Review: Identifying Punctuation Errors

Avertissement

Ce contenu est offert en anglais seulement.

Indicate whether each sentence is punctuated correctly or incorrectly.

1. I wrote letters to: my aunt, the cable company, and my close friend Joe who moved to Tofino four years ago.

Oops!

Question:
I wrote letters to: my aunt, the cable company, and my close friend Joe who moved to Tofino four years ago.
Answer:
The answer correct is not correct.
Explanation:

You should have punctuated the sentence as follows:

I wrote letters to my aunt, the cable company, and my close friend Joe, who moved to Tofino four years ago.

Never use a colon between a preposition and its objects. The comma after company is optional, but the comma after Joe is needed because the material that follows is non-restrictive.

Good work!

Question:
I wrote letters to: my aunt, the cable company, and my close friend Joe who moved to Tofino four years ago.
Answer:
The answer incorrect is correct.
Explanation:

You should punctuate the sentence as follows:

I wrote letters to my aunt, the cable company, and my close friend Joe, who moved to Tofino four years ago.

Never use a colon between a preposition and its objects. The comma after company is optional, but the comma after Joe is needed because the material that follows is non-restrictive.

2. "Can working with a computer really improve one’s writing?" they asked.

Good work!

Question:
"Can working with a computer really improve one’s writing?" they asked.
Answer:
The answer correct is correct.
Explanation:
The material inside the quotation marks is both dialogue and a question; therefore, the question mark must fall inside the final quotation marks.

Oops!

Question:
"Can working with a computer really improve one’s writing?" they asked.
Answer:
The answer incorrect is not correct.
Explanation:
The material inside the quotation marks is both dialogue and a question; therefore, the question mark must fall inside the final quotation marks.

3. They read they studied and they reviewed, yet they could not define the term ‘onomatopoeia’ on the English exam.

Oops!

Question:
They read they studied and they reviewed, yet they could not define the term ‘onomatopoeia’ on the English exam.
Answer:
The answer correct is not correct.
Explanation:

You should punctuate the sentence as follows:

They read, they studied, and they reviewed, yet they could not define the term "onomatopoeia" on the English exam.

The comma after read is needed to separate the items in the list. The comma after studied is optional. In North American usage, double quotation marks are called for around onomatopoeia, while in British usage the single quotation marks are correct.

Good work!

Question:
They read they studied and they reviewed, yet they could not define the term ‘onomatopoeia’ on the English exam.
Answer:
The answer incorrect is correct.
Explanation:

You should punctuate the sentence as follows:

They read, they studied, and they reviewed, yet they could not define the term "onomatopoeia" on the English exam.

The comma after read is needed to separate the items in the list. The comma after studied is optional. In North American usage, double quotation marks are called for around onomatopoeia, while in British usage the single quotation marks are correct.

4. Children sometimes knock at the Wilsons’ door, as if taunting the couple to show themselves, but neither the old man nor his sister ever answers.

Good work!

Question:
Children sometimes knock at the Wilsons’ door, as if taunting the couple to show themselves, but neither the old man nor his sister ever answers.
Answer:
The answer correct is correct.
Explanation:
Wilsons’ is the correct possessive form of the plural noun Wilsons. The first comma is needed before the parenthetical phrase as if taunting the couple to show themselves, as is the second before the co-ordinating conjunction but, which links the two independent clauses.

Oops!

Question:
Children sometimes knock at the Wilsons’ door, as if taunting the couple to show themselves, but neither the old man nor his sister ever answers.
Answer:
The answer incorrect is not correct.
Explanation:
Wilsons’ is the correct possessive form of the plural noun Wilsons. The first comma is needed before the parenthetical phrase as if taunting the couple to show themselves, as is the second before the co-ordinating conjunction but, which links the two independent clauses.

5. We cancelled our subscription to the magazine after it ran a homophobic article; likewise, a number of our friends boycotted the publication.

Good work!

Question:
We cancelled our subscription to the magazine after it ran a homophobic article; likewise, a number of our friends boycotted the publication.
Answer:
The answer correct is correct.
Explanation:
The semicolon correctly joins the two independent clauses, and the comma is necessary after the conjunctive adverb likewise.

Oops!

Question:
We cancelled our subscription to the magazine after it ran a homophobic article; likewise, a number of our friends boycotted the publication.
Answer:
The answer incorrect is not correct.
Explanation:
The semicolon correctly joins the two independent clauses, and the comma is necessary after the conjunctive adverb likewise.

6. My sister’s skin used to be as smooth as a childs.

Oops!

Question:
My sister’s skin used to be as smooth as a childs.
Answer:
The answer correct is not correct.
Explanation:

You should punctuate the sentence as follows:

My sister’s skin used to be as smooth as a child’s.

The second apostrophe indicates that the noun child’s is possessive.

Good work!

Question:
My sister’s skin used to be as smooth as a childs.
Answer:
The answer incorrect is correct.
Explanation:

You should punctuate the sentence as follows:

My sister’s skin used to be as smooth as a child’s.

