
- She was tired; however, she kept working. (Correct answer)
- She was tired; however she kept working.
Correct answer: She was tired; however, she kept working.
A semicolon precedes the conjunctive adverb and a comma follows it when joining two independent clauses.
Question 7: Which sentence correctly uses an ellipsis to show omitted text in a quotation?
- He said, "We must … all do our part … in this effort."
- He said, "We must...all do our part in this effort."
- He said, "We must … all do our part in this effort." (Correct answer)
- He said, "We must all … do our part in this effort."
Correct answer: He said, "We must … all do our part in this effort."
An ellipsis uses three spaced periods with spaces before and after when indicating omitted text.
English Grammar Test Punctuation Rules 3
Which sentence uses an em dash correctly?