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ACT English 4.3 Punctuation 462 Views


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Description:

ACT English: Punctuation Drill 4, Problem 3. How could dashes be correctly inserted into the sentence, if at all?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the dash. Sorry if it's a little winded—it

00:08

sprinted the whole way here.

00:10

How should you change the below sentence to make it correct, if at all?

00:14

Perhaps one reason why the term has been so problematic, so resistant to definition, and

00:19

yet so transitory in those definitions, is because of its multitude of applications.

00:34

Dashes can be used in place of commas to set a certain phrase—often a modifier—apart for emphasis.

00:42

(B) is incorrect because the modifiers of "so problematic" and "so resistant to definition"

00:47

need to be separated with a comma.

00:50

(C) is incorrect because "and yet" isn't crucial enough to be emphasized with dashes.

00:55

This leaves us with choices (A) and (D).

00:58

But (D) still wins the day, because the use of dashes really helps to clarify the meaning of the sentence.

00:58

But (D) still wins the day, because the use of dashes really helps to clarify the meaning

01:03

The modifier "so resistant to definition, and yet so transitory in those definitions"

01:08

helps explain why the term is so problematic.

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