8th Grade Reading : Grammar

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for 8th Grade Reading

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Grammar

Where should a comma be placed in the following sentence? 

No I do not want to go camping this weekend. 

Possible Answers:

After the word "this"

After the word "No"

After the word "not"

A comma does not need to be added to this sentence 

Correct answer:

After the word "No"

Explanation:

There are many instances when commas are necessary. For instance, a comma goes after words like "yes", "no", "well", etc. if those words are followed by a complete sentence. 

Let's look at the sentence from the question:

No I do not want to go camping this weekend. 

"I do not want to go camping this weekend." is a complete sentence; thus, a comma should go after the "No". 

The correctly punctuated sentence should look as follows:

No, I do not want to go camping this weekend. 

Example Question #2 : Grammar

Where should a comma be placed in the following sentence? 

Happy birthday Grandpa! 

Possible Answers:

After the word "Grandpa"

After the word "happy"

A comma does not need to be added to this sentence 

After the word "birthday"

Correct answer:

After the word "birthday"

Explanation:

There are many instances when commas are necessary. For instance, a comma is used to separate the person being spoken to in a sentence from the rest of the sentence.

Let's look at the sentence from the question:

Happy birthday Grandpa! 

Someone is saying happy birthday to their grandpa. "Grandpa" is being addressed, so it needs to be separated from the rest of the sentence with a comma after the word "birthday". 

The correctly punctuated sentence should look as follows:

Happy birthday, Grandpa! 

Example Question #3 : Grammar

Where should a comma or commas be placed in the following sentence? 

My sister Ali scored the winning goal! 

Possible Answers:

After the word "the"

After the word "Ali"

After the word "sister" and "Ali"

"After the word "the" and "winning"

Correct answer:

After the word "sister" and "Ali"

Explanation:

There are many instances when commas are necessary. For instance, a comma is used to separate an interruption in a sentence. The interruption will be details that weren't necessary to the sentence's meaning. 

Let's look at the sentence from the question:

My sister Ali scored the winning goal! 

Being told the sister's name is an interruption in the sentence. As a reader, we don't need to know that the sister's name is Ali to know that the sister scored the winning goal. 

The correctly punctuated sentence should look as follows:

My sister, Ali, scored the winning goal! 

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