ACT English Practice
When students want to raise their scores quickly, the English section of the ACT is typically the easiest place to start. There are basic English grammar concepts that you need to know for the ACT that are easy to learn. Once you learn the content, then it’s all about practice.
Take a look.
The English section tests around 25 repeated grammar rules over and over again.
Here they are: The Top 25 Topics For ACT English Practice.
Joining Sentences: periods, semi-colons, colons, FANBOYS
Using commas correctly in sentences
Verb tense & agreement
Independent and dependent clauses
Who/whom
It’s/Its/Its’
(Its’ is not a word)✔
Apostrophes: plural vs. Possessive
Full sentences vs. sentence fragments
Dashes
Pronoun agreement
Dangling modifiers
Parallel structure
Transitional words and transitions between paragraphs
No redundancy/shorter is better!
Specific detail questions
Style questions--insert, delete, or replace?
Sentence order & paragraph order
Yes, yes/ No, no questions
What was the writer’s intent?
Should have, could have, would have
(NOT should of, could of, would of)✔Which is NOT acceptable?
(Always circle NOT and EXCEPT)✔Comparisons
(More THAN, not more then)✔Lie/lay, affect/effect, pair/pear/pare, lead/led
Appositive or NOT?
Usually, there are NO commas around proper names on the ACT✔Coordinate vs. cumulative adjectives
Feeling OVERWHELMED?
You don’t have to be! Many students walk out of my English training sessions saying that “they learned more in the past three hours than they have in all of their school years combined.”
I love hearing this because I love grammar. I love teaching. I love words.
I’m thankful that I have been able to communicate these basic grammar concepts
in a way that students can easily understand.
Practice makes better.
Better test scores mean access to better opportunities and more choices for you when it comes to college. Access to merit-based scholarships gives you more opportunities and can broaden your options. Practice will never make perfect — but better scores give students better options.