ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos

ACT English 2.1 Sentence Structure 314 Views


Share It!


Description:

ACT English: Sentence Structure Drill 2, Problem 1. Which choice best punctuates this sentence?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by detectives. Along with young boys who have

00:08

a penchant for frying ants, they are some of the foremost buyers of magnifying glasses.

00:14

How should you change the highlighted portion below, if at all?

00:17

They weren't dangerous criminals they were detectives in disguise.

00:27

This sentence has a bad case of the runs.

00:30

Er, run-ons.

00:31

Because we have two independent clauses here that aren't connected by any punctuation,

00:35

the sentence is what's known as a run-on or fused sentence.

00:40

Notice how the clauses, "they weren't dangerous criminals," and "they were detectives in disguise,"

00:46

both have their own subjects and predicates, making them both complete sentences that could

00:50

exist independently from each other.

00:52

If we want to put them in the same sentence, we have to use some kind of punctuation. So

00:56

we know for sure that choice (A) is leading us to Run-on Central.

01:00

Choice (D) tries to solve the problem by sticking in a dash toward the end of the sentence.

01:04

The dash does a great job of highlighting the fact that the detectives are in disguise,

01:08

but it does a terrible job of fixing our run-on problem.

01:11

We're looking for the answer that places the punctuation directly between our two independent

01:16

clauses.

01:17

Choice (B) tries a semicolon on for size.

01:19

This isn't a totally bad idea; semicolons are indeed used to connect independent clauses.

01:24

However, (B) makes the same mistake as choice (D) by placing the semicolon in the wrong

01:29

place.

01:30

Choice (C) puts the semicolon right where it needs to be, connecting our independent

01:34

clauses and solving our case of the run-ons.

01:37

So remember friends, when you're in a pinch, try semicolons for fast acting run-on relief!

Up Next

ACT English 2.2 Punctuation
2058 Views

ACT English: Punctuation Drill 2, Problem 2. Where should the semi-colon be placed?

Related Videos

ACT English 3.1 Punctuation
1056 Views

ACT English: Punctuation Drill 3, Problem 1. How should this sentence be changed so that it is grammatically correct?

ACT English 3.2 Punctuation
950 Views

ACT English: Punctuation Drill 3, Problem 2. How should we properly hyphenate the words in this sentence?

ACT English 3.4 Punctuation
509 Views

ACT English: Punctuation Drill 3, Problem 4. Which choice best formats this list of items?

ACT English 2.1 Punctuation
509 Views

ACT English: Punctuation Drill 2, Problem 1. Which choice of punctuation best completes the sentence?