Question

Which punctuation mark is missing in the following sentence? I know that you want to learn to drive Rima but you are too young.

• A. inverted commas
• B. semicolon
• C. comma
• D. hyphen

Hint:

Someone named Rima is being spoken to directly inside the sentence.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Read the sentence carefully: it addresses someone named Rima and joins two ideas, wanting to drive and being too young, with "but."

1. inverted commas: There is no name, title, or quoted phrase here that needs to be set apart as special, so this mark does not fit.
2. semicolon: A semicolon would suit two full independent clauses without a joining word, but this sentence already uses "but" to connect its ideas.
3. comma: Rima is being addressed directly inside the sentence, and a comma is needed to set her name off from the rest, and a comma also naturally sits before "but" to mark the shift in idea.
4. hyphen: A hyphen joins words or numbers together, which has no role in separating a name or two clauses.

Option C, comma, correctly punctuates both the address to Rima and the contrast introduced by "but."

Let's summarize:

• Names used to address someone directly are set off with commas.
• A comma before "but" also marks the turn from one idea to its contrast.

Whenever a sentence names the person being spoken to, expect a comma around that name.