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The use of commas is essential for clarity in writing, and it can be confusing to know when they are required. For example, consider the following two sentences: "She went to the store. She bought bread." These two sentences are completely independent, and they can be joined by a comma and a conjunction or by a semicolon. However, if we rewrite the sentences so that the subject of the second sentence is a pronoun, then the rules for punctuation are slightly different. For example, consider the following two sentences: "She went to the store. She bought it." In this case, the second sentence is dependent on the first, and it cannot be joined with a comma and a conjunction or with a semicolon alone. Instead, we can join the sentences with a comma or we can make the second sentence a dependent clause. Which of the following sentences illustrates a rule for punctuation in the first example?

SAT · English · previous-year question

  1. A.She went to the store, and she bought bread.
  2. B.She went to the store; she bought bread.
  3. C.She went to the store, but she bought bread.
  4. D.She went to the store; bread was what she bought.

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