IEO Punctuation & Capitalization 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following requires a capital letter?
- Seasons: spring, summer, fall
- Days of the week: monday, tuesday (Correct answer)
- Planets: sun, moon
- Colors: red, blue
Correct answer: Days of the week: monday, tuesday
Days of the week are proper nouns and must always be capitalized: Monday, Tuesday, etc.
Question 2: What is the correct use of an ellipsis (...)?
- To show the end of a sentence
- To indicate omitted words or a trailing thought (Correct answer)
- To introduce a quotation
- To separate items in a list
Correct answer: To indicate omitted words or a trailing thought
An ellipsis (...) indicates that words have been omitted from a quotation, or it suggests a pause or unfinished thought.
Question 3: Choose the correctly punctuated sentence:
- The teacher said, 'Please open your books.' (Correct answer)
- The teacher said 'Please open your books'.
- The teacher said, Please open your books.
- The teacher said, please open your books.
Correct answer: The teacher said, 'Please open your books.'
A direct quote requires a comma after the reporting clause and quotation marks around the exact words spoken.
Question 4: When writing a title of a book, which rule applies?
- Capitalize only the first word
- Capitalize all words including articles and prepositions
- Capitalize the first word and all major words (Correct answer)
- Use all lowercase letters
Correct answer: Capitalize the first word and all major words
In title case, capitalize the first word and all major words; articles, short prepositions, and conjunctions are lowercase unless they are the first word.
Question 5: Which sentence correctly uses an exclamation mark?
- She went to the store!
- Watch out for the car! (Correct answer)
- He read the book!
- They ate dinner!
Correct answer: Watch out for the car!
Exclamation marks should be used for genuine excitement, urgency, or strong emotion — a safety warning like 'Watch out!' qualifies.
Question 6: What does a dash (—) typically signal in a sentence?
- The end of the sentence
- A strong interruption, break, or additional emphasis (Correct answer)
- A mild connection between two clauses
- A list is about to begin
Correct answer: A strong interruption, break, or additional emphasis
An em dash (—) signals a strong break, interruption, or emphasis, drawing attention to the words that follow.
IEO Punctuation & Capitalization 2
Which of the following requires a capital letter?