1. ACT ENGLISH

2. ACT ENGLISH
Tips for English

3. ACT ENGLISH
75 questions, 45 minutes
Tips for English
9 minutes each

4. Questions fall into 2 Categories
USAGE & MECHANICS
Straight-up GRAMMAR
40 questions
RHETORICAL
SKILLS
What GOOD WRITING looks and sounds like
35 Questions
Questions fall into 2 Categories

5. ACT ENGLISH Toolbox Commas Agreement Follow Directions Precisely
Eliminate Redundancy
Contractions
Pick the Exact Right Word
Sentence Structure

6. Know the 6 ways to combine sentences
Lesson 1
TIP #1:
Know the 6 ways to combine sentences
Sentence Structure

7. Compound Sentences: 2 independent clauses (subjects and verbs)
Combo 1
Combo 2
Combo 3
Independent Clause [Comma + Coordinating Conjunction] Independent Clause
(IC , CC IC)
A comma is NEVER strong enough to combine to sentences alone, so a conjunction must be used with it.
Don’t combine them at all. Keep them separated with a period.
(IC . IC)
Independent Clause [SEMICOLON] Independent Clause
(IC ; IC)
A semicolon IS strong enough to combine two sentences together as long as they are linked in some way.
Coord. Conj.
FOR
AND
NOR
BUT OR YET SO

8. Let’s try… (write the sentence)
Every spring, there a contest where I live in northern Minnesota to see who can find the most morels, this year, I’m going to enter.
F) NO CHANGE
G) Morels this
H) morels. This
J) morels, because this
This was question 8 on your diagnostic.

9. Independent clause then the dependent clause
Complex Sentences:
1 independent clause and 1 dependent clause (subject and verb that CANNOT stand alone)
Combo 1
Combo 2
Independent clause then the dependent clause
(IC DC)
Usually a comma is NOT needed to separate the two clauses because of the subordinating conjunction.
Dependent Clause [COMMA] Independent Clause
(DC , IC)
If a dependent clause comes first in the sentence, a comma must be used to separate them.
Dependent clauses start with a subordinating conjunction
AAAWWUUBBISO
Subord. Conj.
AS ALTHOUGHT AFTER WHEN WHILE
UNTIL UNLESS BEFORE BECAUSE IF SINCE
ONCE
These are just a few of them.

10. Let’s try… A) NO CHANGE B) elephants, since 1972,
Cynthia Moss has been studying elephants, since 1972 when she started the now-famous Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Amboseli National Park in Kenya.
A) NO CHANGE
B) elephants, since 1972,
C) elephants since 1972,
D) elephants’ since 1972

11. Let’s try… F) NO CHANGE G) limestones, eroded caves
As the limestone eroded caves formed.
F) NO CHANGE
G) limestones, eroded caves
H) limestone eroded, caves
J) limestone eroded caves,

12. Know how to recognize the distractors
TIP #2
Know how to recognize the distractors
ACT ENGLISH
IC, IC
IC IC
IC, + CC DC
IC CC IC
DC IC DC
A comma can’t combine two sentences alone
2 Sentences combined together = RUN ON
Doesn’t work
FANBOY can’t work alone—must have comma too
Must put a comma between the two
A dependent clause cannot stand alone

13. Let’s try…
In the 1970s, Renaldo Garcia, a Peruvian immigrant, introduced the toy to Brazil and soon started the toy manufacturing company in Brasilia.
Which of the following alternatives to the underlined portion would NOT be acceptable?
F) Brazil. Garcia
G) Brazil, and he
H) Brazil; he
J) Brazil he

14. Lesson 2 Redundancy TIP #3:
Eliminate wordy expressions and avoid redundancy (repetition of the same thing)
Shorter is better!
Unnecessarily wordy answer choices are ALWAYS wrong (too many words)
With surprising frequency, the shortest answer is correct (FOR THIS TYPE OF QUESTION ONLY)
TIP #3:
ACT wants clear, direct, concise simple wording…don’t get caught up in all the lingo!
Redundancy

15. Let’s try…
That’s a crucial part of the preparation to get ready for morel hunting, because often the same woods that yield morels produce poisonous mushrooms, too.
NO CHANGE
To make oneself fit
Of someone planning to be ready
DELETE the underlined portion

16. Let’s try…
Spinning top technology really improved substantially by making a leap forward in the 1980s when designers added smoother points so the toy would spin for a longer time.
NO CHANGE
advanced as a result of progressively making
jumped ahead and made
made

17. Let’s try…
Historians speculate that one of the world’s oldest toys is the spinning top, though they know for sure that the oldest toy is the doll. Drawings of objects adorn Greek vases and the walls of Egyptian temples .
NO CHANGE
Spinning top, but it is hard to know for sure, considering the spinning top’s history.
Spinning top, though no one is certain why some ancient spinning tops were made out of terra cotta, a fragile clay.
Spinning top.

18. Let’s try…
Historians speculate that one of the world’s oldest toys is the spinning top, though they know for sure that the oldest toy is the doll. Drawings of objects adorn Greek vases and the walls of Egyptian temples .
NO CHANGE
That call attention to objects that look something like the toy that I have just mentioned
That include objects that almost slightly resemble spinning tops
Of objects resembling spinning tops