Question

Sandomir was reluctant when his sister, and aunt asked him to accompany them to the opera, but soon he became enchanted by the lavish sets, and passionate singing.

How should the author revise this sentence for correct punctuation?
A.
Sandomir was reluctant when his sister and aunt asked him to accompany them to the opera, but soon he became enchanted, by the lavish sets and passionate singing.
B.
Sandomir was reluctant when his sister and aunt asked him to accompany them to the opera, but soon he became enchanted by the lavish sets and passionate singing.
C.
Sandomir was reluctant when his sister and aunt asked him, to accompany them to the opera, but soon he became enchanted by the lavish sets, and passionate singing.
D.
Sandomir was reluctant when his sister and aunt asked him to accompany them to the opera but soon he became enchanted by the lavish sets and passionate singing.

Answer 1

B. Sandomir was reluctant when his sister and aunt asked him to accompany them to the opera, but soon he became enchanted by the lavish sets and passionate singing.

Step-by-step explanation:

The best version of the given sentence is version B. There are two mistakes in the original sentence:

• Sandomir was reluctant when his sister, and aunt asked him to accompany them to the opera, but soon he became enchanted by the lavish sets, and passionate singing.

The highlighted commas should be omitted. When only two things are listed and connected by a coordinating conjunction such as and, the conjunction shouldn't be preceded by a comma.

The only comma that should be used in the sentence is the one before but. But is a coordinating conjunction. When coordinating conjunctions are used to connect two independent clauses, like in this case, they should always be preceded by a comma.