Identify the correctly punctuated sentence.
A. Throwing the football, is difficult for some people.
B. Throwing the football, he pulled a muscle in his arm.
C. Throwing, the football, kicking field goals and tackling are all important.
D. Throwing the football he did not notice the coach approaching.
The correctly punctuated sentence is:
B. Throwing the football, he pulled a muscle in his arm.
This sentence correctly places a comma after the introductory participial phrase "Throwing the football," and is followed by the main clause "he pulled a muscle in his arm."
Here's why the other options are incorrect:
A. Throwing the football, is difficult for some people.
- This sentence incorrectly places a comma after the gerund phrase "Throwing the football" as if it were an introductory element, but the subject of the sentence ("Throwing the football") should not be separated from the verb ("is") by a comma.
C. Throwing, the football, kicking field goals and tackling are all important.
- This sentence misuses commas around "the football," which should not be set off by commas because it is a direct object of "Throwing," and it's part of a series of participles used as subjects of the sentence.
D. Throwing the football he did not notice the coach approaching.
- This sentence is missing a comma after the introductory participial phrase. It should be: "Throwing the football, he did not notice the coach approaching."