Standard English ConventionsEasy–MediumComma with coordinating conjunction
Standard English Conventions practice question
The theater's original blueprints were lost when the archive ceiling ____ the copies stored across town survived to guide the restoration.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A. collapsed, butCorrect
- B. collapsed but,
- C. collapsed, but,
- D. collapsed but
Answer: A. collapsed, but
Two complete sentences joined by 'but' take a comma before the conjunction: '…collapsed, but the archive copies survived…'
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. collapsed but,
- The comma belongs before 'but,' never directly after it.
- C. collapsed, but,
- No comma follows the conjunction.
- D. collapsed but
- Joining two complete sentences with 'but' and no comma leaves the boundary unmarked.
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Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
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