Content Covered by the ACT English Test

Six elements of effective writing are included in the English Test: punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, strategy, organization, and style. The questions covering punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure make up the Usage/Mechanics subscore. The questions covering strategy, organization, and style make up the Rhetorical Skills subscore.

Usage/Mechanics Punctuation (13%). Questions in this category test your knowledge of the conventions of internal and endof-sentence punctuation, with emphasis on the relationship of punctuation to meaning (for example, avoiding ambiguity, indicating appositives). o Comma splices (joining two independent clauses together with just a comma)

o o o

Serial commas

Every sentence in ACT that has a series needs the comma before the coordinating

conjunction Independent clause and modifying phrase

If the modifying phrase is more than a few words, offset it with a comma Independent clause and dependent clause
Use a comma to separate the clauses

If the dependant comes at the beginning of the sentence, set it off with a comma at the end If the dependent clause is inserted within the clause, it is off-set by a comma in front and at the end of the dependent clause if it is nonessential (nonrestrictive)

o o o o
Colons

Non-essential or non-restrictive clauses are separated by

commas Independent clause attached to independent clause Use a semi-colon Use a comma plus a subordinating conjunction Follow the introduction to a list

Em dash

Warning: ACT does place colons after verbs

Used to separate an after thought or explanation from the main sentence Apostrophes
Used to show a contraction or possession

Know the difference between

its and its

Grammar and Usage (16%). Questions in this category test your understanding of agreement between subject and verb, between pronoun and antecedent, and between modifiers and the word modified; verb formation; pronoun case; formation of comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs; and idiomatic usage. o Misplaced modifiers (modifiers need to be near the word it is modifying) Always look for the subjectthat is usually the noun that is being modified Pronoun and antecedent

Modifying phrasesdo the nouns being modified come directly after the modifier?

Pronoun must always agree with the antecedent (the noun) that came before it

o
Pronoun Case

Singular to singular/plural to plural Neither/Either are singular Indefinite singular pronouns: anyone, anybody, each, everybody, everyone, nobody, somebody, someone

 o o

Nominative pronouns are used for the subject of the sentence or following a be verb Objective pronouns are used as objects of the preposition or as indirect objects

(following an action verb) Subject/Verb agreement Subject singular/verb singular Subject plural/verb plural Verb Tense Check the sentence for consistency in the tenseno shifting from present to past

o o

Clue: an underline verb will be one of two errors (or it may be correct)

Adjective/Adverb usage

Subject/verb agreement Inconsistency in verb tense within the sentence

Idioms

Adjectives modify nouns Adverbs modify everything else Expresses based on the correct verb+preposition

Sentence Structure (24%). Questions in this category test your understanding of relationships between and among clauses, placement of modifiers, and shifts in construction. o Fragments

Dependent clauses alone (needs to be connected to an independent clause) Incorporation of the sentence fragment into the complete sentence coming immediately before or after the fragment. The underline segment will extend from one sentence to the other.

o o o o

Look for punctuation changes in the answer Comma splices (joining two independent clauses together with just a comma)
Run-on sentence

Two independent clauses joined without correct punctuation (usually missing

punctuation) Construction shifts look at the answers. If a modifier is moved in each of the answers, keep your focus on the differences in each answer. Parallelism

Same series of verb tense in entire sentence Same series of nouns

As you read, look for a series of actions and nouns.

Rhetorical Skills Strategy (16%). Questions in this category test how well you develop a given topic by choosing expressions
appropriate to an essay's audience and purpose; judging the effect of adding, revising, or deleting supporting material; and choosing effective opening, transitional, and closing sentences. o 12 strategy question son each test

Transitions between clauses (also, but, therefore)

But contradiction Also in addition Therefore cause and effect

Organization (15%). Questions in this category test how well you organize ideas and judge the relevance of statements in context (making decisions about order, coherence, and unity). o Ordering of whole paragraphs or sentences within a paragraph Style (16%). Questions in this category test how well you select precise and appropriate words and images, maintain the level of style and tone in an essay, manage sentence elements for rhetorical effectiveness, and avoid ambiguous pronoun references, wordiness, and redundancy. o Redundancy

Short and sweet

Clues for the ACT English If verb is underlined subject first then check for o subject-verb agreement (singular or plural) tense (parallel tenseconsistent tense with other verbs) format of perfect tenses (third principal part with has, have, had) If pronoun is underlined antecedent-pronoun agreement (singular or plural) pronoun case (nominative or objectivewatch for who as the subject and whom as the object) pronoun-verb agreement (singular or plural) If phrase or clause is underlined answer choices for a shorter phrase punctuation (commas if phrase/clause is non-restrictive) o commas surrounding an appositive o comma following an introductory adverbial clause o commas to separate independent clauses from modifying phrases of more than just a couple of words o commas to separate every item in a series o comma before a conjunction that joins two independent clauses redundancy within the sentence If a portion of the sentence with a semicolon is underlined the sentence for two independent clauses joined together with the semicolon If a portion of the sentence with a colon is underlined to be certain the an independent clause (a complete thought) precedes the colon sentence or answers for a list of related items to follow If the beginning of a clause is underlined the transitions (but, therefore, also) If an idiom is underlined preposition following the verb in answer choices If the underlined portion contains a dash the words that follow the dash as non-essential the words as parenthetical expressionsreplace the dash with parentheses dashes in the sentencethey usually come in pairs (before and after the phrase)

If a possessive noun is underlined the apostrophe o if the noun is singular, the apostrophe () comes before the s o if the noun is plural, the apostrophe () follows the s

If its/its/its is underlined the correct usage of the word o its is possessive o its is the contraction for it is or it has o its is not a wordit is never the correct answer If end question asks for paragraph order topic sentences for logical organizational order If the underlined words or phrases are testing writing strategies the placement of the underlined phrase or word for logical placement o misplaced modifiers the order of the sentences within the paragraph If the underlined portion does not indicate a correct structure or an error POE (process of elimination) o eliminate the obviously wrong answers o choose the better (or best) of the remaining answers