Question

Spot the error in the following sentence.
He said, "What a wonderful surprise"!

• A. no comma
• B. quotation marks instead of exclamation
• C. exclamation inside quotes
• D. no change

Hint:

Punctuation that belongs to the quoted words goes inside the quotation marks.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

This question checks the placement of punctuation with quotation marks, specifically where an exclamation mark belongs when the quoted words themselves are an exclamation.

1. no comma: the sentence already correctly uses a comma after "said" to introduce the quoted speech, so a missing comma is not the error here.
2. quotation marks instead of exclamation: quotation marks are needed to show the exact words spoken, so replacing them with an exclamation mark would remove necessary punctuation rather than fix an error.
3. exclamation inside quotes: the exclamation mark belongs to the quoted exclamation "What a wonderful surprise", so it should sit inside the closing quotation mark, not after it. As written, the exclamation mark is placed outside the quotes, which is the actual error.
4. no change: this cannot be right, since the exclamation mark is placed in the wrong spot relative to the quotation marks.

When punctuation belongs to the quoted words themselves, as it does for an exclamatory sentence like "What a wonderful surprise", it must be placed inside the closing quotation mark: He said, "What a wonderful surprise!"

Let's summarize:

• Punctuation that is part of the quoted sentence goes inside the quotation marks.
• An exclamation mark placed after the closing quote, when the exclamation belongs to the quoted words, is incorrect.

The error is that the exclamation mark should be inside the quotes, making option (c) the correct answer.