Comma vs. Colon: Take Our Punctuation Quiz!

By: Alia Hoyt
Estimated Completion Time
2 min
Comma vs. Colon: Take Our Punctuation Quiz!
Image: jayk7/Getty Images

About This Quiz

Punctuation can really make or break a sentence. Test your knowledge of basic (and not-so-basic) punctuation conventions by taking this quiz!
Which of the following sentences is correct?
Its time for the movie.
The bird is looking for it's nest.
It's about time people learned how to use apostrophes!
True or false: Quotation marks can be used to emphasize part of a sentence, even if nothing is being quoted (for example: "One-stop Shopping" for All Your Automotive Needs!)
True: They add a nice emphasis.
False: If it's not an actual quote, don't use them.
There's no hard-and-fast rule about that.
In American English, if a sentence ends in a quotation mark, where does the other punctuation go?
outside the quotation marks
inside the quotation marks
The quotation marks function as the punctuation.

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Now we have a trickier one: Which of the following sentences is correct?
Have you read "Little Women?"
Have you read "Little Women"?
Either is correct.
When should you choose a semicolon instead of a comma in a sentence?
when the sentence includes two separate thoughts or clauses
when the sentence includes a list
when you're trying to place emphasis on one part of a sentence
Where does an Oxford comma go?
before the final "and" in a list
after the final "and" in a list
Nowhere. Oxford commas should never be used.

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What's the purpose of an em dash?
to separate groups of words
to move on to a new train of thought
both of the above
Which of the following shows correct comma usage?
My dog Flash, loves to chew on bones.
The dog enjoys eating napping, and chewing on bones.
Let's take the dog, who enjoys exercise, out for a walk.
When do you normally NOT use an ellipsis?
to separate two trains of thought
at the beginning of a sentence
to show part of a quote was omitted

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If you wanted to include an interrobang in a sentence, how would you write it?
?!
!!
"?!?"