For a top-notch ACT English score, you need to know your grammar rules inside and out. More than half of the questions in the ACT English section test your understanding of English grammar, known on the ACT as “Conventions of Standard English” questions.
Although this post won’t go through ALL the English rules to know for the ACT, we will discuss the most commonly tested rules to help you kickstart your ACT grammar practice. Master the following 19 grammar rules, and you’ll not only be better prepared to take on the ACT English questions, but you’ll also have a leg up on the ACT essay (the optional Writing test). Make sure to use our Comprehension Checks and ACT Grammar Practice Questions to test your understanding along the way!
The basic objective of grammar is to create sentences! Knowing how sentences are structured and how to identify improperly structured sentences should be the first thing you focus on in your ACT grammar practice.
In the sentence “ Susie loves fancy snacks ,” Susie is the subject (who or what the sentence is about) and loves fancy snacks is the predicate (a phrase that has a verb and a complete thought).
If a sentence doesn’t have these two components, it is called a fragment. Here are a few examples of fragments:
Comprehension Check:
Why are the above fragments not considered complete sentences?
Click here for the answer
“ Jumped over the fence ” lacks a subject.
“ I am ” lacks a complete predicate.
“ Without a dream to hold on to ” lacks a subject and a verb.
“ Such as chocolate-dipped strawberries ” lacks a subject and a verb.
Knowing how to fix fragments is key for ACT English grammar questions. Most times, fragments can be fixed by…
or combining it with another sentence:
ACT Grammar Pro Tip:
One of our biggest ACT grammar tips is to watch out for fragments that seem to be connected to the previous sentence, but can’t stand alone grammatically. For example:
She was a wonderful professor. The most wonderful professor.
The second sentence does not have a subject or a complete predicate. An acceptable edit of the sentence would be:
She was a wonderful professor. In fact, she was the most wonderful professor.
Many fragment questions on the ACT refer to what look like complete sentences but are actually just two or more fragments connected to each other. In these cases, adding or combining sentence elements might not be enough; you might need to change an element altogether.
Finishing his lab experiment before the rest of the class, then deciding to leave early.
Why is this an incomplete sentence? Because it lacks a subject and a proper verb. To fix it, you would need to add a subject and change the verb form:
Finishing his lab experiment before the rest of the class, Jack decided to leave early.
ACT Grammar Pro Tip:
The use of gerunds and the pronoun “he” in the above sentence tricks you into thinking that there is a subject and a verb. A gerund looks like a verb, but it’s actually a derivative of a verb that functions as a noun, sometimes called a helping verb (such as, “She is running.”). Rest assured, you do not need to memorize the definition of “gerund” for the ACT! However, do make sure you can differentiate between verbs and nouns that appear in passages on the exam. The ACT will try to trick you with gerunds, so watch out!
A. NO CHANGE
B. That is until I met Scottie.
C. I met Scottie.
D. That changed when I met Scottie.
Click here for the answer
Answer: D. That changed when I met Scottie.
Explanation: “Until” is a subordinating conjunction, which creates a dependent clause that can’t stand alone as a sentence (more info on dependent clauses and subordinating conjunctions are in the following sections). The only choice that’s a complete sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence is D. The passage should now read as:
The idea of living with them scared me. That changed when I met Scottie.
(Wondering why the other answer choices for this question are incorrect? Check out the video explanation.)
In order to understand run-on sentences, it’s important to understand the difference between independent clauses and dependent clauses. An independent clause is a phrase that can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent clause is a phrase that contains a verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence.
Comprehension Check:
What are the independent and dependent clauses in the following?
I enjoyed my night alone despite initially wanting to see a movie with friends.
Click here for the answer
“I enjoyed my night alone” is the independent clause and “initially wanting to see a movie with friends” is the dependent clause. (FYI, “despite” is a subordinating conjunction).
A run-on sentence is when a sentence has too many independent clauses that aren’t combined properly. Students frequently make the mistake of attempting to combine run-on sentences with a comma, and this results in a grammatical error known as the comma splice.
The following is an example of a comma splice:
I run five miles along the river on Saturdays, I do this even when it’s raining.
Knowing how to identify a comma splice and fix it is critical for your ACT grammar prep. You can fix a comma splice by:
For more on comma rules and more, be sure to check out this video!
On her journey, she passed by an old building called Frankenstein Castle, the castle had once been the home of an experimenting alchemist.
