Next CSE-PPT: 14 March 2027 · Professional & Subprofessional
Civil Service Exam English reviewer on commas, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, quotation marks, hyphens and end marks, comma splices, and the capitalisation of names, places, days, months and seasons.
Punctuation and capitalisation show up in error-recognition items and in questions that ask which sentence is written correctly. This set covers the uses of commas, semicolons and colons, apostrophes for possession and contractions, quotation marks, hyphens in compound adjectives, end marks, and comma splices.
It also covers capital letters for proper nouns, official names, days, months and titles, and the common words, such as seasons and directions, that stay in lowercase.
Correct answer: A. The, Department, Health
The official name of an agency is a proper noun, so its main words are capitalised: Department of Health. Short words such as "of" stay lowercase, and the first word of a sentence is always capitalised.
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. We, Mount, Apo
The full name of a mountain is a proper noun: Mount Apo. Seasons such as summer and the rainy season are common nouns and are not capitalised, unlike days and months.
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. The, Monday, March
Days of the week and months of the year are always capitalised in English: Monday, March. Common nouns such as "training" are not capitalised in the middle of a sentence.
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. From, Manila, Baguio
Compass directions are lowercase when they show direction (drove north). They are capitalised only when they name a region, as in "Northern Luzon". City names are proper nouns.
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. The employees' lounge is on the second floor.
For a plural noun ending in -s, add only an apostrophe to show possession: the employees' lounge, a lounge belonging to all employees. "Employee's" would mean one employee.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. It's important to keep the office clean.
"It's" is the contraction of "it is". The possessive "its" (its floors) has no apostrophe. Mixing the two is one of the most common writing errors.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. The children's books were donated to the barangay library.
Irregular plurals that do not end in -s, such as children, women and people, form the possessive with 's: children's, women's, people's.
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. When the bell rang, the students left the room.
Use a comma after an introductory dependent clause, before the main clause begins. A semicolon is used only between two independent clauses.
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. My brother, who lives in Cebu, is a nurse.
If the speaker has only one brother, "who lives in Cebu" adds extra information and is set off by a pair of commas. Without commas, it would suggest the speaker has more than one brother.
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. Bring the following: your ID, a black pen and a pencil.
A colon introduces a list after a complete statement, such as "Bring the following". It should not separate a verb from its objects, as in "Bring: your ID".
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. The office was closed; the staff worked from home.
A semicolon joins two independent clauses that are closely related. Both "The office was closed" and "the staff worked from home" can stand alone as sentences.
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. The report is due tomorrow, I have not started it.
A comma splice joins two independent clauses with only a comma. Fix it with a conjunction (", but"), a semicolon, a full stop, or by making one clause dependent, as the other options do.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. She said, "The meeting starts at nine."
A comma usually follows the speaking verb, the quotation begins with a capital letter, and in American usage the full stop goes inside the closing quotation mark.
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. He asked whether the office was open on Saturday.
An indirect question reports a question without quoting it, so it ends with a full stop, not a question mark. A direct question would be: He asked, "Is the office open on Saturday?"
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. She is a well-known author of children's books.
Two words that work together as one adjective before a noun are joined with a hyphen: a well-known author, a full-time job, a two-page memo.
Read detailsCorrect answer: C. Computers became common in offices in the 1990s.
Decades are plurals, not possessives, so standard usage writes them without an apostrophe: the 1990s. An apostrophe before the number may show omitted digits: the '90s.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. The kit contains a flashlight, a whistle, and a first-aid pack.
Commas separate items in a series. The comma before "and" (the serial comma) is optional in many styles, but a comma must never separate a verb from its object.
Read detailsCorrect answer: A. Ma'am, your documents are ready.
When you speak directly to someone, set off the name or title with a comma: "Ma'am, your documents are ready." In the middle of a sentence, use a comma on each side.
Read detailsCorrect answer: B. A, Guide, Civil, Service, Examination
In titles, capitalise the first word and all main words. Short articles, conjunctions and prepositions such as "a", "to", "the" and "of" stay lowercase unless they begin the title.
Read detailsCorrect answer: D. Watch out, the floor is wet!
An exclamation point shows strong feeling or urgency, as in a warning. Ordinary statements and polite questions should end with a full stop or question mark, and two end marks should never be combined.
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