Punctuation Practice Test

INSTRUCTIONS: For questions 1-18 below, correct all punctuation errors by writing in the correct marks in
their correct places. Some sentences only need basic punctuation, like apostrophes and periods; others require
more complex forms, such as dashes, hyphens, colons, and ellipses.
1. The paper was clear pertinent and well written
2. Harry and Donnas honeymoon was just as frantic as their wedding
3. She won the race easily in fact she set a state record
4. I am recalling his story I believe as accurately as I can
5. The last year of the twentieth century is 2000 not 99
6. I expected a package this morning however I waited all day for it to
arrive
7. Rainy days arent all that bad they provide the water crucial for all life
8. She witnessed a crime on her street she promptly locked her doors
9. We traveled to Rome Italy Athens Greece and Paris France
10. Shakespeare said it best Alls well that ends well
11. He is not well- liked although he says he is everyones friend
12. Sarah she had always loved animals took in the stray kitten
13. Certainly you may borrow my book Gary
14. The 1950s singer Patty Paige sang the novelty song How Much is
That Doggie in the Window
15. Nearly all Americans own a Bible but few including scholars of literature
have read it
16. Hmmm its a tough decision but Ill take the red one
17. Tuesday July 25 1967 is my birthday
18. I do the laundry make dinner and pick up the kids I should receive a
medal for all of these chores

Punctuation Practice Test Answers

1. The paper was clear, pertinent, and well written.
Place commas to divide items in a series; "well written"
would be hyphenated only if it preceded the noun.
2. Harry and Donna's honeymoon was just as frantic
as their wedding.
Use only one apostrophe when showing joint possession of
a compound subject.
3. She won the race easily; in fact, she set a state
record.
She won the race easily -- in fact, she set a state
record.
Use the semicolon to join two independent clauses using a
conjunctive adverb; "in fact" is an interrupter; a dash
would also be acceptable because it leads into a surprise
ending.
4. I am recalling his story, I believe, as accurately
as I can.
"I believe" is an nonessential interrupter, so use commas to
separate this from the rest of the sentence.
5. The last year of the twentieth century was 2000,
not '99.
You must use an apostrophe to show the deletion of the
"19" in the year 1999; use a comma to show negation of
your previous thought.
6. I expected a package this morning; however, I
waited all day for it to arrive.
Use the semicolon to connect two independent clauses
with a conjunctive adverb.

7. Rainy days aren't all that bad: they provide the

water crucial for all life.
(alt.) Rainy days aren't all that bad -- they provide
the water crucial for all life.
(alt.) Rainy days arent all that bad; they provide the water crucial for
all life.
The colon is used to connect an independent clause with
an explanation that follows; a dash would also be
acceptable here; use apostrophes to indicate the use of a
contraction (which should not be used in formal writing).
The use of a semi-colon to connect two related complete sentences is also
acceptable.
8. She witnessed a crime on her street; she promptly
locked her doors.
(alt.) She witnessed a crime on her street -- she
promptly locked her doors.
The semicolon simply connects two statements together to
show their closeness; a colon would be inappropriate
because the second part does not explain the first part; a
dash, however, would work because it progresses from a
statement to an immediate, frantic action.
9. We traveled to Rome, Italy; Athens, Greece; and
Paris, France.
Normally, you would use commas to separate these items
in a list; however, we need a stronger comma to separate
the cities/states from the other cities/states, so use the
semicolon to represent a "super comma."
10. Shakespeare said it best: "All's well that ends
well."

Use the quotes to encompass Shakespeare's statement;

use the colon to lead into the quote because you have just
stated an independent clause; explanations follow colons,
and this quote explains what Shakespeare said very
directly; use the apostrophe to signify a contraction used
in the quote.
11. He is not well-liked, although he says he is
everyone's friend.
Use a comma to separate the two independent clauses;
use the apostrophe to indicate possession of a singular
noun ("everyone").
12. Sarah -- she had always loved animals -- took in
the stray kitten.
Use the dashes to indicate an abrupt change of thought, as
in this example where the speaker changes his mind about
the direction his sentence would take; the dashes also help
to organize the subject with its verb. Commas and parenthesis
also work, but they are not the strongest option.
13. Certainly, you may borrow my book, Gary.
Use a comma to separate introductory elements; use
another to separate the recipient of the direct address
("Gary").
14. Patty Paige sang the novelty song "How Much is
That Doggie in the Window?"
Place the song title within quotation marks since it is a
minor title that can be compiled in an anthology; be sure
to place the question mark inside the quotes, since the
title asks a question; you do not need a comma to
separate the word "song" from the song's title -- it is
essential information.

15. Nearly all Americans own a Bible, but few,

including scholars of literature, have read it.
(alt.) Nearly all Americans own a Bible, but few
(including scholars of literature) have read it.
Use a comma to separate two independent clauses joined
by a subordinating conjunction; further separate the
phrase "including scholars of literature" with either
commas or parentheses to clarify that this information is
nonessential.

