Question

Punctuate the sentence where necessary:
a tomato is not a vegetable it is actually a fruit
(a)No Change
(b)a tomato is not a vegetable: it is actually a fruit
(c)A tomato is not a vegetable: it is actually a fruit.
(d)a tomato is not a vegetable it is actually a fruit.

Answer 1

Hint: The first word of the sentence is always capitalised, and a colon is used when there is supposed to be a short pause. And there should always be a full stop at the end of a declarative sentence.

Complete answer: Punctuation is the use of spacing, conventional signs,
and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of
written text, whether read silently or aloud and it is extremely important in the English
language, as different punctuation can change the meaning of the same sentence.

Let’s first analyze the given sentence. It gives us some information about a tomato. This means that the sentence is a simple declarative sentence. This means that the sentence should end in a full stop. The clause ending should have a colon.
Now, we know what punctuations we need to have. Let’s look at the different options:
(a)No Change - This is an incorrect option, as we know that the given sentence does not have a capital first letter and it does not have any other punctuation. So, this is not the required answer.
(b)a tomato is not a vegetable: it is actually a fruit - This sentence starts with a lowercase first letter, which is incorrect. This contains correct punctuation after that, however, it is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(c)A tomato is not a vegetable: it is actually a fruit. - This sentence starts with a capital letter and it contains the colon and full stop which are placed correctly. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
(d)a tomato is not a vegetable it is actually a fruit. - This sentence starts with a lowercase first letter, which is incorrect. This contains incorrect punctuation after that, so it is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note: Look at the given sentence and read it out loud. This will help you understand what kind of sentence it is. Look for grammatical anomalies, and correct them. Then, choose the option that has the correct punctuation.