Tag: punctuation

Questions Related to punctuation

Choose the option that best corrects the underlined part of the sentence:
Really girls, you are both to be blamed, said Meg, beginning to lecture in her elder-sisterly fashion.

inverted commas/quotation marks punctuation english

  1. "Really girls, you are both to be blamed," said Meg, "beginning to lecture in her elder-sisterly fashion."

  2. "Really girls, you are both to be blamed," said Meg, beginning to lecture in her elder-sisterly fashion.

  3. Really girls, you are both to be blamed, said Meg, " beginning to lecture in her elder-sisterly fashion."

  4. NO CHANGE

Show answer
Correct Option: B
Explanation:
Quotation marks are used to indicate material that is being reproduced word for word. In the given sentence, only the first part of the sentence is in direct form of speech and it should be enclosed within quotations. Thus, the correct answer is Option B,
Option A and C are incorrect because the part of the sentence that is not direct is also enclosed within quotation marks.
Option D does not enclose the direct speech within quotation marks.

I stopped and asked her, do you not wish to live in your own country.

Choose the option that best corrects the underlined words.

inverted commas/quotation marks punctuation english

  1. I stopped and asked her, do you not wish to live in your own country?

  2. I stopped and asked her, "Do you not wish to live in your own country?"

  3. I stopped and asked her, "Do you not wish to live in your own country!"

  4. NO CHANGE

Show answer
Correct Option: B
Explanation:
The given sentence cites direct words of a speaker, this speech should be enclosed within quotation marks. The speech is in the form of a question to the listener, such a sentence should end with a question mark. Thus, according to the rules, the correct form of writing the sentence will be, as given in Option B.
Option A is incorrect, as the direct speech is not enclosed within quotation marks.
Option C is incorrect, as exclamation marks are used to indicate a speech of strong feelings or high volume.

Choose the option which correctly punctuates the sentence:

He wrote, "I will return soon," Jim said to me.

inverted commas/quotation marks punctuation english

  1. NO CHANGE

  2. He wrote, "I will return soon, Jim said to me."

  3. "He wrote, 'I will return soon,' " Jim said to me.

  4. "He wrote, I will return soon," Jim said to me.

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:
Quotation marks are used to indicate material that is being reproduced word for word. Quotes within quotation marks are marked using single quotes. Thus, the correct answer should be Option C.
Option A and B are incorrect as, the correct part of speech is not enclosed within quotation marks.
Option D is incorrect because the quote within the quotations is not punctuated correctly.

Select the suitable option:
The daughter of Charles would be called ______. 

apostrophe mark punctuation english

  1. Charles's daughter

  2. Charles' daughter

  3. Charles daughter's

  4. Charles daughters`

Show answer
Correct Option: A,B
Explanation:

Apostrophe is used before 's' to indicate possession of singular subject. Apostrophe is used after 's' to indicate possession of plural subject that end in 's' (E.g., cats - cats'). Here, the subject 'Charles' is singular. However, there are two ways in which possession is indicated for nouns ending in 's': adding an apostrophe at the end alone and adding 's at the end of the noun. Therefore, the correct options are: Charles' daughter as well as Charles's daughter. You may think only one of them is right, however, both are acceptable in modern-day English, but the apostrophe after the 's' is more commonly used in case of plural nouns.

An incorrectly punctuated sentence is provided. Select which of the options given is correct.

The two boy's rucksacks were found at the water's edge.

apostrophe mark punctuation english

  1. There are two boys. The sentence should read "boys' rucksacks".

  2. The apostrophe in "water's edge" should be deleted.

  3. The rucksacks belong to the boys and need an apostrophe, "rucksack's".

  4. All of the Above

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Apostrophe is used to indicate belonging. Apostrophe is used before 's' with singular nouns and after 's' with plural nouns. The given sentence mentions two boys, therefore the apostrophe is placed incorrectly. It should be placed after 's' in 'boys' to show that the rucksacks belong to both the boys. Therefore, the correct option is: A) There are two boys. The sentence should read "boys' rucksacks". 

The apostrophe (') is used to -

apostrophe mark punctuation english

  1. Denote possession and other kind of relationship

  2. Introduce direct speech

  3. Join words and sentences

  4. Point out the reader's attention forward

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Apostrophe can be used to show that a letter or letter(s) is missing from a word. It is used to denote possession and other kind of relationship. Thus, option A is correct. 

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
They're not his ___________ mistakes.

apostrophe mark punctuation english

  1. Friend's

  2. Friend

  3. Friends

  4. Friends's

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The correct answer is Option A.

An apostrophe is used after a word when we wish to show that two words are related to each other. In the given sentence, FRIEND and MISTAKES are connected, hence the apostrophe will be added after the word FRIEND. It is put after the word and the sign is followed by an 's'.
Thus the correct answer is FRIEND'S.
The remaining options are incorrect because they are not grammatically correct to show the connection between two words.

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
A: I don't want to talk to _____ .
B: And I want to talk to _____ either.

apostrophe mark punctuation english

  1. anyone / no one

  2. somebody / everyone

  3. nobody / somebody

  4. everybody/anybody

Show answer
Correct Option: C

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I lost my glasses. I looked _____ , but I couldn't find them.

apostrophe mark punctuation english

  1. anywhere

  2. everywhere

  3. somewhere

  4. everything

Show answer
Correct Option: B

Choose the right word/phrase that completes the sentence.
Dear Mr. Rao, thank you for your support. _______ Sincerely, Ritu Pandey.

apostrophe mark punctuation english

  1. Your

  2. You're

  3. Your's

  4. Yours

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

Out of the four options, option D is correct. Possessive pronouns are those pronouns which show possession or ownership in a sentence. Apostrophe can be used to show that a letter or letter(s) is missing from a word. In the given sentence, apostrophe replaces the letter 'i', and the two words (Your and Is) are joined to make one. The given sentence shows possession. Thus, 'Yours' is the correct answer.