Question #N515
Which choice correctly punctuates the following sentence: "I need to buy a new pair of shoes, but I can’t afford them because I already spent too much money on video games and I don’t have a job yet."
A. I need to buy a new pair of shoes, but I can’t afford them, because I already spent too much money on video games and I don’t have a job yet.
B. I need to buy a new pair of shoes but I can’t afford them because I already spent too much money on video games, and I don’t have a job yet.
C. I need to buy a new pair of shoes, but I can’t afford them because I already spent too much money on video games and I don’t have a job yet.
D. I need to buy a new pair of shoes, but I can’t afford them, because I already spent too much money on video games, and I don’t have a job yet.
Correct Answer is: C
The correct answer is C. The sentence is a compound sentence and needs to be separated with a comma before the coordinating conjunction "because." The sentence does not need commas before the coordinating conjunctions "and" because each of these is part of a series within a longer phrase.