Common Core: 8th Grade English Language Arts : Use Punctuation to Indicate Pauses: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.2.A
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Common Core: 8th Grade English Language Arts
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Example Questions
Example Question #11 : Use Punctuation To Indicate Pauses: Ccss.Ela Literacy.L.8.2.A
Jupiter the largest planet in our solar system weighs more than twice as much as all the other planets in our solar system combined.
Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, weighs
NO CHANGE
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, it weighs
Jupiter which is the largest planet in our solar system, weighs
Jupiter, is the largest planet in our solar system, weighs
Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, weighs
Answer: “Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, weighs” When two nouns are next to each other, like “Jupiter” and “the largest planet in our solar system” here, there is a good chance that one is being used to describe the other (called an appositive modifier). When that is the case, the modifier needs to be set apart by commas so that the reader can tell that it is a description. Therefore we need “Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, weighs…” so that we know that “the largest planet…” is a phrase describing Jupiter. Note that “Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, it weighs” commits a comma splice error: you cannot separate two independent clauses (complete thoughts that could be their own sentences) simply with a comma - you would need to have a coordinating conjunction such as “and” to go along with the comma.
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