Punctuation questions are a common component of the language arts or English grammar section of standardized tests.

1. All of the people at the school, including the teachers and _______________ were glad when summer break came.

a. students:
b. students,
c. students;
d. students

2. Sit up straight _____

a. ;
b. ?
c. .
d. :

3. They asked what time the department store would open _____

a. ?
b. .
c. ,
d. ;

4. Who do you think will win the contest _____

a. .
b. !
c. ?
d. ,

5. Choose the sentence below with the correct punctuation.

a. Ted and Janice, who had been friends for years, went on vacation together every summer.
b. Ted and Janice, who had been friends for years, went on vacation together, every summer.
c. Ted, and Janice who had been friends for years, went on vacation together every summer.
d. Ted and Janice who had been friends for years went on vacation together every summer.

6. To _______________, Anne was on time for her math class.

a. everybody’s surprise
b. every body’s surprise
c. everybodys surprise
d. everybodys’ surprise

7. In Edgar Allen Poe’s _______________________ Edgar Allen Poe describes a man with a guilty conscience.

a. short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,”
b. short story The Tell-Tale Heart,
c. short story, The Tell-Tale Heart
d. short story. “the Tell-Tale Heart,”

8. Billboards are considered an important part of advertising for big business, ________________ by their critics.

a. but, an eyesore;
b. but, “ an eyesore,”
c. but an eyesore
d. but-an eyesore

9. I can never remember how to use those two common words, “sell,” meaning to trade a product for money, or _____________________ meaning an event where products are traded for less money than usual.

a. sale.
b. “sale,”
c. “sale
d. “to sale,”

10. The class just finished reading ________________________ a short story by Carl Stephenson about a plantation owner’s battle with army ants.

a. -”Leinengen versus the Ants”,
b. Leinengen versus the Ants,
c. “Leinengen versus the Ants,”
d. Leinengen versus the Ants

11. This is absolutely incredible _____

a. !
b. .
c. :
d. ;

12. Watch out for the broken glass _____
a. .
b. ?
c. ,
d. !

1. B
The comma separates a phrase.

2. C
A period or an exclamation mark is used to end an imperative sentence, that is, at the end of a direction or a command.

3. B
A period is used to end an indirect question. An indirect question is always a part of a declarative sentence and it does not require an answer.

4. C
A question mark is used to end an interrogative sentence, that is, at the end of a direct question which requires an answer.

5. A
Use a comma to separate phrases.

6. A
Possessive pronouns ending in ‘s’ take an apostrophe before the ‘s’: one’s; everyone’s;
somebody’s, nobody else’s, etc.

7. A
Titles of short stories are enclosed in quotation
marks.

8. C
No additional punctuation is required here.

9. B
Here the word “sale” is used as a “word” and not as a word in the sentence, so quotation
marks are used.

10. C
Titles of short stories are enclosed in quotation marks, and commas always go
inside quotation marks. Use an exclamation mark to end an exclamatory sentence, that is, at the end of a statement showing strong emotion.

11. A
Use an exclamation mark after an imperative sentence if the command is urgent and forceful.

12. D
Use an exclamation mark after an imperative sentence if the command is urgent and forceful.