TerraNova Language Mechanics

Question 1

Which sentence uses commas correctly?

Accepted Answer

We bought apples, oranges, and bananas.

Answer

When listing three or more items in a series, commas should separate each item. The correct format is 'item1, item2, and item3.'

Question 2

Which word correctly completes this sentence? 'The students finished _____ homework before recess.'

Accepted Answer

their

Answer

'Their' is the possessive pronoun showing that the homework belongs to the students. 'There' indicates a place, and 'they're' is a contraction of 'they are.'

Question 3

Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

Accepted Answer

"Where are you going?" asked Maria.

Answer

When writing dialogue, the question mark goes inside the quotation marks because the quoted words form a question. The dialogue tag 'asked Maria' follows with a period at the end.

Question 4

Choose the sentence that uses an apostrophe correctly.

Accepted Answer

The dog's toy is under the bed.

Answer

'The dog's toy' correctly uses an apostrophe to show possession — the toy belonging to the dog. The apostrophe + s indicates singular possession.

Question 5

Which sentence correctly capitalizes all words that need capital letters?

Accepted Answer

We visited the Grand Canyon in Arizona last summer.

Answer

'Grand Canyon' is a proper noun (specific place name) and 'Arizona' is a proper noun (state name), so both must be capitalized. Seasons like 'summer' are not capitalized.

TerraNova Practice Test

TerraNova Practice Test

TerraNova Language Mechanics