The gist of the saying went something like this: If a person wants to get ahead in life, you have to be willing to work
for it.
Which of the following language conventions is violated in the sentence above?
A. Use of a colon
B. Verb tense
C. Pronoun-antecedent agreement
D. Punctuation of an introductory clause
Punctuation on an introductory clause
use of a colon
Pronoun-antecedents agreement
The correct answer is D. Punctuation of an introductory clause.
To determine the answer, we should analyze the sentence and identify any potential errors. In this case, the sentence begins with an introductory clause, "The gist of the saying went something like this." An introductory clause is a dependent clause that introduces the main clause of a sentence. It provides context or background information.
According to standard English punctuation rules, an introductory clause should be followed by a comma. However, in the given sentence, there is no comma placed after the introductory clause. The absence of the comma violates the punctuation convention for an introductory clause.
Therefore, the correct answer is D. Punctuation of an introductory clause. To fix the error, the sentence should be written as: "The gist of the saying went something like this: If a person wants to get ahead in life, you have to be willing to work for it."