Punctuation Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A travel plan lists cities together with their countries. Which choice correctly uses semicolons to separate the complex list items?
Split each city from its country with a semicolon: “We visited Lima; Peru, Accra; Ghana, and Oslo; Norway.”
Put a semicolon between the verb and the first destination: “We visited; Lima, Peru; Accra, Ghana; and Oslo, Norway.”
Keep each city-country pair together and separate the pairs: “We visited Lima, Peru; Accra, Ghana; and Oslo, Norway.”
Combine a comma and semicolon after each country: “We visited Lima, Peru,; Accra, Ghana,; and Oslo, Norway.”
2. Which choice correctly uses a pair of em dashes to mark the interruption “despite the delay”?
Open the interruption with a dash but close it with a comma: “The final speaker—despite the delay, began at noon.”
Enclose the entire interruption in matching dashes: “The final speaker—despite the delay—began at noon.”
Begin with a comma and finish with a dash: “The final speaker, despite the delay—began at noon.”
Use a semicolon before the interruption and a dash after it: “The final speaker; despite the delay—began at noon.”
3. Which choice correctly punctuates the indirect question in a declarative sentence?
Insert a comma after the reporting verb and end with a question mark: “She asked, whether the train had left?”
Separate “whether” from its clause: “She asked whether, the train had left.”
Treat the embedded question as a direct question: “She asked whether the train had left?”
Use no internal comma and finish with a period: “She asked whether the train had left.”
4. Which sentence correctly introduces a list with a colon?
For the trip, remember: boots, water, and sunscreen.
The trip requires three items: boots, water, and sunscreen.
The essential items are: boots, water, and sunscreen.
Please pack: boots, water, and sunscreen.
5. Which choice correctly completes the question using the contraction meaning “who is”?
Choose the possessive pronoun: “Whose bringing the projector today?”
Attach an apostrophe after the possessive form: “Whose’ bringing the projector today?”
Place the apostrophe after the s: “Whos’ bringing the projector today?”
Use the contraction with an internal apostrophe: “Who’s bringing the projector today?”
6. The article was carefully researched. Which option correctly turns that description into a compound modifier before “article”?
Attach the hyphen to the noun: “a well researched-article.”
Write both modifying words separately: “a well researched article.”
Hyphenate the compound modifier: “a well-researched article.”
Join the modifier with an em dash: “a well—researched article.”
7. The sentence begins with the dependent clause “Although the rain stopped.” Which editing choice correctly joins it to the main clause?
Add a comma after the opening clause: “Although the rain stopped, the field remained muddy.”
Set off the word “Although” alone: “Although, the rain stopped the field remained muddy.”
Place the comma inside the main clause: “Although the rain stopped the field, remained muddy.”
Separate the clauses with a semicolon: “Although the rain stopped; the field remained muddy.”
8. Which choice correctly joins two independent clauses with the coordinating conjunction “but”?
Place a semicolon directly before the conjunction: “I wanted to stay; but the last bus was leaving.”
Move the comma to the far side of the conjunction: “I wanted to stay but, the last bus was leaving.”
Introduce the contrasting clause with a colon: “I wanted to stay: but the last bus was leaving.”
Put a comma before the coordinating conjunction: “I wanted to stay, but the last bus was leaving.”
9. A complete sentence appears by itself inside parentheses after another complete sentence. Where should its period go?
Place the period inside the closing parenthesis: “The path was blocked. (We found another route.)”
Use periods both inside and after the parenthesis: “The path was blocked. (We found another route.).”
Remove the first sentence’s period before opening the parentheses: “The path was blocked (We found another route.)”
Put the parenthetical sentence’s period outside: “The path was blocked. (We found another route).”
10. Which option correctly shows possession by the pronoun “it”?
Use the possessive pronoun without an apostrophe: “The dog wagged its tail.”
Use the contraction for “it is”: “The dog wagged it’s tail.”
Place an apostrophe after the possessive s: “The dog wagged its’ tail.”
Add a second possessive ending: “The dog wagged its’s tail.”
11. Using standard dialogue punctuation, which choice correctly presents a spoken statement followed by the dialogue tag “Priya said”?
End the quotation with a period before the tag: “We should leave now.” Priya said.
Use no punctuation between the quoted words and the speaker: “We should leave now” Priya said.
Place a comma before the closing quotation mark: “We should leave now,” Priya said.
Separate the quotation from the tag with a semicolon: “We should leave now”; Priya said.
12. Which revision correctly repairs the comma splice in “The deadline was close, we continued working”?
Change the second clause to an awkward participial phrase: “The deadline was close, continuing we worked.”
Add a coordinating conjunction after the comma: “The deadline was close, so we continued working.”
Insert “because” between two commas: “The deadline was close, because, we continued working.”
Shift the comma to follow the conjunction: “The deadline was close so, we continued working.”
13. Two closely related complete sentences need to remain in one sentence without a coordinating conjunction. Which edit is correct?
Join them with a semicolon: “The shop had closed; we returned the next morning.”
Link them using only a comma: “The shop had closed, we returned the next morning.”
Insert a colon before “and”: “The shop had closed: and we returned the next morning.”
Turn the second clause into a reason: “The shop had closed—because we returned the next morning.”
14. A lounge is shared by several teachers. Which form correctly shows that plural possession?
Use the singular possessive form: “the teacher’s lounge.”
Leave the plural noun unmarked: “the teachers lounge.”
Put the apostrophe after the plural ending: “the teachers’ lounge.”
Add apostrophes on both sides of the final s: “the teacher’s’ lounge.”
15. Maya is being addressed directly rather than described as food. Which editing choice makes that meaning clear?
Use a semicolon before the name: “Let’s eat; Maya.”
Place a comma after the verb: “Let’s, eat Maya.”
Write the request without internal punctuation: “Let’s eat Maya.”
Set off the name with a direct-address comma: “Let’s eat, Maya.”
16. The writer has only one brother, so the detail about Leeds is additional rather than identifying information. Which version is correct?
Add a comma only after the place name: “My brother who lives in Leeds, is visiting tomorrow.”
Enclose the additional detail in commas: “My brother, who lives in Leeds, is visiting tomorrow.”
Surround the detail with semicolons: “My brother; who lives in Leeds; is visiting tomorrow.”
Move the lone comma before the final verb: “My brother who lives in Leeds is, visiting tomorrow.”