SAT Sentence Structure & Punctuation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which choice correctly joins two independent clauses? "The lab closed early ___ the students finished their experiments at home."
- , so (Correct answer)
- , and so
- ; so,
- so
Correct answer: , so
A comma plus the coordinating conjunction "so" correctly joins two independent clauses.
Question 2: Identify the error: "Walking quickly to class, the backpack felt heavy on her shoulders."
- Dangling modifier (Correct answer)
- Comma splice
- Run-on sentence
- No error
Correct answer: Dangling modifier
The opening modifier illogically describes the backpack rather than the person walking.
Question 3: Which choice best uses a semicolon correctly?
- The trip was long; we arrived exhausted. (Correct answer)
- The trip was long; and exhausting.
- The trip was long; because of traffic.
- The trip; was long.
Correct answer: The trip was long; we arrived exhausted.
A semicolon links two independent clauses without a conjunction.
Question 4: Choose the correctly punctuated sentence.
- My sister, who lives in Maine, visits often. (Correct answer)
- My sister who lives in Maine, visits often.
- My sister, who lives in Maine visits often.
- My sister who lives in Maine visits, often.
Correct answer: My sister, who lives in Maine, visits often.
Nonessential clauses are set off by a pair of commas.
Question 5: Which sentence avoids a comma splice?
- The rain stopped, so we went outside. (Correct answer)
- The rain stopped, we went outside.
- The rain stopped, then, we went outside.
- The rain stopped we went outside.
Correct answer: The rain stopped, so we went outside.
A coordinating conjunction after the comma correctly joins the clauses.
Question 6: Where does the apostrophe belong? "The two ___ uniforms were identical." (referring to multiple players)
- players' (Correct answer)
- player's
- players
- players's
Correct answer: players'
A plural noun ending in -s takes only an apostrophe after the s.
Question 7: Which choice correctly punctuates the list? "She packed pencils, erasers ___ and a calculator."
- , (Correct answer)
- ;
- :
- —
Correct answer: ,
Items in a simple series are separated by commas.
SAT Sentence Structure & Punctuation 2
Which choice correctly joins two independent clauses? "The lab closed early ___ the students finished their experiments at home."