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ACT English Prep Cheat Sheet by

About 2/3 of the questions in the English section of the ACT involve grammar, mechanics, and punctuation. This little guide will help you prepare for them.

BASIC STRATEGIES

LESS IS MORE
CROSS OUT THE CRAP
READ VERTICALLY
WHEN IN DOUBT
Go with the shortest answer possible. Ignore this rule if the shortest answer makes no sense.
Whenever you are hunting down the subject, or whenever you think a grammar question is tricky, CROSS OUT THE CRAP.
Use the answer choices to help you determine the skill being tested.
If there is a NO CHANGE option, it is right 25% of the time.
The original (NO CHANGE) answer may already be the shortest.
Crap includes: prepos­itional phrases, non-es­sential phrases, and descri­ptions
More than one skill can be tested at a time.
If there is an "­OMI­T" option, that is right 50% of the time.

SENT­ENCES

SUBJEC­T-VERB AGREEMENT
COMPLETE SENTENCES
TRANSITION WORDS
Subjects agree with their verbs in number (singular or plural).
A complete sentence as three requir­ements.
Read the previous sentence.
EXAMPLE: The friends are robbing banks.
A subject: The dog sought shelter from the storm.
Two agreeing sentences: conseq­uently, thus, therefore, because of, furthe­rmore, in fact, indeed, moreover
Subjects can be nouns or pronouns.
A verb: Manny proudly carried his bucket of lobsters.
EXAMPLE: He studies; thus, he gets good grades.
EXAMPLE: They are terror­izing the Midwest.
A complete thought: Kyle seemed lost in thought.
Two disagr­eeing sentences: conver­sely, despite, ironic­ally, however, still, though, yet, noneth­eless, in spite of, nevert­heless
Watch out for prepos­itional phrases!
A complete thought is a collection of words that is fully unders­tan­dable.
EXAMPLE: Sam interv­iewed for the job; however, he did not get called back.
EXAMPLE: The butterfly with the bright colors is beautiful.
A complete thought could also just be one subject and one verb, as long as it makes sense.
Other transi­tions: **in closing, generally, as, after, while, until, before
COMPOUND SENTENCE
Two complete sentences joined together to create one sentence.
COMMA+­FAN­BOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
EXAMPLE: Savannah likes soccer and tennis, but she loves pro-wr­estling more.
SEMICOLON: No comma or FANBOYS needed
EXAMPLE: Savannah likes soccer and tennis; she loves pro-wr­estling more.
COMPLEX SENTENCE
One incomplete sentence and one complete sentence joined together to create one sentence.
COMMAS are only used if the incomplete sentence comes first.
EXAMPLE: Because Savannah loved pro-wr­est­ling, she went to Buffalo Jim's Wrestling School.

PARALLEL STRUCT­URE

IF YOU START ONE WAY, YOU KEEP IT THAT WAY
Verbs: He was walking, talking, and smiling.
Punctu­ation: He smiled -- roguishly, strangely -- at the woman in the coffee shop.
Voice: One will find that the library is a great place for one to study.

MODI­FIERS

MODIFIERS ARE ADJECT­IVE­S/A­DVE­RBS­/DE­SCR­IPTIVE PHRASES
SUPERL­ATIVES
EXAMPLE: Elegantly dressed, the queen floated into the room.
Superl­atives are just modifiers that distin­guish differ­ences between things or ideas.
A MODIFYING CLAUSE GOES NEXT TO WHAT IT MODIFIES
When comparing two things, use -er/-ier, more, or less.
EXAMPLE: Driving home late after work, he proceeded cautio­usly.
When comparing three or more things, use -est/iest, most, least.
BAD EXAMPLE: Racing through the red light, the police officer pulled Liam over.
EXAMPLE: I like chocolate ice cream more than vanilla, but peanut butter chocolate ice cream is my most favorite.

COMMAS

SEPARATE ITEMS IN A LIST
INTROD­UCTORY PHRASES
NON-ES­SENTIAL PHRASES
Millie remembered to bring her toothb­rush, face wash, and sword.
Over the weekend, Millie slayed many a demon.
Millie, smart and brave, was soon praised by all in the town.

