ITBS Capitalization and Punctuation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence uses commas correctly with a list?
- We bought apples, oranges and bananas at the store.
- We bought apples oranges, and bananas at the store.
- We bought apples, oranges, and bananas at the store. (Correct answer)
- We bought, apples, oranges, and bananas at the store.
Correct answer: We bought apples, oranges, and bananas at the store.
Items in a series should be separated by commas, including before the conjunction 'and'.
Question 2: Which word should be capitalized in this sentence: 'My aunt is a doctor at mercy hospital.'?
- aunt
- doctor
- hospital
- Mercy (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Mercy
'Mercy Hospital' is a proper noun (a specific institution name) and must be capitalized.
Question 3: Where should an apostrophe be placed in the word 'dont'?
- do'nt
- don't (Correct answer)
- dont'
- d'ont
Correct answer: don't
An apostrophe replaces the omitted letter 'o' in the contraction 'do not' → 'don't'.
Question 4: Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
- Is that your backpack
- Is that your backpack.
- Is that your backpack? (Correct answer)
- Is that your backpack!
Correct answer: Is that your backpack?
A direct question must end with a question mark.
Question 5: Which sentence correctly uses a capital letter for a day of the week?
- I have soccer practice on friday.
- I have soccer practice on Friday. (Correct answer)
- I have Soccer practice on friday.
- I have soccer practice on FRIDAY.
Correct answer: I have soccer practice on Friday.
Days of the week are proper nouns and must always be capitalized.
Question 6: Which sentence uses a colon correctly?
- Please bring: your pencil and notebook.
- Please bring the following: a pencil and a notebook. (Correct answer)
- Please bring the following items, a pencil and a notebook.
- Please bring the following items a pencil: and a notebook.
Correct answer: Please bring the following: a pencil and a notebook.
A colon is used after a complete independent clause to introduce a list.
Question 7: Which title is capitalized correctly for a book?
- the call of the wild
- The Call Of The Wild
- The Call of the Wild (Correct answer)
- The call of the wild
Correct answer: The Call of the Wild
In titles, capitalize the first word and all major words, but not short prepositions like 'of' or 'the' in the middle.
ITBS Capitalization and Punctuation 2
Which sentence uses commas correctly with a list?