A. NO CHANGE
B. Castle. It
C. Castle, it
D. Castle;
Click here for the answer
Answer: B. Castle. It
Explanation: This is a clear case of a comma splice: two clauses that can stand on their own as sentences improperly joined by a comma. Option B. fixes the comma splice by separating the clauses into two sentences and doesn’t create any additional errors. The passage should be:
On her journey, she passed by an old building called Frankenstein Castle. It had once been the home of an experimenting alchemist.
(Want to know why the other options don’t work? Check out our video explanation.
Your ACT grammar review needs to include verb tenses and subject-verb agreement. Here are some of the most important rules that will help you with ACT verb questions that you may come across:
Knowing subject-verb agreement rules, which refers to whether or not the subject matches the corresponding verb, are some of the most useful grammar rules to know for the ACT. In grammar, there are five types of subjects:
For the present simple and present perfect tenses (more on verb tenses in the next two rules), verb forms are consistent across all subjects except third-person singular verbs and “to be” verbs.
For third-person singular:
ACT Grammar Pro Tip:
Since the ACT English section requires you to speed through 75 questions in only 45 minutes, don’t waste time checking subject-verb agreement for the following verb tenses:
If these names are confusing, no worries, because we’ll go over them in the next two rules!
The verb forms in these cases are the same across all subjects, including third-person singular (e.g. I walked , he walked , we will walk , she will walk , they had been , he had been ).
The following are the subject-verb agreement rules for the verb “to be”:
| Subject | Past Simple | Present Simple | Present Perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | was | am | have been |
| You | were | are | have been |
| He/She/It | was | is | has been |
| We | were | are | have been |
| They | were | are | have been |
The philosophy of organic architecture, with the scope of its meaning mirrored in the developments of Wright’s various architectural projects, were consistently present in many of his works and developments.
A. NO CHANGE
B. projects were consistently
C. projects, was consistently
D. projects was, consistently
Click here for the answer
Answer: C. projects, was consistently
Explanation: The subject is “philosophy of organic architecture,” which is a singular idea; therefore, the matching verb should be “was” and the sentence should read:
The philosophy of organic architecture, with the scope of its meaning mirrored in the developments of Wright’s various architectural projects, was consistently present in many of his works and developments.
ACT Grammar Pro Tip:
When you come across a question that seems to be testing subject-verb agreement, identify the subject right away and match it with the verb. The ACT will definitely confuse you with sentences like the one above that put information between the subject and the verb. Because “projects” is the word closest to “were,” it looks like there is subject-verb agreement, even though “projects” is not the subject of the sentence; the subject of the sentence is “philosophy.”
Modals are a category of words (auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs) that appear before verbs in sentences. These are words like can, should, would, could, may, might, etc. The purpose of modals is to add a subtle distinction to the tone, intent, or purpose of a piece of writing.
Even though you use modals in everyday language, it can be hard to know which situations allow you to use modals interchangeably and which situations require the use of one modal over another.
Take “can” and “could” for example. If you want to ask someone for a favor, you can use the following two options and the meaning is pretty much the same:
Can you pass me the broccoli?
Could you pass me the broccoli?
“Can” and “could” are also used to express possibility but sometimes in different ways. For example, if you’ve been waiting for the bus a while, someone could say the following to you:
The bus can be a little late sometimes → The focus here is on the bus’ past tendency to be late sometimes, which provides information about the present. That’s why “could” does not make sense.
In fact, the bus could be late as much as 20 minutes → The focus here is on the bus’ future possibility of being up to 20 minutes late, based on past information. That’s why “can” does not make sense.
Confusing, right?! Luckily, if you’re a native English speaker, you should know most of these rules internally. So the best way to tackle modals on the ACT is to pay extra attention when they come up.
ACT Grammar Pro Tip:
Verbs change to their bare form following modals, meaning that there are no tense or subject-verb agreement markers. ACT English often tests these kinds of minor shifts in verb form, so be on the lookout.
Below are some examples of how verbs change to their bare form when you add a modal:
She is → She should be
They are → They could be
He eats → He might eat
If you’re still unclear on the different ways modals are used, check out the video below, which goes over the above examples in a bit more depth:
Suppose, instead, you saw 15 or 20 of these streaking lights, or perhaps a stream of them that went on for half an hour. You will be seeing what scientists call a meteor shower.
