Standard English Conventions: Boundaries — Within Sentences
Commas, semicolons, colons, dashes and parentheses as joints inside one sentence, including the frequent correct answer of no punctuation at all.
12 topics · 46 questions
Each topic is a path, not a menu: work down it in order and every question builds on the one above. Click any of them to watch the answer draw itself.
The Comma Plus a Coordinating Conjunction
- How it worksHow does testing both sides of 'but' for a standalone clause decide whether a comma belongs there?
- Going furtherWhat happens to the comma rule when the second half drops its subject and keeps only a verb?
- Worked exampleFind whether a comma belongs before 'and' in 'The kiln cooled for a day and the glaze finally set.'
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a comma required before 'and' in 'The potter shaped the bowl and trimmed its foot'?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A ceramics studio's log records a single firing of 45 test tiles.
Which choice conforms to the conventions of Standard English?Commas in a Simple Series
- How it worksHow does a series comma mark the border between items rather than the border between clauses?
- Worked exampleShow me where the commas go in 'The survey recorded elevation rainfall soil depth and canopy height.'
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a comma allowed to sit between a finished list and the verb that acts on it?
- Going furtherWhat happens to a list of two items when each item is a full clause with a subject of its own?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A field survey records four variables at each of 41 forest plots.
Which choice conforms to the conventions of Standard English?The Semicolon in a Complex Series
- How it worksHow does promoting the separators to semicolons rebuild the layers of a list that already holds commas?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a semicolon inside a series doing the same job as a semicolon between two clauses?
- Worked exampleWalk me through punctuating a roster of three speakers given with their universities so no pair gets split.
- Going furtherWhat happens if you reach for semicolons in a series whose items contain no internal commas?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
A conference program lists 9 keynote speakers, each with a home city and country.
Which choice conforms to the conventions of Standard English?What Must Come Before a Colon
- How it worksHow does a colon inspect the words in front of it for a complete clause before it will open?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a colon allowed after 'such as' or 'including' when a list is obviously about to arrive?
- Worked exampleShow me why 'The kit contains: a compass, a whistle, and a map' puts the colon in an illegal spot.
- Going furtherWhat happens to a colon sentence when the words after the colon form a full clause of their own?
Your turneasy1 of 3
An expedition report describes the kit carried on a 22-day traverse.
Which choice conforms to the conventions of Standard English?What a Colon Can Introduce
- How it worksHow does one colon introduce a list, an explanation, and a renaming without changing its own rule?
- Worked exampleWalk me through choosing between a colon and a comma in 'The map showed one road out of the valley.'
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a colon interchangeable with a semicolon even when both sides happen to be complete clauses?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A field report describes the 29 crates a mapping team carried.
Which choice conforms to the conventions of Standard English?The Single Dash as a Colon Substitute
- How it worksHow does a lone dash late in a sentence announce a summary, an example, or a sharp reversal?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a single dash a casual comma you can slide in wherever the sentence seems to pause?
- Worked exampleShow me which marks are legal in 'The expedition packed one luxury a small brass telescope.'
Your turnmedium1 of 3
An expedition log describes the 29 crates a team packed.
Which choice conforms to the conventions of Standard English?Paired Dashes and Parentheses
- How it worksHow do two dashes lift an interrupter clean out of a sentence that still reads without it?
- Worked exampleWalk me through lifting the aside out of 'The ferry built in Trondheim in 1954 still runs every morning.'
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a parenthesis interchangeable with a dash when a writer wants the aside noticed?
- Going furtherWhat changes about an interrupter when you wrap it in parentheses instead of dashes?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A caption reads: 'The ferry built in Trondheim in 1964 still runs every morning.' The writer wants to set the middle information off with dashes.
Which choice conforms to the conventions of Standard English?Paired Commas Around an Interrupter
- How it worksHow does deleting the interrupter prove that a pair of commas is sitting in exactly the right two places?
- Worked exampleShow me both comma positions in 'The freighter a rusting hulk from the 1970s still crosses the lake weekly.'
- Going furtherWhat happens to the pair when the extra information lands at the very end of the sentence?
- Common mistakeWhy doesn't one comma do the job when only one end of the interrupter seems to want a pause?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A shipping register entry reads: 'The freighter ______ still crosses the lake weekly.'
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?Why You Cannot Mix the Pair
- How it worksHow does a mismatched pair of marks destroy the bracket holding the extra information?
- Worked exampleShow me which choices die on sight when a sentence opens an aside with a dash and four options close it.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a comma near enough to a dash to finish the job when both marks feel equally light?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A draft reads: 'The archive - a converted grain silo ______ 687 boxes of expedition letters.'
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?Restrictive versus Nonrestrictive Elements
- How it worksHow does deleting a modifier tell you whether it was naming its noun or merely describing it?
- Worked exampleDraw the two different pictures of 'The runners who wore red finished first' with commas and without them.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the choice between commas and no commas decided by how long the modifier happens to be?
- Going furtherWhat happens to the commas when a proper name has already identified the noun the modifier follows?
- Ties togetherHow does one delete test settle both the commas and the choice between 'that' and 'which'?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A race report reads: 'The runners, who wore red, finished first.' A total of 44 runners entered the race.
What does this sentence claim?No Punctuation Between a Subject and Its Verb
- How it worksHow do you locate the subject and the verb of a sentence whose subject runs on for fifteen words?
- Worked exampleShow me why 'The reason the seeds float while falling is that their plumes create drag' takes no mark before 'is'.
- Going furtherWhat happens when a nonrestrictive clause sits between the subject and the verb and brings its own two commas?
- Common mistakeWhy doesn't a natural pause where you would breathe give you permission to put a comma there?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A student writes: 'The reason the 145 seeds float while ______ that their plumes create drag.'
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?When No Punctuation Is the Answer
- How it worksHow do you prove that a gap in a sentence needs nothing rather than needing something small?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't the emptiest choice a trap laid for lazy students, given how often it turns out to be the key?
- Worked exampleWalk me through choosing among 'falling,' and 'falling:' and 'falling;' and plain 'falling' before the verb 'is'.
- Going furtherWhat happens to a verb and its object when a writer slips a comma between the two of them?
Your turneasy1 of 3
A draft reads: 'The plumes on the 182 drifting seeds ______ enough drag to slow the fall.'
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?AP®, SAT® and PSAT/NMSQT® are trademarks registered by the College Board (PSAT/NMSQT® jointly with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation). ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT Education Corp. GRE® is a registered trademark of ETS. LSAT® is a registered trademark of the Law School Admission Council. MCAT® is a registered trademark of the Association of American Medical Colleges. ISEE® and SSAT® are registered trademarks of their owners. None of these organizations is affiliated with, or endorses, Jentoo.