The Chrysler _____ an Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1930, remains one of the most recognizable structures in New York...

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

• The Chrysler Building [?] an Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1930,
  • remains one of the most recognizable structures
    • in New York City's skyline.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

'The Chrysler Building'

• This is our subject - the famous skyscraper in Manhattan.

This is where we have the blank.

Let's look at the choices:

• Building— (em dash)
• Building: (colon)
• Building (no punctuation)
• Building, (comma)

So we're deciding what punctuation, if any, should come after "Building."

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

The sentence continues:

• 'an Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1930'
  • This is describing what the Chrysler Building is
  • It's giving us extra information about the building's style and when it was finished

Then we see a comma, and the sentence finishes:

• 'remains one of the most recognizable structures in New York City's skyline'
  • This is telling us what the Chrysler Building does - it remains recognizable
  • 'Remains' is the main action verb of the sentence

What do we notice about the structure here?

• We have the subject: "The Chrysler Building"
• Then descriptive information: "an Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1930"
• Then the main verb: "remains"

The descriptive phrase sits between the subject and verb, giving us extra information about what the Chrysler Building is.

• This is a noun + noun modifier pattern
  • The first noun: "The Chrysler Building"
  • The modifier: "an Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1930" - a noun phrase that renames/describes it

• When you place descriptive information in the middle of a sentence like this, you need to set it off with commas on both sides:
  • Comma before the descriptor (after "Building")
  • Comma after the descriptor (after "1930")

Notice that we already have the closing comma after "1930." So we need the opening comma after "Building."

The correct answer is D: Building,

This gives us: "The Chrysler Building, an Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1930, remains..."

Grammar Concept Applied

Using Commas with Descriptive Noun Phrases

When you have a descriptive noun phrase that renames or provides additional information about a noun in the middle of a sentence (called an appositive in grammar terms), you need to set it off with commas on both sides:

Pattern:

• Noun, descriptive noun phrase, rest of sentence

Examples:

1. Without descriptor: My sister remains my closest friend.
   With descriptor: My sister, a talented musician, remains my closest friend.
   • "a talented musician" describes "my sister"
   • Commas on both sides separate the descriptive phrase
2. Without descriptor: The discovery changed scientific understanding.
   With descriptor: The discovery, a breakthrough in quantum physics, changed scientific understanding.
   • "a breakthrough in quantum physics" describes "the discovery"
   • Commas on both sides set it off

In our question:

• Noun: The Chrysler Building
• Descriptive phrase: an Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1930
• Rest of sentence: remains one of the most recognizable structures...
• Result: The Chrysler Building, an Art Deco skyscraper completed in 1930, remains...

Key test: If you can remove the descriptive phrase and the sentence still makes complete sense, you need commas. ("The Chrysler Building remains one of the most recognizable structures..." ✓ Still works!)