1. A. NO CHANGE
B. author, Alice Munro
C. author Alice Munro
D. author, Alice Munro,
To pursue a perfect or near-perfect score on the English Test, you have to apply a basic approach to correctly answer every question that tests an identifiable rule. But you must also be able to crack the trickiest questions. Even for the most difficult questions, you do not need to know every rule of English grammar that you either forgot or never learned. Review the rules that are tested the most frequently and use appropriate strategies on the questions, and you can target a perfect score on the English Test. This chapter will teach you the 5-Step Basic Approach and provide a Grammar Glossary that includes both the few terms you need to know and some additional terms we included just in case you were curious.
The English Test tests your editing skills: your ability to fix errors in grammar and punctuation and to improve the organization and style of five different passages. In this chapter, you’ll learn the 5-Step Basic Approach to use on the questions.
On the English Test, there are five prose passages on topics ranging from historical essays to personal narratives. Each passage is typically accompanied by 15 questions for a total of 75 questions to answer in 45 minutes. Portions of each passage are underlined, and you must decide whether these are correct as written, or whether one of the other answers would fix or improve the selection. Other questions will ask you to add, cut, and re-order text, while still others will ask you to evaluate the passage as a whole.
As always on the ACT, time is your enemy. With only 45 minutes to review five passages and answer 75 questions, you can’t read a passage in its entirety and then go back to do the questions. For each passage, work the questions as you make your way through the passage. Read from the beginning until you get to an underlined selection, work that question, and then resume reading until the next underlined portion and the next question.
Not all questions are created equal. In fact, ACT divides the questions on the English Test into two categories: Usage and Mechanics and Rhetorical Skills. These designations will mean very little to you when you’re taking the test. All questions are worth the same, and you’ll crack most of the questions the same way, regardless of what ACT calls them. Many of the rhetorical skills questions, however, are those on organization and style and will come with actual questions. We’ll teach you how to crack those in Chapter 6.
For all the questions accompanied only by 4 answer choices and with no actual question, use our 5-step Basic Approach.
When you reach an underlined portion, read to the end of the sentence and then look at the answers. The answers are your clues to identify what the question is testing. Read through the following example.
1. A. NO CHANGE
B. author, Alice Munro
C. author Alice Munro
D. author, Alice Munro,
Do any of the words change? No. What is the only thing that changes? Commas. So what must be the topic of the question? Commas.
Always identify the topic of the question first. Pay attention to what changes versus what stays the same in the answers.
Step 2. Use POE
You may have already identified the correct answer for question #1, but hold that thought. To earn the highest possible English score, you have to use Process of Elimination (POE). If you fix a question in your head and then look for an answer that matches your fix, you will invariably miss something, such as a new comma added or a comma taken away. Instead, once you’ve identified an error, always eliminate first the choices that do not fix it.
For question #1, the comma is unnecessary and should be deleted. Cross off the choices that leave it, A and D.
1. A. NO CHANGE
B. author, Alice Munro
C. author Alice Munro
D. author, Alice Munro,
Now compare the two that remain, choices (B) and (C). Do you need the comma after author? No, you don’t need any commas, so choice (C) is the correct answer. You could easily have missed the new comma and picked choice (B), however, if you had just been looking for an answer choice that did not have a comma at the end. POE on English isn’t optional or a back up when you’re stuck. Make it your habit to first eliminate wrong answers and then compare the ones that are left.
Let’s move on to the next step.
Don’t skip the non-underlined text in between questions. You need the context to help you choose answers that are both clear and consistent with the rest of the passage. Take a look at this next question.
2. F. NO CHANGE
G. won
H. wins
J. would win
Don’t forget to apply the first two steps. First, look at the answer choices to see that the verb is changing, specifically verb tense. How do you know which tense to use? Use the non-underlined verb received to identify the need for the past tense. Then you can eliminate the answer choices that don’t use past tense, choices (F) (future tense) and (H) (present tense).
