Grammar, Word Order, Punctuation Diagnostic Test With Answers 1

Assess the sentences especially in terms of grammar, word order and punctuation.

Grammar, Word Order, Punctuation Diagnostic Test With Answers 1

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Question 1

There is a cat in our garden, it is a black cat.

A	Correct
B	Incorrect

Question 1 Explanation:

This sentence is incorrect because it is a comma splice: two complete sentences are joined only by a comma. You can fix it in four ways: use a full stop (There is a cat in our garden. It is a black cat.), use a semicolon (There is a cat in our garden; it is a black cat.), or add a conjunction, with or without a comma (There is a cat in our garden, and it is a black cat. / There is a cat in our garden and it is a black cat.).

Question 2

"There is a cat in our garden," my friend said, "It is a black cat."

A	Correct
B	Incorrect

Question 2 Explanation:

This is a comma splice in direct speech. There is a cat in our garden and It is a black cat are two complete sentences, so the reporting clause my friend said must end with a full stop, not a comma. The capital I in It also shows that a new sentence begins. Correct versions: "There is a cat in our garden," my friend said. "It is a black cat." or "There is a cat in our garden; it is a black cat," my friend said. A comma after said is only right when the quotation continues the same sentence, e.g. "There is a cat," my friend said, "in our garden."

Question 3

Hey, look! There is a cat in our garden, and it is a black cat.

A	Correct
B	Incorrect

Question 3 Explanation:

This sentence is correct. The two independent clauses are properly joined by a comma plus the coordinating conjunction and, so there is no comma splice. Hey, look! is a correctly punctuated interjection and exclamation.

Question 4

I am drawing a picture of a house. Its beginning to look like our own house, which has it's front door on a raised platform.

A	Correct
B	Incorrect

Question 4 Explanation:

This sentence is incorrect because its and it's are swapped. It's is the short form of it is or it has, and its is the possessive form (like his or her), with no apostrophe. The correct version is: I am drawing a picture of a house. It's (= It is) beginning to look like our own house, which has its front door on a raised platform.

Question 5

ORHAN: "Is that a painting or a photograph?"

OKTAY: "It's a hologram, that is neither a painting nor a photograph."

A	Correct
B	Incorrect

Question 5 Explanation:

Oktay's sentence is incorrect. The clause after the comma adds extra information about a hologram, so it is a non-defining relative clause. Non-defining relative clauses must use which (for things), never that. Correct version: "It's a hologram, which is neither a painting nor a photograph." If that is read as a demonstrative pronoun instead, the sentence becomes a comma splice. In that case it would need a full stop or a semicolon: It's a hologram; that is neither a painting nor a photograph.

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