Question #N1330

The author's use of commas in the sentence is correct because the sentence contains multiple independent clauses. The first clause, "I am afraid so." is a complete sentence, and the second clause, "it’s a very painful parting." is also a complete sentence. The two clauses are joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction ("so"). Therefore, the author’s use of commas is correct. What is the most likely reason why the author used commas in this sentence?

In this sentence, the author uses commas to
A. separate the independent clauses from the dependent clauses.
B. separate the introductory phrase from the main clause.
C. separate the two independent clauses from each other.
D. separate the two dependent clauses from each other.

Correct Answer is: C

The sentence contains two complete sentences, "I am afraid so." and "it’s a very painful parting." Commas are used to separate two complete sentences when they are joined by a coordinating conjunction, such as "so." In this case, the author used a comma and the coordinating conjunction "so" to separate the two independent clauses.