ACT Blast 2022 Commas

In 1948, graduate students, Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver, took on a problem that had troubled retailers for years: how to keep track of store inventories.

• NO CHANGE

• students, Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver

• students Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver

• students Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver,

Answer explanation

"Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver" is an ESSENTIAL clause because it clarifies which graduate students the sentence is talking about. Not ALL graduate students were taking on this problem.

Inspired by the dots and dashes of Morse code, however, Woodland and Silver created a system of lines that could encode data.

• NO CHANGE

• code however Woodland

• code, however Woodland

• code, however Woodland,

Answer explanation

However is an interrupting word that splits the complete sentence into two parts.

I place a rosebush clipping into the basket next to me and crouch under the rosebush again.

• NO CHANGE

• basket next, to me

• basket, next to me

• basket next to me,

Answer explanation

None of the other answer choices follow the 6 basic comma rules and would result in an unnecessary comma.

My roses are antique roses, old, or heirloom varieties, that have existed in gardens worldwide for centuries.

• NO CHANGE

• roses, old or heirloom, varieties,

• roses old, or heirloom varieties

• roses, old or heirloom varieties

Answer explanation

A comma needs to separate the complete sentence "My roses are antique roses" from the appositive phrase that follows it. All other commas are unnecessary.

Compared to vibrant hybrid-tea colors, antique rose colors tend to be muted.

• NO CHANGE

• vibrant hybrid-tea, colors,

• vibrant, hybrid-tea colors

• vibrant hybrid-tea colors

Answer explanation

A comma is needed to separate the introductory phrase "Compared to vibrant hybrid-tea colors" from the independent clause that follows.

In the ninety-year history of the Santa Fe Indian Market the largest Indian art festival in the nation, the 2011 event marked the first time a basket won best of show.

• NO CHANGE

• Market the largest Indian art festival, in the nation,

• Market, the largest Indian art festival in the nation,

• Market, the largest Indian art festival, in the nation

Answer explanation

You need two commas to set off the interrupting appositive phrase, "the largest Indian art festival in the nation," that has split the complete sentence into two parts.

Frey harvests cuts pounds dries and dyes the wood himself.

• NO CHANGE

• harvests, cuts, pounds, and dries, and dyes

• harvests cuts, pounds dries, and dyes

• harvests, cuts, pounds, dries, and dyes

Answer explanation

Separate items in a series with a comma.

Nine hundred years ago, Emperor Zhezong of China, ordered the design and construction of a clock built to keep time more accurately than other clocks.

• NO CHANGE

• ago, Emperor Zhezong, of China

• ago, Emperor Zhezong of China

• ago Emperor Zhezong of China,

Answer explanation

Use a comma to separate the introductory phrase "Nine hundred years ago" from the independent clause (complete sentence) that follows it.

Snowflakes form from tiny water droplets, following

a specific process of chemical bonding as they freeze,

which results in a six-sided figure.

• NO CHANGE

• form, from tiny, water droplets,

• form from tiny, water, droplets

• form, from tiny water droplets

Answer explanation

A comma is needed to separate the independent clause "Snowflakes form from tiny water droplets" from the long phrase that further clarifies how the snowflakes form. All of the other answer choices do not follow any of the 6 basic comma rules.

In the early 1950s, a twelve-year-old

boy named, Juan Quezada, gathered firewood

in the mountains near the village of Mata Ortiz

in Chihuahua, Mexico.

• NO CHANGE

• boy named Juan Quezada

• boy, named Juan Quezada

• boy named Juan Quezada,

Answer explanation

No commas are needed because all parts of this phrase are ESSENTIAL for understanding the meaning of the sentence.