8th Grade ELA PSSA Practice

Front

What is the purpose of a comma in a sentence?

Back

Commas are used to indicate a pause between parts of a sentence, separate items in a list, or clarify meaning.

Front

What is subject-verb agreement?

Back

Subject-verb agreement means that the subject and verb in a sentence must match in number (singular or plural). For example, 'The dog barks' (singular) vs. 'The dogs bark' (plural).

Front

What punctuation is used to indicate a pause or break in a sentence?

Back

An ellipsis (...) or a dash (—) can be used to indicate a pause or break in a sentence.

Front

What is the difference between 'its' and 'it's'?

Back

'Its' is a possessive pronoun meaning 'belonging to it,' while 'it's' is a contraction for 'it is' or 'it has.'

Front

What does connotation mean?

Back

Connotation refers to the emotional or cultural association that a word carries, beyond its literal meaning.

Front

What is a compound sentence?

Back

A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses joined by a conjunction (e.g., and, but, or).

Front

What is the role of an adjective in a sentence?

Back

An adjective describes or modifies a noun, providing more information about it.

Front

What is a thesis statement?

Back

A thesis statement is a sentence that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay or research paper.

Front

What is the purpose of a semicolon?

Back

A semicolon is used to connect closely related independent clauses or to separate items in a complex list.

Front

What is an example of a negative connotation?

Back

The word 'pigheaded' carries a negative connotation, suggesting stubbornness in a derogatory way.