16. Hmmm ... it's a tough decision, but I'll take the
red one.
You can use an ellipses to indicate a thoughtful pause or
the passing of silent time; use apostrophes to signify that
two contractions are being used in this very informally
written sentence; use a comma to separate two
independent clauses used with a conjunction.
17. Tuesday, July 25, 1967, is my birthday.
Use commas to separate days from dates, dates from
years, and years from the rest of the sentence; you would
need to place at least two commas no matter what two
parts of this complete date you used:
Tuesday, July 25, is my birthday.
July 25, 1967, is my birthday.
18. I do the laundry, make dinner, and pick up the
kids -- I should receive a medal for all of these
chores!
(alt.) I do the laundry, make dinner, and pick up the
kids; I should receive a medal for all of these
chores!
Use commas to separate items listed in a series; use the

dash (or a semicolon) to connect the two clauses; a colon

would not work in this sentence because the second part
does not explain the first part (actually, if you look
carefully, the first part explains the second part, but this is
not the way we use a colon); you may use an exclamation
point here because this person seems to be shouting -keep in mind that this sentence is informally written, so
you can get away with exclamations here.

Punctuation Practice Test #2

1. Alas, poor Bill

2. Do you recall in the last grammar exercise, how he fell from
his horse
3. You may remember that he cracked his skull as he landed on
the rocky ground
4. Shall we resume the story
5. I seized Bill's lifeless wrist and felt for a pulse
6. Nothing

7. How could he have died so easily, by merely falling from a

horse
8. What was I going to do
9. It was such a God-forsaken place
10. Help was at least a day's ride away
11. Suddenly I became aware of the large, icy drops of rain on
the wind
12. There was nothing else I could do
13. I would have to make camp for the night
14. And what a very long and very cold night it was going to be

Answers Punctuation Practice Test #2

1. Alas, poor Bill!

2. Do you recall in the last grammar exercise, how he fell from
his horse?
3. You may remember that he cracked his skull as he landed on
the rocky ground.
4. Shall we resume the story?
5. I seized Bill's lifeless wrist and felt for a pulse.

6. Nothing!
7. How could he have died so easily, by merely falling from a
horse?
8. What was I going to do?
9. It was such a God-forsaken place!
10. Help was at least a day's ride away.
11. Suddenly I became aware of the large, icy drops of rain on
the wind.
12. There was nothing else I could do.
13. I would have to make camp for the night.
14. And what a very long and very cold night it was going to be!

A Lesson in "Comma Sense"

Lesson Plan
Introduce students to grammar expert and humorist Richard Lederer. Lederer is author of books such as
Comma Sense: A Fun-damental Guide to Punctuation and Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental
Assaults Upon Our Language. Share with students some of the sentences that Lederer shares with readers in his
essay Looking at Language: A Little Bit of Comma Sense. Have students punctuate these sentences.
a clever dog knows its master
i saw a man eating lobster
the butler stood in the doorway and called the guests names
at summer camp I missed my dog my little brother the odor of my dads pipe and my boyfriend

The result can be quite humorous when any one of those sentences is incorrectly punctuated. Surely the correct
punctuation of them is
A clever dog knows its master. not A clever dog knows it's master.
I saw a man eating lobster. not I saw a man-eating lobster.

 The butler stood in the doorway and called the guests' names. not The butler stood in the doorway and called the
guests names.
At summer camp I missed my dog, my little brother, the odor of my dad's pipe, and my boyfriend. not At summer camp
I missed my dog, my little brother, the odor of my dad's pipe and my boyfriend.

Lederer presents a few more instances where the correct punctuation makes a world of difference.
[a want ad] WANTED: piano to replace daughters lost in fire
[a newspaper headine] FATHER TO BE STABBED TO DEATH IN STREET
[a book dedication] to my parents the pope and mother teresa

Surely the intent was

WANTED: piano to replace daughter's lost in fire not WANTED: piano to replace daughters lost in fire
FATHER-TO-BE STABBED TO DEATH IN STREET not FATHER TO BE STABBED TO DEATH IN STREET
To my parents, the Pope, and Mother Teresa not To my parents, the Pope and Mother Teresa

To conclude this lesson, provide students with the following text of a love letter set in all lower-case letters.
Simply copy and paste the text below into a word document. Use your word processor's font and type size
settings to make the text large enough to fill up a page.

