Punctuation – English Grammar Exercises for A2
You just came back from the night market and you are showing your roommate all the souvenirs you bought. Read your sentences below and choose the option (A, B, or C) with the correct punctuation.
1 Guess what? I bought ______ at the night market today!
(A) a shirt, a hat and a mug
(B) a shirt a hat and a mug
(C) a shirt, a hat, and, a mug
2 The huge outdoor market sells ______ every single night.
(A) clothes food and souvenirs
(B) clothes, food and souvenirs
(C) clothes, food. and souvenirs
3 I easily found perfect gifts for ______ in just one hour.
(A) my mom my dad, and my sister
(B) my mom, my dad and my sister
(C) my mom, my dad. and my sister
4 Inside this heavy plastic bag, I have ______ for us to eat.
(A) apples bananas and oranges
(B) apples, bananas, and, oranges
(C) apples, bananas and oranges
5 For dinner, we sat down and ate ______ at a small street food stall.
(A) noodles, rice and spring rolls
(B) noodles rice, and spring rolls
(C) noodles, rice, and, spring rolls
6 While walking around the stalls, I saw ______ on sale.
(A) beautiful bags cheap shoes, and colourful scarves
(B) beautiful bags, cheap shoes and colourful scarves
(C) beautiful bags, cheap shoes. and colourful scarves
7 The whole experience at the night market was ______!
(A) crowded noisy and fun
(B) crowded, noisy, and, fun
(C) crowded, noisy and fun
8 Come over here! I want to show you ______ I finally found.
(A) the cups, plates and bowls
(B) the cups plates and bowls
(C) the cups, plates. and bowls
9 For my classmates, I decided to buy ______ because they were cheap.
(A) keychains, magnets and postcards
(B) keychains magnets, and postcards
(C) keychains, magnets, and, postcards
10 This one amazing jewelry stall had ______ on display.
(A) silver rings gold necklaces and wooden bracelets
(B) silver rings, gold necklaces. and wooden bracelets
(C) silver rings, gold necklaces and wooden bracelets
11 I really loved tasting the ______ there.
(A) spicy chicken, sweet pork and fresh vegetables
(B) spicy chicken sweet pork and fresh vegetables
(C) spicy chicken, sweet pork, and, fresh vegetables
12 The friendly vendor quickly packed ______ in one big paper bag for me.
(A) the shirt the pants, and the dress
(B) the shirt, the pants and the dress
(C) the shirt, the pants. and the dress
13 I got some extra items. Do you want ______ keychain?
(A) a red, blue or green
(B) a red blue or green
(C) a red, blue, or, green
14 In the end, I spent all my cash on ______ tonight.
(A) food drinks and a taxi ride home
(B) food, drinks. and a taxi ride home
(C) food, drinks and a taxi ride home
15 Look at this! I got ______ from the exact same shop.
(A) a silk tie for John, a mug for Mary and a pen for Tom
(B) a silk tie for John a mug for Mary and a pen for Tom
(C) a silk tie for John, a mug for Mary, and, a pen for Tom
16 You can easily buy ______ all in one place.
(A) fresh fruit hot meals cold drinks and sweet desserts
(B) fresh fruit, hot meals, cold drinks and sweet desserts
(C) fresh fruit, hot meals, cold drinks. and sweet desserts
17 I spent twenty minutes bargaining for ______.
(A) the big lamp, the small mirror and the old clock
(B) the big lamp the small mirror, and the old clock
(C) the big lamp, the small mirror, and, the old clock
18 The seller was so nice that she gave me ______.
(A) a nice discount a free bag and a big smile
(B) a nice discount, a free bag. and a big smile
(C) a nice discount, a free bag and a big smile
19 Tomorrow evening, we should go back together to buy ______.
(A) some tea, coffee and local spices
(B) some tea coffee and local spices
(C) some tea, coffee. and local spices
20 Okay, here are ______ on my bed.
(A) the gifts the receipts, and the leftover change
(B) the gifts, the receipts and the leftover change
(C) the gifts, the receipts, and, the leftover change
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (A)
Explanation: When listing three things, you need a comma to separate the first two items (shirt, hat) and “and” before the final item. (B) is missing all commas. (C) has incorrect extra commas around the word “and”.
2 (B)
Explanation: The comma perfectly separates “clothes” and “food”. (A) is a common mistake where the writer forgets commas entirely. (C) uses a full stop (period) incorrectly in the middle of a list.
3 (B)
Explanation: Correct use of the comma in a list of three people. (A) is missing the first comma. (C) incorrectly breaks the sentence with a full stop before “and”.
4 (C)
Explanation: The comma separates the first two fruits. (A) is missing commas. (B) places unnecessary commas around “and”, which is a common punctuation error for beginners.
5 (A)
Explanation: Correct list format: item 1, item 2 and item 3 (B) is missing the comma between the first two items. (C) overuses commas around the conjunction “and”.
6 (B)
Explanation: The comma separates the descriptive noun phrases “beautiful bags” and “cheap shoes”. (A) misses the first comma. (C) uses a full stop incorrectly.
7 (C)
Explanation: Commas work for lists of adjectives too! (A) is missing punctuation. (B) has too many commas around “and”.
8 (A)
Explanation: Correct separation of three plural nouns. (B) lacks commas. (C) incorrectly uses a full stop before “and”.
9 (A)
Explanation: Correct list format. (B) forgets the comma between the first two items. (C) has incorrect commas around “and”.
10 (C)
Explanation: Correctly separates the three jewelry items. (A) is missing commas, making it hard to read. (B) uses a full stop, which ends a sentence and ruins the list.
11 (A)
Explanation: Correct format for listing three food items. (B) lacks commas. (C) uses too many commas around the word “and”.
12 (B)
Explanation: Correct punctuation. (A) is missing the comma between the shirt and the pants. (C) uses a full stop in the middle of a phrase.
13 (A)
Explanation: This rule also applies to the word “or”. You need a comma between the first two options. (B) is missing the comma. (C) incorrectly puts commas around “or”.
14 (C)
Explanation: Correct list punctuation. (A) lacks commas. (B) breaks the sentence with a full stop.
15 (A)
Explanation: This rule works for longer phrases too. The comma separates the first two full phrases clearly. (B) runs all the words together without pauses. (C) overuses commas around “and”.
16 (B)
Explanation: For a list of four items, you use commas between all items until the final “and” (Item 1, Item 2, Item 3 and Item 4). (A) has no commas. (C) uses a full stop incorrectly.
17 (A)
Explanation: Correct use of the comma to separate three specific items. (B) misses the first comma. (C) places unnecessary commas around “and”.
18 (C)
Explanation: Correct list punctuation. (A) has no commas. (B) incorrectly ends the sentence early with a full stop.
19 (A)
Explanation: Correct format. (B) misses commas. (C) uses a full stop, making it grammatically incorrect.
20 (B)
Explanation: Correct punctuation for a list of three items. (A) misses the comma between the first two items. (C) places commas before and after “and”, which breaks the flow.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- The Rule of Lists: When you write a list of three or more things in a sentence, you must use a comma ( , ) to separate them.
- The “And / Or” Rule: In British English and standard A2 level writing, you do not need to put a comma before the word “and” or “or” at the very end of the list.
- Correct: I like apples, bananas and oranges.
- Incorrect: I like apples bananas and oranges. (Too fast, confusing!)
- Incorrect: I like apples, bananas, and, oranges. (Too many commas!)
- Why do we use it? Commas act like a short “breath” or “pause” when speaking. They help the reader understand exactly how many separate items you are talking about.
- Warning: Never use a full stop ( . ) in the middle of a list! A full stop means the sentence is completely finished.