A. NO CHANGE
B. would be seeing
C. were seeing
D. will see
Click here for the answer
Answer: B. would be seeing
Explanation: Sometimes, “would” and “will” can be used interchangeably (for example, when making a request). However, when talking about hypothetical situations, which is the case in this ACT passage, “would” is the only option. Therefore, the passage should read as:
Suppose, instead, you saw 15 or 20 of these streaking lights, or perhaps a stream of them that went on for half an hour. You would be seeing what scientists call a meteor shower.
(Still unsure why the other choices don’t fit? Check out our video explanation.)
There are two elements that make up the six basic tenses: the tense itself (whether an action happens in the past, present, or future) and the aspect (how an action relates to different aspects of time).
The two main aspects are simple (the focus is on when a singular action is, was, or will be completed) and perfect (the focus is on when an action is connected to more than one time period OR when the action happening is secondary to the action itself).
It’s a bit confusing to discuss aspects without examples, so keep reading! Although you don’t need to memorize these terms for the ACT, being familiar with the general structures of verb tenses will give you an edge on the exam.
The simple past tense is used to show something that has already happened → I studied for the ACT last year.
The simple present tense is used to express:
The simple future tense is used to express anything that is intended to happen in the future → I will go to college next year.
The past perfect tense is used to talk about an action in the past that happened before another action in the past → By the time I woke up, my mother had left for work.
The present perfect tense is used to express:
The future perfect tense is used to discuss a completed action in the future → My brother will have turned 30 by the time this decade is over.
While the electoral system has been in place since the 1800s, it does not have, nor has it ever had, united appeal; in fact, as time passes, it became increasingly controversial, with some calling for its elimination.
A. NO CHANGE
B. becomes
C. has become
D. had become
Click here for the answer
Answer: C. has become
Explanation: This sentence is referring to the electoral college losing its appeal as time goes on. Because this is referring to something that started in the past and continues into the future, the best tense to use in this situation is present perfect, which is answer choice C. The sentence should read as:
In fact, as time passes, it has become increasingly controversial, with some calling for its elimination.
(Still unclear about why the other answer choices don’t fit here? Check out our video explanation.)
Progressive tenses describe continuous actions that happen in the past, present, or future. Like basic tenses, they also have simple and perfect aspects.
The past progressive tense is a simple tense used to show something was in the process of happening when something else happened → I was watching TV when you called me.
The present progressive tense is the one we typically use to describe actions taking place in the present → What are you doing right now? I am studying for the ACT, so please don’t bother me.
Present progressive can also be used to describe actions in the future → I am going on vacation tomorrow. They are not working next Monday because it’s a holiday.
The future progressive tense is used to describe an action that is in the middle of happening at a particular time in the future → What will he be doing tomorrow at 11 am? He will be doing his chores.
The past perfect progressive tense is sort of like the past progressive tense but it’s used when you want to stress that an action had been going on for a long time → I had been watching TV for two hours when you called.
The present perfect progressive tense is used to express:
The future perfect progressive tense is used to discuss a continuous action in the future at a particular time → My mother will have been making dinner by the time I come home from school.
In 1939, an American inventor named Luther Simjian patented an early version of an ATM that were not having much success.
A. NO CHANGE
B. was not having
C. did not have
D. will not have
Click here for the answer
Answer: C. did not have
Explanation: The sentence is currently using past progressive tense, which does not fit in with the context. If the ATM was being talked about not having success before something else happened, then past progressive may make sense. Therefore, the only tense that fits in this sentence is past simple or answer choice C. The sentence should read:
In 1939, an American inventor named Luther Simjian patented an early version of an ATM that did not have much success.
(Curious about why the other choices are incorrect? Click here to watch the video explanation.)
Subject-verb agreement questions on the ACT also try to confuse you with sentences in which the subject comes after the verb. This is called subject-verb inversion. For example, in the sentence…
Under the lamppost stood a mysterious man.
…the subject “ mysterious man ” comes after the verb “ stood .”
Subject-verb inversions can be particularly tough. When you see a sentence like this, your mental ear has no chance of hearing the correct subject before you get to the verb because you haven’t even read it yet.
ACT Grammar Pro Tip:
In the above sentence, note that there is not a comma after lamppost! Many students want to place a comma here. Resist!
On the mantle above my grandmother’s fireplace lies the collected shells from our evening beach walks.