2. F. NO CHANGE
G. won
H. wins
J. would win
Next, compare the remaining answers to each other. Choice (J) uses the past tense of the helping verb will, but there are no clues in the non-underlined portion that would justify such a shift. Choice (G) is correct because it’s consistent with the other past tense verb, received.
Don’t skip from question to question. The non-underlined text provides context you need.
Let’s move on to the next step.
Step 4: Trust, But Verify Your Ear
For the first two questions, you may have identified the correct answers right away because they sounded right. If you had that thought, it turned out you were right, but don’t depend exclusively on your ear.
Your ear is a pretty reliable tool for raising the alarm for outright errors and clunky, awkward phrasing. You should, however, always verify what your ear tells you by going through steps 1 and 2. Always use the answers to identify the topic and use POE heavily.
You also have to be on the lookout for errors your ear won’t catch. Using the answers to identify the topic will save you there as well.
Let’s try another question.
3. A. NO CHANGE
B. it’s choice
C. they’re choice
D. its choice
Your ear likely found no problem with the sentence as written. Looking at the answers identifies the topic as pronouns, so you need to confirm or correct the pronoun used. Their is a plural possessive pronoun, but it replaces the singular Swedish Academy and is therefore incorrect. Cross off choices (A) and (C). Since you need a possessive pronoun, cross off choice (B) as well. Choice (D) is the correct answer.
Let’s move on to the last step.
Step 5: Don’t Fix What Isn’t Broken
Read the following sentence.
4. F. NO CHANGE
G. writes with few yet well-chosen words
H. adapts a style
J. makes a strong impression built on few words
Even if it sounds fine to your ear, go to Step 1 and identify the topic. In this case, the changes do not make the topic obvious because so much changes. You can’t confirm what you can’t identify, so leave “NO CHANGE” as an option and ask yourself the following questions:
Does one of the answers fix something you missed?
Does one of the answers make the sentence better by making it more concise?
If the answer to both questions is No for all three other answers, the answer is NO CHANGE, which is the correct answer here. Choices (G) and (J) express the same sentiment as uses sparse prose but (ironically) with many more words. Choice (H) is roughly the same length as choice (F), but it doesn’t identify the specifics of the style.
NO CHANGE is a legitimate answer choice. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that all questions have an error that you just can’t spot. If you use the five steps of our Basic Approach, you’ll catch errors your ear would miss, and you’ll confidently choose NO CHANGE when it’s the correct answer.
This is not an exhaustive list of grammar terms, but it’s also more than we think you need. In fact, the only terms you really need to know are subject, pronoun, verb, conjunction, preposition. Some other terms we included because we use them to explain how to spot and fix some of the more difficult questions on the ACT. We included still others just because you may be curious or think you have to know them. For example, you don’t need to know what predicate or subjunctive means, but we included them to provide a comprehensive list of terms.
If you’re not curious, you have our blessing to focus only on the big terms.
Active Voice: The construction used when the subject acts and the object receives. The dog chases the car. The dog is the subject, and the car is the object. See the contrast in passive voice.
Adjective: A descriptive word that always modifies a noun or a pronoun. Pretty, vast, quick, yellow, bad
Adverb: A descriptive word that always modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Hopefully, always, quickly, however
Article: A short word that identifies a noun. The, a, an
Case: The function or behavior of a pronoun in a sentence. The three cases are objective, possessive, and subjective (or nominative). See object pronouns, possessive pronouns, and subject pronouns.
Clause: A group of words with a subject and a verb. See more under dependent clause and independent clause.
Comma Splice: Two complete ideas linked incorrectly by a comma. The dog chased the car, I chased the dog. One fix would be The dog chased the car, and I chased the dog.
Compound Noun: A noun made up of two elements that acts as a single noun. Depending on the item, the two elements that make up a compound noun might be linked with either a hyphen or space between them, or they can be merged as one word. Swimming pool, baby-sitter, whiteboard
Conjunction: A word that joins words, phrases, or clauses together. See more under coordinate conjunctions and subordinate conjunctions.
