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ACT English 1.2 Punctuation 392 Views


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Description:

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

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Here's your shmoop du jour, does this sentence sound right to you?

00:06

The rock layers of Canyon de Chelly are mostly red

00:10

brown, and yellow sandstone. And here are the possible answers...

00:17

This is a question about lists, and how you keep the parts of a list separated...

00:23

Say hello to commas. Yes, our old friends are back again.

00:26

If we're making a list of three or more things, we want to separate them with a comma

00:31

between each item. But now let's talk about the Oxford comma.

00:34

Like a normal comma, but more educated and snootier.

00:38

Say you're writing a list. You go to the store to buy a drill, an arc

00:42

welder, a hot glue gun, and peaches.

00:45

That list can work with or without a comma between the second-to-last item and

00:49

the conjunction, which will most often be or... or and.

00:54

That comma is called the Oxford comma, and it can be left in or ditched, totally up to you.

00:59

Both ways are acceptable. Let's go through the answers one by one, shall we?

01:05

A says we should just leave it as is. But, there's no comma in

01:08

between red and brown. The first two items in a list will always

01:12

have a comma in between them.

01:13

B is an easy one to cross out, because there aren't any commas at all.

01:17

In a list we always need to separate the different parts.

01:21

D can't be right either, because it doesn't use a coordinating conjunction to put together

01:24

the last two words. And... the only one left is C.

01:28

What do you know... the good old Oxford comma is there, along with a coordinating conjunction

01:31

and a comma between red and brown. Well done, old chap.

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