Gavin Thomas
Quiz on end punctuation, apostrophes, and colons
Instructions: Choose the sentence that uses punctuation correctly.
1. End punctuation
A) I wonder if he brought dessert or a salad?
B) I wonder if he brought dessert or a salad.
C) I wonder if he brought dessert or a salad!
D) I wonder if he brought dessert or a salad…
2. Colons
A) The recipe calls for the following: milk, eggs, and sugar.
B) The recipe calls for the following ingredients: milk, eggs, and sugar.
C) The recipe calls for: milk, eggs, and sugar.
D) The recipe calls for the following ingredients: milk, eggs, and sugar.
3. Apostrophes for possession
A) The three dancers dresses were all the same color.
B) The three dancers’ dresses were all the same color.
C) The three dancer’s dresses were all the same color.
4. Apostrophes for contractions
A) Its a beautiful day for a walk.
B) It’s a beautiful day for a walk.
C) Its’ a beautiful day for a walk.
5. Combination punctuation
A) The speaker announced, “We need three volunteers for the presentation: Sarah, Tom, and Jessica.”
B) The speaker announced, “We need three volunteers for the presentation.” Sarah, Tom, and Jessica.
C) The speaker announced “We need three volunteers for the presentation: Sarah, Tom, and Jessica.”
6. Apostrophes for numbers and abbreviations
A) She learned her ABCs in the 1990’s.
B) She learned her ABC’s in the 1990s.
C) She learned her ABCs in the 1990s.
7. Colon vs. semicolon
A) The team was exhausted; they had played for three hours without a break.
B) The team was exhausted: they had played for three hours without a break.
C) The team was exhausted, they had played for three hours without a break.
Answer key
- B) I wonder if he brought dessert or a salad. This is correct because a period is used for an indirect question, not a direct one.
- D) The recipe calls for the following ingredients: milk, eggs, and sugar. A colon is used after a complete sentence. “The recipe calls for the following ingredients” is a complete sentence, whereas “The recipe calls for” is not. Both B and D are technically correct, but D is a more complete answer.
- B) The three dancers’ dresses were all the same color. The word “dancers” is a plural noun ending in s, so the apostrophe goes after the s.
- B) It’s a beautiful day for a walk. The apostrophe indicates the contraction of “it is”.
- A) The speaker announced, “We need three volunteers for the presentation: Sarah, Tom, and Jessica.” The comma separates the speaker’s introduction from the direct quote, and the colon introduces the list of volunteers.
- C) She learned her ABCs in the 1990s. Apostrophes are not used to make numbers or abbreviations plural. The exception is when forming the plural of a lowercase letter, as in “dot your i’s and cross your t’s”.
- A) The team was exhausted; they had played for three hours without a break. A semicolon is used to join two closely related independent clauses. While a colon (B) could be used to emphasize the relationship (the second clause explains the first), a semicolon is the more general and safest choice here. A comma (C) would result in a comma splice.
