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Zorluk: KolayCommas with Nonessential and Parenthetical Elements

Botanists were shocked in 1994 when they discovered a small grove of Wollemi pines in a remote Australian canyon. The prehistoric trees, which were previously thought to have been extinct for millions of years, survived in deep sandstone gorges. Conservationists immediately began a propagation program to safeguard the species.

Which of the following is the best punctuation for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. NO CHANGECevap
  2. B
    , which were previously thought to have been extinct for millions of years
  3. C
    ; which were previously thought to have been extinct for millions of years,
  4. D
    , that were previously thought to have been extinct for millions of years,

Cevap

NO CHANGE
The correct choice is the option that keeps the original punctuation. The clause describing the history of the Wollemi pines is nonessential to the core meaning of the sentence, so it must be enclosed by a pair of commas: one after 'trees' and one after 'years'. This correctly links the subject 'trees' to its verb 'survived'.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Determine if the underlined clause is essential or nonessential to the sentence.
The clause 'which were previously thought to have been extinct for millions of years' is nonessential because removing it does not change the core meaning of the main clause ('The prehistoric trees survived in deep sandstone gorges').
Nonessential elements must be set off from the rest of the sentence by punctuation on both sides.
2
Verify the correct punctuation to set off the nonessential relative clause.
A pair of commas is required: one starting the clause after 'trees' and one closing it after 'years'.
This properly encloses the parenthetical description, leaving the main subject and verb connected.

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Commas with Nonessential and Parenthetical Elements
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Commas with Nonessential and Parenthetical Elements

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