The second apostrophe indicates that the noun child’s is possessive.

7. Aaron asked the counsellor if there were many job opportunities for music teachers and if he would have to leave the province to get a good position?

Oops!

Question:
Aaron asked the counsellor if there were many job opportunities for music teachers and if he would have to leave the province to get a good position?
Answer:
The answer correct is not correct.
Explanation:

You should punctuate the sentence as follows:

Aaron asked the counsellor if there were many job opportunities for music teachers and if he would have to leave the province to get a good position.

The sentence is an indirect question and therefore needs a period at the end, not a question mark.

Good work!

Question:
Aaron asked the counsellor if there were many job opportunities for music teachers and if he would have to leave the province to get a good position?
Answer:
The answer incorrect is correct.
Explanation:

You should punctuate the sentence as follows:

Aaron asked the counsellor if there were many job opportunities for music teachers and if he would have to leave the province to get a good position.

The sentence is an indirect question and therefore needs a period at the end, not a question mark.

8. They wanted very badly to see Peter Weirs new film, but fate in the form of the year’s worst snowstorm intruded.

Oops!

Question:
They wanted very badly to see Peter Weirs new film, but fate in the form of the year’s worst snowstorm intruded.
Answer:
The answer correct is not correct.
Explanation:

You should punctuate the sentence as follows:

They wanted very badly to see Peter Weir’s new film, but fate, in the form of the year’s worst snowstorm, intruded.

OR

They wanted very badly to see Peter Weir’s new film, but fate—in the form of the year’s worst snowstorm—intruded.

The apostrophe in Weir’s indicates the possessive (if his name were Peter Weirs, then Weirs’ or Weirs’s would also be correct). The phrase in the form of the year’s worst snowstorm is non-restrictive, or parenthetical, and you must set it off in some fashion. Most writers would use commas, but you could use dashes if you wished to emphasize the parenthetical information.

Good work!

Question:
They wanted very badly to see Peter Weirs new film, but fate in the form of the year’s worst snowstorm intruded.
Answer:
The answer incorrect is correct.
Explanation:

You should punctuate the sentence as follows:

They wanted very badly to see Peter Weir’s new film, but fate, in the form of the year’s worst snowstorm, intruded.

OR

They wanted very badly to see Peter Weir’s new film, but fate—in the form of the year’s worst snowstorm—intruded.

The apostrophe in Weir’s indicates the possessive (if his name were Peter Weirs, then Weirs’ or Weirs’s would also be correct). The phrase in the form of the year’s worst snowstorm is non-restrictive, or parenthetical, and you must set it off in some fashion. Most writers would use commas, but you could use dashes if you wished to emphasize the parenthetical information.

9. How could the rent review administrators have made such a decision, and how will your landlord live with himself?

Good work!

Question:
How could the rent review administrators have made such a decision, and how will your landlord live with himself?
Answer:
The answer correct is correct.
Explanation:
You need the comma before the co-ordinating conjunction and, which joins two independent clauses, and you need the question mark because this is a direct question.

Oops!

Question:
How could the rent review administrators have made such a decision, and how will your landlord live with himself?
Answer:
The answer incorrect is not correct.
Explanation:
You need the comma before the co-ordinating conjunction and, which joins two independent clauses, and you need the question mark because this is a direct question.

10. "Take me with you," she said. "This town and it’s people are more than I can bear, but I know everything will be different in Toronto".

Oops!

Question:
"Take me with you," she said. "This town and it’s people are more than I can bear, but I know everything will be different in Toronto".
Answer:
The answer correct is not correct.
Explanation:

You should punctuate the sentence as follows:

"Take me with you," she said. "This town and its people are more than I can bear, but I know everything will be different in Toronto."

The original sentence contained only two mistakes: (1) its is the possessive case and therefore is spelled without the apostrophe, and (2) the period belongs inside the closing quotation marks.

Good work!

Question:
"Take me with you," she said. "This town and it’s people are more than I can bear, but I know everything will be different in Toronto".
Answer:
The answer incorrect is correct.
Explanation:

You should punctuate the sentence as follows:

"Take me with you," she said. "This town and its people are more than I can bear, but I know everything will be different in Toronto."

The original sentence contained only two mistakes: (1) its is the possessive case and therefore is spelled without the apostrophe, and (2) the period belongs inside the closing quotation marks.

Avis de droit d’auteur pour l’outil HyperGrammar 2

© Département d’anglais, Faculté des arts, Université d’Ottawa
Un outil mis en ligne par le Bureau de la traduction, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada

Rechercher par thèmes connexes

Vous voulez en apprendre davantage sur un thème abordé dans cette page? Cliquez sur un lien ci-dessous pour voir toutes les pages du Portail linguistique du Canada portant sur le thème choisi. Les résultats de recherche s’afficheront dans le Navigateur linguistique.

Liens connexes

 

Non spécifié