my dear pat, the dinner we shared the other night -- it was absolutely lovely
not in my wildest dreams could i ever imagine anyone as perfect as you are
could you -- if only for a moment -- think of our being together forever what a
cruel joke to have you come into my life only to leave again it would be
heaven denied the possibility of seeing you again makes me giddy with joy i
face the time we are apart with great sadness john p.s.: i would like to tell you
that i love you i can't stop thinking that you are one of the prettiest women on
earth
Challenge students to work on their own or in pairs to punctuate the text of the love letter so that it makes sense.
Give students 10 or 15 minutes to complete the task (more if they are rewriting the text). Then correct the text
as a class. Let students share their suggested corrections. The end result is that the love letter text probably looks
like this:
My Dear Pat,
The dinner we shared the other night -- it was absolutely lovely! Not in my wildest dreams could I ever
imagine anyone as perfect as you are. Could you -- if only for a moment - think of our being together
forever? What a cruel joke to have you come into my life only to leave again; it would be heaven denied.
The possibility of seeing you again makes me giddy with joy. I face the time we are apart with great
sadness.
John
P.S.: I would like to tell you that I love you. I can't stop thinking that you are one of the prettiest women on
earth.
OR
My Dear Pat,
The dinner we shared the other night -- it was absolutely lovely! Not in my wildest dreams could I ever
imagine anyone as perfect as you are. Could you -- if only for a moment - think of our being together
forever? What a cruel joke to have you come into my life only to leave again; it would be heaven denied.
The possibility of seeing you again makes me giddy with joy. I face the time we are apart with great
sadness.
John

P.S.: I would like to tell you that I love you. I can't stop thinking that you are one of the prettiest women on
earth.

Extra Challenge
Close the lesson with one additional humorous exercise in punctuation. Provide the following statement for
students:
a woman without her man is nothing

Challenge students to punctuate that sentences in two ways so that it will have two quite different meanings.
The results might be
"A woman, without her man, is nothing."
"A woman: without her, man is nothing."

Punctuate the following sentences:

a clever dog knows its master

i saw a man eating lobster
the butler stood in the doorway and called the guests
names
at summer camp I missed my dog my little brother the
odor of my dads pipe and my boyfriend

Correct Answers:
A clever dog knows its master. not A clever dog knows it's
master.
I saw a man eating lobster. not I saw a man-eating
lobster.
The butler stood in the doorway and called the guests'
names. not The butler stood in the doorway and called the
guests names.
At summer camp I missed my dog, my little brother, the
odor of my dad's pipe, and my boyfriend. not At summer
camp I missed my dog, my little brother, the odor of my dad's
pipe and my boyfriend.
A WORLD of Difference
[a want ad] WANTED: piano to replace daughters lost in
fire
[a newspaper headine] FATHER TO BE STABBED TO
DEATH IN STREET
[a book dedication] to my parents the pope and mother
teresa

 WANTED: piano to replace daughter's lost in fire not

WANTED: piano to replace daughters lost in fire
FATHER-TO-BE STABBED TO DEATH IN STREET not
FATHER TO BE STABBED TO DEATH IN STREET
To my parents, the Pope, and Mother Teresa not To my
parents, the Pope and Mother Teresa

my dear pat the dinner we shared the other

night it was absolutely lovely not in my wildest
dreams could i ever imagine anyone as perfect
as you are could you if only for a moment think
of our being together forever what a cruel joke
to have you come into my life only to leave
again it would be heaven denied the possibility
of seeing you again makes me giddy with joy i
face the time we are apart with great sadness
john p.s. i would like to tell you that i love you i

can't stop thinking that you are one of the

prettiest women on earth

my dear pat the dinner we shared the other

night it was absolutely lovely not in my wildest
dreams could i ever imagine anyone as perfect
as you are could you if only for a moment think
of our being together forever what a cruel joke
to have you come into my life only to leave
again it would be heaven denied the possibility
of seeing you again makes me giddy with joy i
face the time we are apart with great sadness
john p.s. i would like to tell you that i love you i
can't stop thinking that you are one of the
prettiest women on earth

My Dear Pat,
The dinner we shared the other night -it was absolutely lovely! Not in my
wildest dreams could I ever imagine
anyone as perfect as you are. Could you
-- if only for a moment - think of our
being together forever? What a cruel
joke to have you come into my life only

to leave again; it would be heaven

denied. The possibility of seeing you
again makes me giddy with joy. I face
the time we are apart with great
sadness.
John
P.S.: I would like to tell you that I love
you. I can't stop thinking that you are
one of the prettiest women on earth.

My Dear,
Pat the dinner we shared the other night. It
was absolutely lovely -- not! In my wildest
dreams, could I ever imagine anyone? As
perfect as you are, could you -- if only for a
moment -- think? Of our being together
forever: what a cruel joke! To have you

come into my life only to leave again: it

would be heaven! Denied the possibility of
seeing you again makes me giddy. With joy I
face the time we are apart.
With great "sadness,"
John
P.S.: I would like to tell you that I love you. I
can't. Stop thinking that you are one of the
prettiest women on earth.