Where ______ Interestingly, it was invented by an author. It first appears in the novel Through the Looking Glass by...

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:
  • Where [? - what varies: word order and end punctuation] [common: the word 'chortle' ... come from]
  • Interestingly,
    • it was invented by an author.
• Sentence 2:
  • It first appears
    • in the novel Through the Looking Glass
      • by English author Lewis Carroll.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

"Where..."

This immediately tells us something important – we're starting with a question word!

Now here's where we need to fill in the blank. Let's look at our choices:

• Choice A: "did the word 'chortle' come from." (with a period)
• Choice B: "the word 'chortle' did come from?" (with a question mark)
• Choice C: "did the word 'chortle' come from?" (with a question mark)
• Choice D: "the word 'chortle' come from." (with a period)

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The sentence starts with "Where" – a question word
  • This means we're asking a direct question
  • Questions have a specific word order in English
• When we ask a question starting with "where," we need:
  • The helping verb (like "did") to come BEFORE the subject
  • So it should be: "Where did [the word] come from?"
  • NOT: "Where [the word] did come from?"
• We also need proper punctuation:
  • Direct questions must end with a question mark
  • A period would be incorrect here

So we need: "Where did the word 'chortle' come from?" – that's Choice C.

Now let's read the rest to see the complete picture:

"Interestingly, it was invented by an author."

• This tells us something surprising about the word 'chortle' –
  • it didn't evolve naturally in the language
  • someone actually made it up

"It first appears in the novel Through the Looking Glass by English author Lewis Carroll."

• This gives us the specific source:
  • Lewis Carroll's novel Through the Looking Glass
  • is where we first see this invented word

The complete picture: The passage asks where the word 'chortle' comes from, then reveals it was invented by Lewis Carroll in his novel.

The correct answer is Choice C.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Forming Questions with Question Words

When you ask a question starting with a question word (like where, when, why, how, who), you need to follow a specific pattern in Standard English:

Pattern: [Question word] + [helping verb] + [subject] + [main verb] + ?

Example 1:

• Statement: "The tradition started in the 1920s."
• Question: "When did the tradition start?"
  • Question word: When
  • Helping verb: did
  • Subject: the tradition
  • Main verb: start

Example 2:

• Statement: "Shakespeare wrote Hamlet."
• Question: "Who did Shakespeare write about?" (when asking about object)
• Or: "Who wrote Hamlet?" (when asking about subject - note: no helping verb needed here)

Example 3:

• Statement: "The word comes from Latin."
• Question: "Where does the word come from?"
  • Question word: Where
  • Helping verb: does
  • Subject: the word
  • Main verb: come

In this question:

• "Where did the word 'chortle' come from?"
  • Follows the pattern: Where + did + the word + come + from
  • Ends with a question mark (required for all direct questions)

Remember: Direct questions always end with question marks, and when you use question words like "where," the helping verb comes before the subject.