A. NO CHANGE
B. lie the collected
C. lies the collecting
D. lie the collecting
Click here for the answer
Answer: B. lie the collected
Explanation: The subject in question is not actually “mantle”; it’s “shells.” Therefore, according to the subject-verb agreement rules, the verb should actually be “lie” and the sentence should read as such:
On the mantle above my grandmother’s fireplace lie the collected shells from our evening beach walks.
Unless there is a specific reason to change the tenses of verbs in a passage (such as a shift from describing past events to describing present or future ones), verb tense should be the same across a passage.
For example, in the sentence, “ The noodles are produced on a large automated assembly line and then were put into boxes ,” are is in present tense and were is in past tense. The verbs need to be changed to just one tense so that the structure is parallel. If this comes up on the ACT, the verb you choose to change depends on the greater context in the passage.
What made Angelina and Sarah unique and defined within abolitionist circles is their ability to imbue their commanding speeches with personal experience.
A. NO CHANGE
B. is their abilities
C. was their ability
D. was their abilities
Click here for the answer
Answer: C. was their ability
Explanation: The past simple form of “made” and the context that Angelina and Sarah were part of abolitionist circles indicates that this sentence is referring to past events. Therefore, “is”—the present simple form of “to be”—is inconsistent in this situation. The answer choice C. is the correct verb form that has subject-verb agreement. Here is the correct sentence:
What made Angelina and Sarah unique and defined within abolitionist circles was their ability to imbue their commanding speeches with personal experience.
(For more on verbs and why the other answer choices for this question are incorrect, check out this lesson video on verb tense.)
Pronouns replace or refer to subjects or objects in a sentence. There are several types of pronouns that will come up on the ACT, including:
For a full list of pronoun types, check out this list.
An antecedent refers to the subject(s) or object(s) that the pronoun replaces in the sentence/paragraph.
Comprehension Check:
In the below example, does the antecedent match the pronoun?
We went to the store this morning and they were out of milk.
Click here for the answer
The antecedent and pronoun do not match. The antecedent “store” is a singular object. Therefore, the correct pronoun should be “it” and the sentence should read as:
We went to the store this morning and it was out of milk.
ACT Grammar Pro Tip:
Here are our ACT English grammar tips for knocking antecedent/pronoun questions out of the park:
When my family first decided to get a dog, I was terrified. The idea of living with them scared me. A. NO CHANGE
B. him
C. one
D. whom Click here for the answer Answer: C. one Explanation: Because “them” does not match the singular “dog,” we need a subject pronoun that matches the antecedent. Answer choice C. is the best option in this case. The passage should read as: When my family first decided to get a dog, I was terrified. The idea of living with one scared me. (Wondering why “him” or “whom” doesn’t fit? Check out our video explanation.
Sentences with two or more antecedents run the risk of having ambiguous pronouns. For example: Mark met Steve after he had dinner. Though the writer might know that Mark was the person who had dinner, the reader would have no idea. Here’s the correct way to write the sentence: Mark met Steve after Mark had dinner. (A quick aside: Though the sentence above is technically correct and would be a correct answer on the ACT English Test, it isn’t the best way to convey information. If you’re focused on improving the flow of your writing, a better version would be: After Mark had dinner, he met Steve. There, doesn’t that sound better? 🙂 )
Learn more and practice with ambiguous pronouns!
Your knowledge of ACT English grammar rules has to include conjunctions because the English section is all about them! The test makers will not only test you on how to use conjunctions correctly but also on how to pick the correct conjunction to convey the intention of a sentence or sentences. Here are the rules about the two types of conjunctions: coordinating and subordinating.
Coordinating conjunctions describe how two equally important clauses relate to one another: I eat pizza all the time, so I obviously like it. I like pizza, but I don’t like ice cream. Coordinating conjunctions are also used right before the last item in a list (notice how a comma is used before the conjunction): My favorite things to do at camp are hiking, swimming, and sailing. The acronym FANBOYS can help us remember coordinating conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.
Royal families, additionally, have been recorded either in carefree, knockabout moments, or in stately, respectful poses. A. NO CHANGE
B. moments or in
C. moments, and in
D. moments and in Click here for the answer Answer: B. moments or in Explanation: The word “either” allows us to understand that the correct coordinating conjunction is indeed “or.” However, the comma is not necessary because commas are only needed when joining two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction; none of the clauses in this sentence are independent clauses. (Not satisfied with this explanation? Check out our video explanation for more.)
