Question

The following sentence has a missing punctuation mark. Choose the right answer.

"My mother who is from the village is very superstitious."

• A. Brackets
• B. Comma
• C. Semicolon
• D. Apostrophe

Hint:

Check whether the clause who is from the village is essential to identify my mother, or just extra information.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

The sentence "My mother who is from the village is very superstitious" is missing a punctuation mark. To find it, first work out what kind of clause "who is from the village" is, since that decides which mark applies.

1. Brackets: Brackets are used for asides or editorial insertions, not for a standard relative clause giving extra information about a person. This does not fit here.
2. Comma: "Who is from the village" adds extra, non-essential detail about "my mother," who is already a specific, identifiable person. Extra information like this is set off with a pair of commas, one before "who" and one after "village."
3. Semicolon: A semicolon joins two independent clauses that could stand alone as separate sentences. "Who is from the village" cannot stand alone, so a semicolon does not belong here.
4. Apostrophe: Apostrophes mark possession, as in "mother's," or contractions, as in "isn't," neither of which is needed anywhere in this sentence.

Since "who is from the village" merely adds extra detail rather than narrowing down which mother is meant, it needs a pair of commas around it: "My mother, who is from the village, is very superstitious."

Let's summarize:

• Non-defining relative clauses, extra and non-essential information, are always enclosed in commas.
• Semicolons, brackets, and apostrophes each serve a different, unrelated punctuation purpose.

The correct answer is the comma, option 2.