Choose the correct punctuation mark to fill the gap:Then Bob proposed__ "A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!"colon (:)semicolon (;)

To fill the gap in the sentence "Then Bob proposed__ 'A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!'" we have two options for punctuation: a colon (:) or a semicolon (;).

In this case, the correct punctuation mark is the colon (:).

Explanation:

1. Colon Usage: A colon is used to introduce a quotation or a list. In this instance, Bob is proposing a specific statement, which acts as a quotation. The colon signals that what follows is a direct quote of what Bob has proposed.

2. Semicolon Usage: A semicolon typically connects two independent clauses that are closely related. Since the phrase following Bob's proposal is not an independent clause but rather a direct quotation, using a semicolon would be grammatically incorrect here.

Final Answer:

The correct punctuation mark is a colon (:). Therefore, the sentence should read: "Then Bob proposed: 'A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!'"