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ACT English 4.1 Punctuation 335 Views
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Description:
ACT English: Punctuation Drill 4, Problem 1. How should this sentence be changed, if at all?
Transcript
- 00:04
Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by the word "hooray." It was really excited
- 00:08
about bringing it to you--but then...it's excited about everything.
- 00:11
How should you change the below sentence to make it correct, if at all?
- 00:15
Hooray, we are already there.
- 00:22
Whenever somebody says "hooray" they're usually excited about something.
Full Transcript
- 00:26
They might be being sarcastic.
- 00:27
Which...we wouldn't know anything about.
- 00:29
There's nothing in the sentence to make us think the speaker is being sarcastic, though,
- 00:33
so we'll assume he or she is genuinely excited.
- 00:37
We can get rid of (A), because a period just doesn't give us enough... oomph.
- 00:40
(B) seems suspicious as well, since there's no reason to make the sentence a question.
- 00:46
Both (C) and (D) end with exclamation marks, so they have the oomph we were looking for earlier.
- 00:51
However, we also know that "hooray" is an interjection, a word that expresses a certain
- 00:57
sentiment like, in this case, excitement.
- 01:00
Whenever we have an interjection in a sentence, we have to set it apart somehow.
- 01:03
It's just too much for the rest of the sentence to handle without some space.
- 01:08
Knowing all this, we can dub (D) the correct answer, since it separates the interjection,
- 01:11
"hooray" with a comma.
- 01:13
Quick word to the wise: It's important to warm up prior to hooraying. We suggest hip-hipping
- 01:18
beforehand to avoid pulled muscles.
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