Source: Source: Finished Rainbow Girls, Wendi Gratz, Flickr
The magazine article “Nice Girls” by John Moe has been adapted for the proofreading exercise you are about to do. You may need to refer to it to answer the questions that follow. Read each sentence below carefully, and then determine if it has been punctuated correctly. If it has, choose “Correct.” If the sentence is punctuated incorrectly, choose “Incorrect.” Note: Any quoted material below is taken word for word from the article.
1. I didn’t know these girls but I didn’t like them.
Correct
Try again.
Incorrect
Yes! This is a compound sentence and needs a comma before the conjunction but.
2. “Hey, is it O.K. if Rachel comes with us on Friday?”
Correct
Yes! The question mark goes inside the last quotation mark because this is a direct quote.
Incorrect
Try again.
3. “But its a huge step to recognize it”.
Correct
Try again.
Incorrect
Yes! The contraction it’s needs an apostrophe, and the period should be inside the last quotation mark.
4. Oh, I felt that way, too.
Correct
Yes! The expression “oh” should be set apart from the rest of the sentence by a comma, and a comma should precede “too.”
Incorrect
Try again.
5. “I look like Michael Douglas . . . with less hair and a few extra pounds.”
Correct
Yes! More information about Michael Douglas’s role in a specific movie was omitted with the ellipsis.
Incorrect
Try again.
6. We just missed our stop!
Correct
Yes! This is a reason to get excited and shout. The exclamation mark is appropriate.
Incorrect
Try again.
7. As the last of them departed she turned and smiled at me.
Correct
Try again.
Incorrect
Yes! The introductory clause needs to be separated by a comma. Place the comma after “departed.”
8. I did not say what I wanted to say: “I think you're really great because you give me hope that people will be nice to my daughter later on.”
Correct
Yes! This sentence may have been a little tricky because you may not have known that a colon can be used to introduce and emphasize a quotation.
Incorrect
Try again.