A harpsichord may look just like a piano, but the difference between the two instruments is easy to hear. When...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

Sentence 1:

• A harpsichord may look just like a piano,
  • but the difference between the two instruments is easy to hear.

Sentence 2:

• When a harpsichord's keys are pressed,
  • the strings inside the instrument [?]
    • are plucked,
      • not struck.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start from the beginning to understand what this passage is telling us.

First sentence:

• 'A harpsichord may look just like a piano'
  • Sets up that these two instruments are visually similar
• 'but the difference between the two instruments is easy to hear'
  • Tells us they sound different - that's the key distinction

Second sentence:

• 'When a harpsichord's keys are pressed'
  • This sets up the condition - what happens when you play the harpsichord
• 'the strings inside the instrument'
  • This is talking about the strings that are located inside the harpsichord

This is where we have the blank. Let's look at the choices:

• Choice A: instrument:
• Choice B: instrument (no punctuation)
• Choice C: instrument—
• Choice D: instrument,

So we're deciding what punctuation (if any) should come after "instrument."

To see what works here, let's read the rest of the sentence and understand what it's saying!

• 'are plucked, not struck'
  • This tells us what happens to those strings
  • They get plucked (like a guitar string)
  • NOT struck (which is what happens in a piano)

Now let's understand the complete structure:

• 'the strings inside the instrument'
  • This is the subject - the thing that the sentence is about
  • 'the strings' is the core subject
  • 'inside the instrument' describes which strings we're talking about
• 'are plucked'
  • This is the verb - the action happening to those strings
  • This tells us what happens to the strings

What do we notice about the structure here?

The subject "the strings inside the instrument" needs to connect directly to its verb "are plucked."

This is the core structure of the sentence:

• Subject → Verb
• The strings → are plucked

We cannot put any punctuation between a subject and its verb. They need to flow together without interruption.

So we need Choice B - no punctuation after "instrument."

Grammar Concept Applied

Keeping Subject and Verb Together (No Punctuation Between Them)

One of the most fundamental rules in English sentence structure is that the subject (who or what is performing an action) must connect directly to its verb (the action) without any punctuation separating them. This is sometimes called avoiding "subject-verb separation" in grammar terms.

The core of every sentence is:

• Subject (who/what) → Verb (action/state)

These must stay connected without punctuation breaking them apart.

Example 1:

• INCORRECT: The students in the classroom, are studying.
• CORRECT: The students in the classroom are studying.
• Subject: "The students in the classroom"
• Verb: "are studying"
• No punctuation between them

Example 2:

• INCORRECT: The report that we submitted last week: received high praise.
• CORRECT: The report that we submitted last week received high praise.
• Subject: "The report that we submitted last week"
• Verb: "received"
• No punctuation between them

In this question:

• Subject: "the strings inside the instrument"
• Verb: "are plucked"
• These must connect directly: "the strings inside the instrument are plucked"
• No punctuation should come between "instrument" and "are"

This rule applies no matter how long or complex the subject is. Even if the subject contains multiple phrases or clauses, it still needs to flow directly to its verb without punctuation interruption.