Does GMAt SC include the misuse of Commas, colon, and semi-colon ?

Question

Dear friends,

Does GMAt Sentence Correction questions include the misuse of Commas, colon, and semi-colon ? Cause I have been doing some GMAT exercises through the network, and find one website providing such questions, although it doesnt seem to be exist in my Kaplan book!

Please advise.

jedit · Answer

Can you cite an example so it becomes clear what exactly you are trying to clarify.

CAMANISHPARMAR · Answer

Do you mean you are coming across a comma just after the penultimate item & before "and" (in a list of items).

For example: Please bring me a pencil, eraser, and notebook.

Note that the Oxford comma comes right after eraser. The Oxford (or serial) comma is the final comma in a list of things.

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi Abdul, couple of instances that are quite frequently tested:

i) Usage of  comma : When two Independent clauses are connected by  only  a comma, the construct is called  run-on  sentence, an  incorrect  sentence.

ii) Usage of  semi-colon : The correct usage of semi-colon is to either connect two Independent clauses or to connect phrases where each phrase itself is a list of elements. In instances other than these, the usage of semi-colon is likely to be  incorrect .

abdultam · Answer

Dear Jedit,

see the following example:

His collection of World War II memorabilia was one of the largest in the town, he had been collecting these items for many years.

Possible Answers:
one of the largest in the town he had been collecting these items for many years.

one of the largest in the town; he had been collecting these items for many years.

one of the largest in the town he had been collecting these items for: many years.

one of the largest in the town, he had been collecting these items for: many years.

one of the largest in the town, he had been collecting these items for many years.

Correct answer:
one of the largest in the town; he had been collecting these items for many years.

Explanation:
This sentence misuses a comma. This sentence combines two independent clauses without the use of a conjunction. The necessary punctuation for this spot is a semicolon, which should appear after the word "town." No additional punctuation is needed. The correct choice is, "one of the largest in the town; he had been collecting these items for many years."

does such example come on the real test ?

Thanks

abdultam · Answer

Your example is a great one. It is similar to many similar questions I came accross. Thus, does such questions come on the real test ?

abdultam · Answer

Yes, there are many questions that involve the details you've mentioned above. My question is whether the test makers of GMAT take into consideration such questions ? In other word, does the real GMAT present SC questions that include such errors?

Thanks

abdultam · Answer

Heeeey friends I need your help where have you been ?

Does GMAt SC include the misuse of Commas, colon, and semi-colon ?

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