11th grade punctuation

Example

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? The ___ decision to lower ticket prices doubled attendance.

1. Use 's for singular possessives, s' for plural possessives ending in s, and no apostrophe for plain plurals. Essential (restrictive) names take no commas.
2. One owner possesses the noun that follows: 's.
3. Put it back into the sentence and read it aloud: "The museum's decision to lower ticket prices doubled attendance."
4. So the answer is: museum's

Answer: museum's

Example

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? The data were incomplete. ___ the scientists published a preliminary report.

1. Conjunctive adverbs (however, therefore, nevertheless) can't join clauses with just commas: use a semicolon or full stop before them and a comma after.
2. 'Still' starts a new sentence and is followed by a comma.
3. So the answer is: Still,

Answer: Still,

Example

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? The species ___ in 2021 lives only on one mountain.

1. Don't separate subjects from verbs, verbs from objects, or prepositions from objects; essential information takes no commas.
2. 'Discovered in 2021' identifies which species: no commas.
3. Put it back into the sentence and read it aloud: "The species discovered in 2021 lives only on one mountain."
4. So the answer is: discovered

Answer: discovered

Example

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? The award went to ___ for her novel about a family of lighthouse keepers.

1. No comma between a title and the name that follows it; commas around a non-essential description that follows a name.
2. Title + name = no commas.
3. Put it back into the sentence and read it aloud: "The award went to author Niamh Kelly for her novel about a family of lighthouse keepers."
4. So the answer is: author Niamh Kelly

Answer: author Niamh Kelly

Example

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? Animals ___ camels can survive for weeks without drinking.

1. Non-essential 'such as/including' phrases take commas; essential ones don't; colons introduce lists or explanations only after a complete clause.
2. Here 'such as camels' is essential to the meaning (only animals like camels), so no commas.
3. So the answer is: such as

Answer: such as