Can you add the missing punctuation…

English Questions

Step by Step Solution

English Questions

Can you add the missing punctuation to the following text? There was no drop in the author’s confidence when the film of his novel, which involved two years of writing, was badly received by cinema audiences. The spokesperson for the studio defended the film’s release: “It was an ambitious project. We’re very proud of it.”

Short Answer

The steps outlined focus on correcting grammatical issues by identifying missing possessive apostrophes, adding commas for clarity in non-restrictive clauses, and adjusting period placement for proper sentence separation. This enhances readability and ensures the text maintains its intended meaning.

Step-by-Step Solution

Step 1: Identify Missing Apostrophes

Review the text for instances where a possessive apostrophe is required. In the first sentence, the phrase should read “author’s confidence,” indicating that the confidence belongs to the author. Similarly, in the second sentence, the phrase should state “film’s release” to show that the release belongs to the film.

Step 2: Add Commas for Clarity

Look for non-restrictive subordinate clauses in the sentences. These clauses can be removed without changing the sentence’s main meaning. In the first sentence, place a comma before and after the clause following “his novel” to enhance readability and clarify the sentence structure.

Step 3: Adjust Period Placement

Ensure proper sentence separation by adding periods before subjects that start new sentences. In the second sentence, a period should be placed before “The spokesperson” to mark the beginning of a new thought. Similarly, in the third sentence, add a period before “It” to properly separate the statements.

Related Concepts

Possessive apostrophe

A punctuation mark used to indicate ownership or a relationship between a noun and another noun, typically shown by adding an apostrophe followed by an “s” (e.g., the author’s book)

Non-restrictive subordinate clauses

Clauses that provide additional information to a sentence but can be omitted without changing the primary meaning, usually set off by commas to improve readability (e.g., “the book, which is a bestseller, was released last year.”)

Periods

Punctuation marks used to indicate the end of a sentence, signaling a complete thought and separating distinct sentences in writing.

Table Of Contents

Can you add the missing punctuation to the following text? There was no drop in the author's confidence when the film of his novel, which involved two years of writing, was badly received by cinema audiences. The spokesperson for the studio defended the film's release: "It was an ambitious project. We're very proud of it."