Dashes & Commas Practice

Which of the following sentences uses a comma or dash to indicate a pause or break correctly?

• The concert was amazing - the band played all night.

• The concert was amazing, the band played all night.

• The concert was amazing the band played all night.

• The concert was amazing; the band played all night.

Tags

SC.ELA.8.C.4.1

Which sentence correctly uses parallel structure?

• She likes reading, to swim, and biking.

• She likes to read, swimming, and to bike.

• She likes reading, swimming, and biking.

• She likes to read, to swim, and biking.

Tags

SC.ELA.8.C.4.1

Which sentence uses commas correctly?

• Well, we can go to the park, or, we can go to the swimming pool.
• Well; we can go to the park; or to the swimming pool.
• Well: we can go to the park, or to the swimming pool.
• Well, we can go to the park, or we can go to the swimming pool.

Tags

CCSS.L.4.2C

CCSS.L.6.2A

Which sentence uses dashes correctly?

• A. Cats--Fish, Birds—she adopts them all.

• B. Dogs, Rabbits, Ferrets—she adopts them all.

• C. Tigers—Frogs--Lizards—she adopts them all.

• D. Parrots--Fish, Lizards, she adopts them all.

Answer explanation

Rationale:

• A: Incorrect. The dashes are misused, leading to confusion in the sentence.

• B: Correct. This sentence effectively uses a dash to separate the list from the following clause.

• C: Incorrect. The excessive use of dashes makes the sentence unclear and improperly formatted.

• D: Incorrect. The dashes are misused with commas, disrupting the sentence flow.

Tags

CCSS.L.6.2A

CCSS.L.8.2A

Which of the following sentences correctly uses dashes?

• A. Emma—the talented—artist is in my art class and is friendly.

• B. Liam the gifted musician is in--my band class and is energetic.

• C. Sophia—the bright student--is in my math class.

• D. Mason the hardworking student is in my science class—and is diligent.

Answer explanation

• A: Incorrect. The dashes are improperly used and create confusion in the sentence structure.

• B: Incorrect. The dash is misplaced, leading to grammatical errors.

• C: Correct. The dashes effectively insert additional information about the subject.

• D: Incorrect. The use of a dash before "and" is unnecessary and disrupts the sentence.

Tags

SC.ELA.8.C.4.1.B