✍️ English Grammar and Writing · Punctuation

Comma Rules practice questions

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Answer key with explanations

1. Which sentence is punctuated correctly? (This site uses the serial comma.)

   Answer: The camp provides tents, sleeping bags, and flashlights.. Three items form a series, so commas go between them, including before the final and. The second choice leaves out the comma after tents. The third puts a comma between the verb provides and its object. The fourth puts the comma after and instead of before it.

2. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

   Answer: Before we left for the airport, Dad checked the tickets.. Before we left for the airport is a dependent clause that opens the sentence, so a comma follows it. The first choice leaves the comma out. The third puts the comma in the middle of the clause. The fourth puts a comma between the subject Dad and its verb checked.

3. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

   Answer: Priya played the violin, and Marcus played the drums.. Two independent clauses joined by and need a comma before and. The first choice has no punctuation, which is a fused sentence. The second is a comma splice. The third puts the comma after and instead of before it.

4. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

   Answer: Tomas grabbed his backpack and ran for the bus.. Tomas is the only subject, and it has two verbs, grabbed and ran. A comma before and is used only when it joins two independent clauses, so none belongs here. The first choice puts a comma before and. The second puts a comma between the subject and its verb. The fourth puts a comma after and.

5. Only one teacher at the school is named Ms. Lopez, so the clause who coaches the debate team is extra information. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

   Answer: Ms. Lopez, who coaches the debate team, is retiring.. Extra information in the middle of a sentence takes a pair of commas, one before it and one after it. The first choice has no commas, which treats the clause as essential. The second is missing the closing comma. The fourth has only a closing comma.

6. The clause that I bought yesterday tells which jacket is meant. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

   Answer: The jacket that I bought yesterday is too small.. The clause identifies the jacket, so it is essential and takes no commas. The first choice sets it off with a pair of commas. The third puts a comma between the subject, which ends with the clause, and the verb. The fourth puts a comma before an essential that clause.

7. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

   Answer: Dad bought two large pizzas for the party.. Two and large are cumulative adjectives. You cannot say large two pizzas or two and large pizzas, so no comma goes between them. The first and second choices add a comma where the adjectives build on each other. The third puts a comma between the verb and its object.

8. Which sentence is correct and is NOT a comma splice?

   Answer: The trail was steep, but we kept climbing.. But is a coordinating conjunction, so a comma plus but correctly joins two independent clauses. The first choice has only a comma. The words however and then in the second and third choices are not coordinating conjunctions, so each of those sentences is still a comma splice.

9. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

   Answer: Our flight to Chicago, Illinois, leaves on June 9, 2029, at noon.. A comma goes between the city and the state, and another between the day and the year. No comma goes between the month and the day. Because the sentence continues, the state and the year each need a comma after them too; every choice has those, so only the other commas decide the answer. The second choice leaves out the comma between Chicago and Illinois. The third leaves out the comma between 9 and 2029. The fourth adds a comma between June and 9.

10. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

    Answer: When the long, tiring hike finally ended, Maya, who had packed too much, was glad to rest.. Three rules work together. A comma follows the opening dependent clause. A comma separates the coordinate adjectives long and tiring. A pair of commas wraps the extra information about Maya. The first choice leaves out the comma after ended. The third puts a comma between the last adjective and its noun. The fourth leaves out the closing comma of the pair.