Examkin

Question

Difficulty: EasyCommas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

The software developer successfully wrote the code for the new mobile application, but the testing team discovered several critical bugs during the trial run.

Which choice is the best version of the underlined portion?

  1. application, but the testingAnswer
  2. B
    application, the testing
  3. C
    application; but the testing
  4. D
    application, but, the testing

Answer

application, but the testing
The correct answer correctly joins two independent clauses ('The software developer successfully wrote the code for the new mobile application' and 'the testing team discovered several critical bugs during the trial run') with a comma and the coordinating conjunction 'but'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the two clauses in the sentence.
The first clause is 'The software developer successfully wrote the code for the new mobile application' and the second is 'the testing team discovered several critical bugs during the trial run'. Both are independent clauses because they can each stand alone as complete sentences.
Determining clause type dictates what punctuation is required to connect them.
2
Determine the correct punctuation to join two independent clauses.
Two independent clauses must be joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction (like 'but'), or by a semicolon alone.
Joining them with a comma alone creates a comma splice, which is a grammatical error.
3
Evaluate the choices to find the one that uses a comma and a coordinating conjunction correctly without extra punctuation.
The version with a comma before 'but' and no comma after it is grammatically correct.
Adding a semicolon before 'but' or a comma after 'but' introduces unnecessary punctuation.

Key Concept

Joining independent clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS).
Estimated Time:45s
Rate this question

Topics

Commas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

More questions from this topic