Subordinating conjunctions are used when a sentence has at least one independent clause and one or more additional clauses that enhance the main clause. These clauses can be independent or dependent clauses. There are many subordinating conjunctions. Here are a few common ones: after, although, because, if, than, that, when, where, while, before, as soon as, since, though, unless, until, once. Take the following sentence: I plan to launch my career as a poet once I finish this novel I am writing because my English teacher told me I could do it for extra credit. In this example above, the main clause is, “I plan to launch my career as a poet.” The subordinating conjunction “once” gives us more information on when the speaker plans to launch her poetic career, and the second subordinating conjunction “because” gives more information on why the writer is writing a novel first. These subordinating conjunctions clearly show how the dependent clauses build on the main clause. Comprehension Check: Fill in the blank below. Should it be “because” or “although”? The first few months have been relatively dry _____ weather forecasters predicted a rainy year. Click here for the answer “Although” correctly sets up the contradiction between the two parts. And we’ve nailed what the sentence is trying to convey: even though forecasters said it would be rainy, it’s actually been dry so far. “Because” doesn’t quite make sense because if forecasters predicted a rainy year we wouldn’t expect the first few months to be relatively dry. And they definitely aren’t dry because forecasters said they would be rainy.
Because Willa Brown does not have the name recognition of Amelia Earhart, her contributions to the history of women in aviation should not be underestimated. A. NO CHANGE
B. Since
C. Whereas
D. Although Click here for the answer Answer: D. Although Explanation: The current sentence says that Willa Brown’s contributions should not be underestimated because she doesn’t have the same name recognition as Amelia Earhart. This doesn’t make sense, so we should probably look for a conjunction that shows a contrasting relationship between the two ideas. That leaves us with “although” and “whereas.” “Whereas” is typically used to compare clauses that are total opposites. Using “whereas” would make sense if the sentence were something like: Whereas Amelia Earhart is immortalized in history, Willa Brown is virtually unknown. That leaves us with “although.” See how it makes sense in context: Although Willa Brown does not have the name recognition of Amelia Earhart, her contributions to the history of women in aviation should not be underestimated. (For more on how we got to this answer, check out our lesson video on conjunctions.)
Need more help with conjunctions? Check out this guide from Grammar Monster!
Parallel structure refers to a pattern in writing or grammatical structure. When it comes to sentences that list items, compare two or more items, or contain multiple prepositional phrases, parallelism is key. Because parallelism errors can be some of the hardest to catch, the below rules are some of the most useful grammar rules for the ACT.
Do you see anything wrong with the below sentence? For breakfast, I like to eat cereal, fruit, and I also like yogurt. “Yogurt” is getting a little extra love there and grammatically-speaking, that’s a no-no. To correct the parallel structure we need to get rid of the stuff in front of “yogurt” so we just have a list of three nouns: For breakfast, I like to eat cereal, fruit, and yogurt. Lists in a sentence don’t necessarily have to be a group of nouns; they could be verb phrases, for example: To escape the wicked witch, the boy ran out of the gingerbread house, rolled down the hill, and went jumping across a river of fire. Comprehension Check: What’s the parallelism error in the above sentence? Click here for the answer The first two verbs, “ran” and “rolled,” are in simple past tense while “jumping” is a gerund. That means we need to change “went jumping” to simple past tense as well. The sentence sounds much better as: To escape the wicked witch, the boy ran out of the gingerbread house, rolled down the hill, and jumped across a river of fire.
Throughout his 70-year career, Wright published articles, gave lectures, and had written many books. A. NO CHANGE
B. written
C. had wrote.
D. wrote Click here for the answer Answer: D. wrote Explanation: This is another sentence that contains lists of verb phrases. Because “published” and “gave” are in simple past tense, “had written,” which is in past perfect tense, creates a parallelism error. The sentence should be written as: Throughout his 70-year career, Wright published articles, gave lectures, and wrote many books. (For more details regarding this answer, click here for the video explanation.)
Comparisons are among the trickier parallelism questions tested on the ACT. But once you realize how ridiculous comparison parallelism errors sound to the ear, you’ll be able to spot them with ease. In the following sentence, we have a parallelism error: Danny’s test scores weren’t as good as Bryan. As this sentence stands, it looks like it’s comparing Danny’s test scores to Bryan, the human, which makes no sense. The sentence should read as some sort of variation of the below: Danny’s test scores weren’t as good as Bryan’s (test) scores.
