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Commas Videos 16 videos

How to Use a Freakin' Comma
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ACT English 1.1 Punctuation
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ACT English: Punctuation Drill 1, Problem 1. Choose the correct punctuation for this sentence.

ACT English 1.2 Punctuation
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ACT English: Punctuation Drill 1, Problem 2. How should we format this list?

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ACT English 1.1 Punctuation 655 Views


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Description:

ACT English: Punctuation Drill 1, Problem 1. Choose the correct punctuation for this sentence.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Here's your shmoop du jour, brought to you by Grandmothers. They'll let you do all

00:08

the stuff your parents won't, because... what do they care?

00:12

My grandmother a true artist decided it was time for me to learn to paint.

00:19

And here are the possible answers...

00:25

Well, as is, this sentence just sounds weird.

00:29

It's very unlikely that "Grandmother-a-true-artist" is your grandmother's name

00:34

Based on the context, the subject of the sentence is actually just... grandma.

00:38

That would make "a true artist" an appositive phrase.

00:43

An appositive phrase drops in another name, or something that defines the previous subject,

00:48

with two well-placed commas surrounding it.

00:50

These say, "My grandma doesn't just bake amazing apple pie, she's an artist too."

00:57

Well, we know A can't be true, because right

00:59

now the sentence doesn't make sense. D is out as well... unless you have a "grandmother

01:03

A" to distinguish her from grandmothers B and C...

01:07

In option C, there's only one comma, so the appositive phrase isn't appropriately

01:12

jailed like we want it to be. We need commas on both sides. We're sticking

01:16

to our guns on this one. Now all that's left is B. It works because

01:18

the appositive phrase is surrounded by two commas. Just the way we like it.

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