ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
ACT Videos 473 videos
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 1, Problem 3. Is that comma being used correctly?
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 2, Problem 3. Where does the semicolon fit best?
ACT Math: Coordinate Geometry Drill 1, Problem 1. Which inequality is expressed by the number line?
ACT English 1.2 Punctuation 396 Views
Share It!
Description:
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 1, Problem 2. How should we format this list?
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.
Full Transcript
- 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.
Related Videos
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 2, Problem 2. Where should the semi-colon be placed?
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 3, Problem 1. How should this sentence be changed so that it is grammatically correct?
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 3, Problem 2. How should we properly hyphenate the words in this sentence?
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 3, Problem 4. Which choice best formats this list of items?
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 2, Problem 1. Which choice of punctuation best completes the sentence?