Coordinate Conjunction: A word used to link elements of equal importance: adjectives, adverbs, nouns, phrases, or—with the help of a comma—even independent clauses. The acronym FANBOYS can help you remember the seven coordinate conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.
Dependent Clause: An incomplete idea that contains a subject and a verb. The presence of a subordinate conjunction or a relative pronoun acting as a conjunction makes the clause dependent. A dependent clause is also known as a subordinate clause. Because the dog chased the car, while the car was moving, when the dog chases brooms
FANBOYS: The seven coordinate conjunctions. For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
Future Perfect: A tense used to describe a future event that will be completed at a definite later time before a second event occurs. I will have cleaned the whole house before the dog destroys the vacuum. The helping verbs will and to have work with the past participle of the main verb to form the future perfect.
Future Perfect Progressive: A tense used to describe a future event that will be ongoing when a second event occurs. By 5pm, I will have been cleaning all day. The helping verbs will, to have, and to be (its past participle been) work with the present participle to form the future perfect progressive.
Future Progressive: A tense used to describe an ongoing event in the future. I will be cleaning all day tomorrow. The helping verbs will and to be (its base form be) work with the present participle to form the future progressive.
Gerund: The –ing form of the verb used as a noun. Drooling is a sign of rabies.
Idiom: An expression whose form and meaning can be determined by neither grammatical rules nor the usual definitions of its elements. The ACT usually tests idioms that involve a preposition. Different from, in order to, focus on, argue over
Independent Clause: A complete idea that contains a subject and a verb. The dog chased the car. The car is moving. The dog chases brooms.
Infinitive: The base form of the verb with to in front. To bark. To run. To clean. The presence of an infinitive does not meet the requirement of a verb needed to make a clause. An infinitive is like a car up on blocks, but a main verb in a clause is a car in drive. The dog learned to bark. The dog wantsto run. I need to clean the mess.
Irregular Verb: A verb with a past participle that doesn’t follow the usual pattern that regular verbs do of adding –ed at the end. See more under past participle and see regular verb for contrast. The dog ran down the street. The dog hasrun away before. The dog ate the roast beef. The dog has eaten our dinner.
Misplaced Modifier: Any kind of description that is in the wrong place in a sentence and at best creates confusion and at worst describes the wrong item. I made a sweater for the dog with pom-poms and sequins. The meaning would be clearer with I made a sweater with pom-poms and sequins for the dog. Running down the street, a car almost hit me. The meaning would be correct with either changing the item that the phrase describes or moving the phrase and changing it into a clause. Running down the street, I was almost hit by a car. Also correct would be A car
almost hit me when I was running down the street.
Modifier: A word, phrase, or clause that describes something.
Noun: A person, place, thing, or idea. Benjamin Franklin, Chicago, mother, dog, car, freedom
Object: The receiver of the action, or the end of a prepositional phrase. The dog chased the car. She gave the dog to me.
Object Pronoun: A pronoun that replaces a noun as the object in a sentence. Me, you, him, her, whom, us, them
Passive Voice: The construction used when the subject receives the action and the object, if present, performs the action. The car is chased by the dog. The car is the subject, and the dog is the object. In passive voice, the helping verb to be works with the participle of the main verb, and the preposition by is used when the performer of the action is included as the object. See the contrast in active voice.
Past Participle: Past participles work with the helping verb to have to form the perfect tenses. The dog has chewed the upholstery. The dog hasbroken the heirloom vase. For regular verbs, the past participle is the –ed form of the verb and is indistinguishable in form from the simple past. The dog chewed the upholstery. For irregular verbs, the form of both the past participle and the simple past follows no predictable pattern, and they are usually different forms. The dog broke my heirloom vase. See more at irregular verb. Past participles can also function as adjectives. The chewed upholstery can be replaced, but the broken heirloom vase can’t.
Past Perfect: A tense used to make clear the chronology of two events completed at a definite time in the past, one before the other. I had just calmed the dog when the doorbell startled him. The helping verb to have works with the past participle of the main verb to form the past perfect.
