Question

Decide whether each sentence below is punctuated correctly. Use the drop-down menus to indicate which revisions, if any, are necessary.

The American author, Harper Lee, published only one novel.



An African grey parrot my pet bird won first prize in the pet show.



Jerome’s brother, a sophomore at my school, is running for student council.

Answer 1

1) The American author, Harper Lee, published only one novel.
- Revision: Remove the commas.
- Corrected: The American author Harper Lee published only one novel.
- Reason: The name identifies which author (restrictive appositive), so no commas.

2) An African grey parrot my pet bird won first prize in the pet show.
- Revision: Add commas around the appositive.
- Corrected: An African grey parrot, my pet bird, won first prize in the pet show.
- Reason: "my pet bird" is a nonrestrictive appositive and should be set off with commas.

3) Jerome’s brother, a sophomore at my school, is running for student council.
- Revision: No change needed.
- Reason: The parenthetical phrase is correctly set off with commas.