English question from Panchayat Secretary (VLW) exam, 2025 by JKSSB
Punctuate the following sentence:
milton the great english poet was blind
Last updated Jun 13, 2026
Correct Answer:
Option C —
Milton, the great English poet was blind.
Why this is correct:
This sentence uses a grammatical structure called noun in apposition (or an appositive phrase). "The great English poet" serves as an explanatory phrase that describes the noun "Milton."
Appositive phrases that provide extra, non-essential information must be set off with commas on both sides.
If you remove the phrase entirely, the sentence still makes perfect sense: "Milton was blind." Therefore, a comma must go after "Milton" and another after "poet."
Why the other options are incorrect:
(A) and (D): These options incorrectly place a period after "great," splitting a single coherent thought into fragmented, ungrammatical sentences.
(B): This option places a comma incorrectly between "the" and "great," which disrupts the description of the poet.
Answer verified by Quintessence Classes faculty — Karan Nagar, Srinagar.