Past Perfect Progressive: A tense used to make clear the chronology of two events in the past, one of which is ongoing. I had been cleaning for several hours and was ready to relax. The helping verbs to have (in the past tense) and to be (its past participle been) work with the present participle of the main verb to form the past perfect progressive.
Past Progressive: A tense used to describe an ongoing action in the past tense. The dog was snoring. The helping verb to be works with the present participle of the main verb to form the past progressive.
Phrase: A group of words without a subject and a verb. In most homes, snoring like a sailor
Possessive Pronoun: A pronoun that indicates possession. My, mine, your, yours, her, hers, his, its, whose, our, ours, their, theirs
Predicate: The part of the sentence that provides information about the subject. The simple predicate is the verb. The dog is chewing all of my shoes. The complete predicate includes all the words that say something about the subject. In other words, everything but the subject. The dog is chewing all of my shoes.
Preposition: A little word that describes relationships of time or place between words. About, at, behind, between, by, in, of, off, on, to, with
Prepositional Phrase: A group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with an object, almost always a noun or pronoun. By the car, on the table, between you and me
Present Participle: The –ing form of the verb, used with the helping verb to be to form the progressive tenses. The dog is drooling on my leg. Present participles can also function as adjectives. I love a drooling dog.
Present Perfect: A tense used to describe an event that began in the past and continues into the present, or to describe an event that was completed at some indefinite time before the present. The dog has lived with me for 10 years. The dog has attended obedience school. The helping verb to have works with the past participle of the main verb to form the present perfect.
Present Perfect Progressive: A tense used to describe an ongoing event that began in the past and continues into the present, or to describe an ongoing event that was completed at some indefinite, recent time before the present. I have been trying to train the dog for 10 years. The dog has been behaving. The helping verbs to have and to be (its past participle been) work with the present participle of the main verb to form the present perfect progressive.
Present Progressive: A tense used to describe an ongoing event. The dog is attending obedience school. The helping verb to be works with the present participle of the main verb to form the present progressive.
Pronoun: A word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence. She, me, it, those, ours, who, that
Regular Verb: A verb that uses –ed at the end to form its past participle. The dog listened to my commands. I have trained the dog. See more at past participle and see irregular verb for contrast.
Run-on Sentence: Two complete ideas linked incorrectly with no punctuation. The dog chased the car I chased the dog. One possible fix would be The dog cased the car, and I chased the dog.
Sentence Fragment: An incomplete idea left incorrectly on its own as a full sentence. Because everyone recommends that dogs should be trained right away. One possible fix would be Because everyone recommends that dogs should be trained right away, I sent her to puppy class.
Subject: The performer of the action in a sentence that is in active voice. The dog chases the car. She gave the dog to me. The receiver of the action in a sentence that’s in passive voice. The car was stolen. The car is chased by the dog.
Subject pronoun: A pronoun that replaces a noun as the subject in a sentence. I, you, she, he, who, we, they
Subjunctive Mood: A type of sentence used to express wishes, recommendations, and counterfactuals. I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Wiener. I recommend he study the basics. If I were a rich man, I would give all my money away. In contrast, most sentences are in the indicative mood. The dog was hungry. I run marathons. The imperative mood is used for commands. Eat your vegetables! Sit!
Verb: A word that expresses an action, a feeling, or state of being. Attend, be, calm, came, chase, chew, clean, drool, give, have, live, ring, run, snore, steal, train
Verbal: A word derived from a verb that doesn’t function as a verb in a sentence. Infinitives, participles, and gerunds are all verbals. The dog was a challenge for me to train. The training class meets every Wednesday. Training a dog requires patience. A trained dog is a good dog.
Tense: The form of the verb that tells the time of an event (past, present, future). I chased the dog. I chase the dog. I will chase the dog. These examples can also be referred to as the simple past, simple present, and simple future. The perfect and progressive tenses provide more information about the duration and status of events within each of the three timeframes of past, present, and future.