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ACT English: Punctuation Drill 1, Problem 3. Is that comma being used correctly?
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ACT English 3.4 Punctuation 522 Views
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Description:
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 3, Problem 4. Which choice best formats this list of items?
Transcript
- 00:03
Here's your shmoop du jour, brought to you by Grocery Stores. Where monsters shop for food.
- 00:09
How should this sentence be changed so that it is grammatically correct?
- 00:12
Julio went to the store for some groceries, milk, bread, coffee and cheese.
- 00:24
Okay, so we've got a nice list of items here, without an Oxford comma.
- 00:27
But wait, check it out.
Full Transcript
- 00:29
"Groceries" describes the rest of the items in the sentence. It shouldn't just be thrown
- 00:33
in there with each of the specific items Julio is buying.
- 00:37
When we're listing items that fit in a category, we often like to use our little buddy, the
- 00:41
colon. So C and D look promising. They're the only
- 00:44
options that use one.
- 00:46
Here's where this one gets tricky. After we bring a colon into the mix, the oxford comma
- 00:51
isn't really optional anymore.
- 00:52
The final item of a list needs to be preceded by both a comma and an apostrophe, and C is
- 00:58
the only one with the comma before the last item.
- 01:01
Nice work. You win an apos-trophy.
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