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English ACT
What are the uses of an ellipsis?
• 1. Use an ellipsis to indicate that you deleted
words from a quotation
• 2. Use an ellipsis to omit a sentence within a
quotation, use an ellipsis and a period (….)
Describe colon uses.
• 1. Use a colon before an explanatory list following
a complete sentence. For example, “The boy had
an interest in one of the following: softball,
soccer, football, or basketball.”
• 2. Use a colon before an independent clause that
follows and explains the previous sentence
• 3. Use a colon before a quotation. Patrick Henry
once said: “Give me liberty or give me death.”
• 4. Use a colon after the greeting in a formal letter.
Dear Mr. President:
What are some common uses of
quotation marks?
• 1. Use double quotation marks (“ “) to enclose
direct quotes. Ex- Nathan Hale said, “I only regret
that I have but one life to lose for my country.”
• 2. Use double quotation marks to enclose titles of
chapters of books, newspaper & magazine
articles, short stories, songs, and poems.
• 3. Use single quotation marks (‘ ‘) to set off a
quotation within a quotation. Ex- Dr. Sherman
said that “George Washington did not say ‘I
cannot tell a lie’ although Americans enjoy
believing that he did.”
Discuss apostrophe uses.
• 1. Use an apostrophe for contractions. Ex- has not
– hasn’t
• 2. Use an apostrophe to show possession with
plural nouns ending in “s.” Ex- The boys’ cars
Provide examples of conjunctive
adverbs and transition words.
• 1. Conjunctive adverbs include the following:
also, besides, consequently, finally, furthermore,
however, indeed, likewise, moreover,
nevertheless, next, nonetheless, otherwise,
similarly, specifically, then, therefore
• 2 Transition words include the following: as a
matter of fact, at the same time, for example, for
instance, in addition, in conclusion, in fact, in the
first place, on the other hand, to the contrary
Describe a sentence fragment.
• 1. