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Zorluk: OrtaCommas with Nonessential and Parenthetical Elements

The following passage is an excerpt from a science essay.

Tardigrades, microscopic animals famous for their extreme durability, can survive the vacuum of outer space. These organisms, which are also known as water bears enter a state of cryptobiosis when environmental conditions become too harsh. In this dormant state, they can survive without water for decades.

Which choice best punctuates the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. organisms, which are also known as water bears, enterCevap
  3. C
    organisms; which are also known as water bears, enter
  4. D
    organisms, that are also known as water bears, enter

Cevap

organisms, which are also known as water bears, enter
The correct option correctly punctuates the nonessential relative clause 'which are also known as water bears' by enclosing it within a pair of commas, one before 'which' and one after 'bears'. This allows the reader to easily identify the parenthetical information without interrupting the relationship between the subject 'organisms' and the verb 'enter'.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Analyze the underlined portion of the sentence to determine if the relative clause 'which are also known as water bears' is essential or nonessential.
The clause is nonessential (parenthetical) because 'these organisms' is already specific, and removing the clause does not change the core meaning of the sentence.
Nonessential relative clauses must be set off by punctuation, whereas essential relative clauses must not.
2
Determine the correct punctuation to set off the nonessential relative clause.
The clause must be set off with a pair of commas: one comma before 'which' and one comma after 'bears'.
A parenthetical element in the middle of a sentence requires two commas to prevent leaving a single comma dangling.
3
Eliminate choices that introduce other punctuation errors, such as incorrect semicolon placement or commas around restrictive clauses.
The option using a semicolon is eliminated because it creates a sentence fragment. The option using 'that' with commas is eliminated because 'that' introduces restrictive clauses that must not have commas.
Semicolons are reserved for connecting independent clauses, and restrictive clauses cannot be isolated by commas.

Anahtar Kavram

Identifying and punctuating nonessential relative clauses using a matching pair of commas.
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Konular

Commas with Nonessential and Parenthetical Elements

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