APOS­TRO­PHES

CONTRA­CTIONS
POSSESSION
When checking whether a word is a contra­ction or not, try pulling it apart into two words.
If one owner: 's
EXAMPLES: it's (it is), you've (you have), you're (you are), they've (they have), we've (we have), he's (he is), it's (it is), who's (who is)
If more than one owner: s'
WEIRD POSSES­SIONS:
its, whose, your, their, ours

SEMI­COLONS, COLONS, AND LONG DASHES

SEMICOLONS
COLONS
LONG DASHES
Semicolon = ;
Colon = :
Long Dash = --
They can only be used to CONNECT TWO COMPLETE SENTENCES.
A COMPLETE SENTENCE must come BEFORE the colon.
If using a single long dash, a COMPLETE SENTENCE must go BEFORE it.
Often, they are used to connect transi­tions as well.
Colons are used to set off: lists, explan­ations, defini­tions, quotes, etc.
If you want to add some drama, you can replace two commas with two long dashes for effect.
EXAMPLE: Mike was very worried about Will; in fact, he couldn't even sleep because of it.
EXAMPLE: Papa could often be heard singing his favorite song: "You are My Sunshi­ne."­
EXAMPLE: The Rainbow Room -- deadly quiet, hauntingly still -- was not as empty as it seemed.
 

COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS

Then/Than
Its/It's
Two/To/Too
There/­The­ir/­They're
Then refers to time.
Its is possessive pronoun.
Two is a number, as in 2.
There usually refers to a place, like here and there.
EXAMPLE: He went to the store; then he went home.
EXAMPLE: I love its color!
To is a prepos­ition or the beginning of an infini­tive.
Their is a possessive pronoun.
Than is a compar­ison.
It's is a contra­ction that means it is
Too means also or to indicate a large amount.
They're is a contra­ction of they are
EXAMPLE: She like big dogs more than little ones.
EXAMPLE: It's (It is) so good to see youi!
EXAMPLE: Two monsters went to Tokyo to destroy it, but Tokyo was too far away, and they had bellya­ches, too.
EXAMPLE: They're (They are) going over there to get their money back.

PRON­OUNS

PRONOUNS MUST BE CLEAR
WHO VERSUS WHOM
It needs to be obvious what the pronoun is referring to.
Who is a subject. Subjects get to do things.
EXAMPLE: Bob and John went shopping and they bought too much junk food.
EXAMPLE: Who will be singing for us tonight?
PRONOUNS MUST AGREE IN NUMBER­/GENDER BASED ON ITS ANTECEDENT (THE NOUN THAT COMES BEFORE IT)
EXAMPLE: I know this guy who will eat anything for a dollar.
EXAMPLE: The new store sits between buildings more than twice its height.
Whom is an object. Objects get stuff done to them.
EXAMPLE: The first chair trombonist from Pea Ridge was very happy with his/her contest score.
EXAMPLE: To whom are you speaking?

IRRE­GULAR VERBS

Today, I...
Yesterday, I...
For years, I...
begin
began
have begun
break
broke
have broken
bring
brought
have brought
build
built
have built
choose
chose
have chosen
go
went
have gone
lead
led
have led
ring
rang
have rung
rise
rose
have risen
run
ran
have run
see
saw
have seen
seek
sought
have sought
shrink
shrank
have shrunk
sing
sang
have sung
sink
sank
have sunk
speak
spoke
have spoken
swim
swam
have swum
THESE ARE NOT WORDS -- SO, STOP USING THEM
irrega­rdless, funner, where at, its', could of, kinda, boughten

PREPOS­ITIONS

CAN A SQUIRREL DO THIS WITH A TREE?

PREPOS­ITIONS

about
above
across
after
against
around
along
among
at
behind
before
beneath
beside
between
beyond
by
down
during
except
for
from
in
near
of
off
on
opposite
out
outside
over
past
regarding
round
since
to
through
under
until
up
with
within
The squirrel and tree metaphor doesn't always work, but it's still helpful.
                           
 

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