Although Lise Meitner’s pioneering work in the field of nuclear physics isn’t as well known as Marie Curie, Meitner should be equally celebrated as a scientist during a time when very few women were in science, let alone leading scientific breakthroughs. A. NO CHANGE
B. as well known as, Marie Curie’s
C. as well known as Marie Curie’s work in radioactivity
D. as well known as Marie Curie and her work in radioactivity Click here for the answer Answer: C. as well-known as Marie Curie’s work in radioactivity Explanation: As the sentence is written, it looks like its comparing Meitner’s work in nuclear physics to Marie Curie herself. B. is not a good option because it has an incorrectly-placed comma. D. is not a good option because it creates another parallelism error; Lise Meitner’s work is not comparable to Marie Curie, the person, and her work. We are left with C.: Although Lise Meitner’s pioneering work in the field of nuclear physics isn’t as well-known as Marie Curie’s work in radioactivity, Meitner should be equally celebrated as a scientist during a time when very few women were in science, let alone leading scientific breakthroughs.
Sometimes even trickier parallel structure questions have to do with prepositional phrases, which are—you guessed it!—phrases that contain a preposition. To do well on these types of questions, try reviewing idioms on the ACT, which covers common prepositional phrases. Comprehension Check: Below is an example of a sentence with prepositional phrases. How do you think the parallelism in the sentence below can be improved? I was both surprised and worried about the outcome of our class elections. Click here for the answer To see how this sentence doesn’t work, we should take out “and worried”: I was both surprised about the outcome of our class elections. We need a preposition to go with “surprised” that works with that verb and sets up the parallel structure with “worried about.” A correct answer would be: I was both surprised by and worried about the outcome of our class elections.
The problem was that voters were simply not aware or interested in the candidate’s comprehensive, albeit dense, platform. A. NO CHANGE
B. aware or interested about
C. aware of or interested
D. aware of or interested in Click here for the answer Answer: D. aware of or interested in Explanation: Let’s break apart this sentence to make sure the two prepositional phrases work: The problem was that voters were simply not aware in the electoral reforms championed by the underdog candidate. The problem was that voters were simply not interested in the electoral reforms championed by the underdog candidate. The second sentence definitely works. The first sentence sounds off to the ears because “aware in” is not the right idiomatic construction; it should be “aware of.” Therefore, the only answer that works is D. The sentence should read as: The problem was that voters were simply not aware of or interested in the candidate’s comprehensive, albeit dense, platform. B. doesn’t work because “interested about” is not a correct prepositional phrase. Also, “aware about” may be technically correct, it is not as commonly used as “aware of” C. doesn’t work because “interested” is missing a preposition.
Modifiers are words or phrases that describe another word or phrase in a sentence. Take the following: Yawning, Laila got up from the couch and left the room. In the example, the word “yawning” is modifying the subject, Laila.
A. NO CHANGE
B. in the dark, cold winter
C. in the dark winter cold
D. in dark winter, the cold
Click here for the answer
Answer: B. in the cold, dark winter
Explanation: In this case of a misplaced modifier, the original sentence has “ dark ” modifying “ cold ,” which might sound poetic but doesn’t really make sense. It makes much more sense to describe “ winter ” as dark. Therefore, B. is the only answer in which “ dark ” modifies “ winter .”
The sentence should read as:
However, getting up in the dark, cold winter seemed totally crazy to me.
While a misplaced modifier seems to fit the word or phrase it’s modifying—even though it’s incorrectly placed—dangling modifiers are missing an appropriate word or phrase altogether. Dangling modifiers tend to be easier to catch because they just sound off to the ear.
Take the following sentence for example:
Shoving food into my mouth, a content sigh escaped me.
The sentence currently reads as though the content sigh was shoving food into my mouth, which is just bonkers. To fix this dangling modifier, you need to add in the subject:
Shoving food into my mouth, I sighed contentedly.
The son of a glove maker in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the formal education Shakespeare did have was brief.
A. NO CHANGE
B. the brief formal education, which was had by Shakespeare.
C. Shakespeare had only a brief formal education.
D. the education Shakespeare had was formal and brief.
Click here for the answer
Answer: C. Shakespeare had only a brief
Explanation: It is clear that “ the son of a glove maker in Stratford-Upon-Avon ” is referring to Shakespeare, not his formal education. Therefore, C. can be the only answer. The corrected sentence is:
The son of a glove maker in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare had only a brief formal education.
