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Difficulty: MediumCommas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

To prepare for the upcoming solar eclipse, astronomers calibrated the sensitive, modern telescopes, that had been installed on the summit of Mauna Kea. Which choice is the best version of the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    sensitive, modern telescopes, they
  3. sensitive, modern telescopes thatAnswer
  4. D
    sensitive, modern telescopes; that

Answer

The correct option is the one that reads 'sensitive, modern telescopes that', as it correctly punctuates the coordinate adjectives with a comma and avoids adding unnecessary punctuation before the restrictive relative clause.
The correct choice is the option that correctly separates the coordinate adjectives 'sensitive' and 'modern' with a comma, while leaving the transition into the restrictive relative clause starting with 'that' unpunctuated. Since the clause 'that had been installed...' is essential to identifying which telescopes were calibrated, placing any punctuation between 'telescopes' and 'that' is incorrect.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the relationship between the adjectives 'sensitive' and 'modern' modifying 'telescopes'.
Since 'sensitive and modern telescopes' and 'modern, sensitive telescopes' both make sense, 'sensitive' and 'modern' are coordinate adjectives and must be separated by a comma.
Coordinate adjectives modify a noun in equal measure and require a comma between them.
2
Examine the punctuation after the noun 'telescopes' before the clause 'that had been installed on the summit of Mauna Kea'.
The clause is a restrictive relative clause because it specifies which telescopes were calibrated. Therefore, no punctuation should separate the noun 'telescopes' from the pronoun 'that'.
Restrictive clauses are essential to the meaning of the sentence and should not be set off by commas, semicolons, or other punctuation.
3
Evaluate the grammar of replacing 'that' with 'they'.
Using 'they' creates two independent clauses: 'To prepare for the upcoming solar eclipse, astronomers calibrated the sensitive, modern telescopes' and 'they had been installed on the summit of Mauna Kea'. Separating these with only a comma creates a comma splice.
Two independent clauses cannot be joined by a comma alone without a coordinating conjunction.

Key Concept

Coordinate adjectives require a comma between them, whereas restrictive relative clauses must not be separated from the noun they modify by a comma or semicolon.
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Topics

Commas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

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