Question

Choose the option with the correct punctuation marks:
My father is an ex mla
A) my father is an Ex M.L.A.
B) My father is an ex-MLA.
C) My father is An Ex MLA.
D) My father is an Ex M.L.A.

Answer 1

Hint: Antonyms are the words that are opposite in meaning to another. The root words for the word 'antonym' are the words 'anti' meaning 'against' or 'opposite' and 'onym' meaning 'name’. For instance: the antonym of ‘hot’ is ‘cold’.

Complete answer:
Option A) my father is an Ex M.L.A – is an incorrect answer because capital letters are used to begin a sentence i.e. instead of my it should be My and 'MLA' is an acronym for 'Member of the Legislative Assembly'. There is no necessity to put a dot between each letter of an acronym. Hence this option is an incorrect answer.
Option B) My father is an ex-MLA – is the correct answer because this is the only option that has all the punctuation marks and are used correctly. Thus, this is the most appropriate answer.
Option C) My father is An Ex MLA - is an incorrect answer because the prefix, 'ex' is used before a title to indicate it is a former title i.e. a title held earlier and not now. It is to be followed by a hyphen. The letter, 'e' of the prefix, 'ex' is not to be capitalized. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.
Option D) My father is an Ex M.L.A. – is an incorrect answer because 'MLA' is an acronym for 'Member of the Legislative Assembly'. There is no necessity to put a dot between each letter of an acronym and the prefix, 'ex' is used before a title to indicate it is a former title i.e. a title held earlier and not now. It is to be followed by a hyphen. The letter, 'e' of the prefix, 'ex' is not to be capitalized. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.

Hence, the correct answer is Option ‘ B’.

Note:Grammar and punctuation are necessary elements of any piece of writing, so, correct usage of punctuation is very important. The word acronym is used for the MLA, so, the meaning of acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word and prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of the word like here in this question prefix ‘ex’ is used in before the acronym i.e. MLA – ex-MLA. So, option B is the most appropriate answer as compared to any other option.