(Still unclear about the right answer? Check out our video explanation.)
Appositives are kind of like modifiers, but they are specifically a noun or a noun phrase. The structure of an appositive is a bit different from a modifier as well.
In these scenarios, appositives introduce extra information that is helpful but not essential to the sentence. This means you can lift whatever is set off with commas out of the sentence, and it should still read as a sentence. Take the following sentence with the appositive in italics:
My uncle, the greatest chef who ever lived, is cooking dinner tonight.
You can take the appositive out and the sentence would still be complete:
My uncle is cooking dinner tonight.
So when an appositive is in the middle of a sentence, make sure that one of these commas isn’t dropped and that you’re actually setting off the right part of the sentence with the comma. The following are all incorrect:
I, only a child had never seen a dog up close and in person.
A. NO CHANGE
B. I, only a child,
C. I only a child
D. I only a child,
Click here for the answer
Answer: B. I, only a child,
Explanation: Answer choice B. is the only option where the lift-out method makes sense:
I, only a child, had never seen a dog up close and in person.
By using the lift-out method, you can see that “ I had never seen a dog up close and in person ” makes sense.
(Unclear about the other answer choices? Check out our video explanation.)
This is a trickier scenario that the ACT might test. You can try the “lift it out of the sentence” test to see if taking an appositive out creates an error. Take a look at this example:
President of the school board, Jane Smith, decreed that summer vacation should be abolished.
In this case, if we set Jane Smith off with commas, that would mean it could be lifted out of the sentence and the sentence should still read correctly. But it doesn’t. We would need a “the” before “president” to make this sentence work as it is structured, so Jane Smith should NOT be set off with commas.
(Note that we would no longer have an essential appositive if the sentence was structured like this: Jane Smith, President of the school board, decreed that summer vacation should be abolished. )
For some essential appositive errors, you can’t rely on the lift-out method alone. Take the following sentence for example: Yesterday, I met, my cousin’s partner, Madison.
If you used the lift-out method in this case, you would end up with Yesterday, I met Madison , which is grammatically correct. BUT remember: appositives are kind of like modifiers, as in they’re meant to modify a certain word or phrase. The way that it’s written in the initial sentence, it looks like “ my cousin’s partner ” is modifying “ met ,” which does not make sense.
As this sentence is structured, “ my cousin’s partner ” is an essential appositive; thus, the sentence should read:
Yesterday, I met my cousin’s partner Madison.
Acclaimed novelist, Toni Morrison, likens memory to the way the Mississippi River, and other rivers like it, years after being straightened and pushed into levees by the Army Corps of Engineers, still strains at times to flood its banks and revisit the original, meandering route.
A. NO CHANGE
B. novelist, Toni Morrison
C. novelist Toni Morrison
D. novelist Toni Morrison,
Click here for the answer
Answer: C. novelist Toni Morrison
Explanation: By using the “lift-out” method, you can see how the sentence “ Acclaimed novelist likens memory to the way the Mississippi River… ” is not grammatically correct because it doesn’t start with an article. Therefore, Toni Morrison is an essential appositive and should not be set off with commas:
Acclaimed novelist Toni Morrison likens memory to the way the Mississippi River, and other rivers like it, years after being straightened and pushed into levees by the Army Corps of Engineers, still strains at times to flood its banks and revisit the original, meandering route.
Although this post is a great starting point for prepping for the ACT English section, it definitely does not cover all the ACT grammar rules that will help you score big on test day. For more great ACT English grammar review, definitely check out:
Another great tool is the web browser plug-in Grammarly. It’ll check your grammar wherever you’re typing on the internet, giving you an easy way to review your grammar rules without realizing it!
Now that you have all the tools to score big on ACT English, your ACT grammar practice should be a breeze!
As one of Magoosh’s Blog Editors, Anika relies on her nearly 20 years in education and youth leadership spaces to produce empowering, student-centered content across Magoosh’s blogs. Anika has a BA from Grinnell College and an MPP from Harvard University. Her experience includes serving two years as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Malaysia, an SAT tutor for Kaplan, and currently, as the Executive Director of Youth Activism Project, a nonprofit that she co-founded when she was 12 years old. Anika’s work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and Yahoo! Money. She has also spoken at panels and given presentations at New York University and Harvard University. If you’d like to keep up with Anika, you can check out her LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and personal website. View all posts
