Examkin

Soru

Zorluk: OrtaCommas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

During their field study of alpine vegetation, botanists cataloged rare plant species; collected soil samples, and recorded daily temperature fluctuations.

Which of the following options provides the most grammatically correct punctuation and structure for the underlined portion?

  1. A
    cataloged rare plant species; collected soil samples, and recorded
  2. cataloged rare plant species, collected soil samples, and recordedCevap
  3. C
    cataloged rare plant species, collected soil samples and recording
  4. D
    cataloged rare plant species, they collected soil samples, and recorded

Cevap

cataloged rare plant species, collected soil samples, and recorded
The correct choice uses commas to punctuate a standard three-part series of parallel verb phrases ('cataloged...', 'collected...', 'and recorded...'). Each action shares the subject 'botanists' and maintains consistent past-tense forms without unnecessary semicolons or pronouns.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Identify the syntactic structure of the sentence.
The sentence features a single subject ('botanists') executing three sequential actions forming a compound predicate series.
Determining the grammatical function of the list items reveals whether commas or semicolons are required.
2
Evaluate the punctuation needed between list items.
Items in a simple list without internal commas should be separated by standard commas, not semicolons.
Semicolons in lists are reserved exclusively for complex series where individual items contain internal punctuation.
3
Verify parallel verb forms across all three items.
All three verbs must match in tense and form: 'cataloged', 'collected', and 'recorded'.
Maintaining consistent grammatical structure across list elements satisfies parallel structure rules on the ACT.

Anahtar Kavram

Commas with parallel items in a series
Bu soruyu puanla

Konular

Commas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

Bu konudan daha fazla soru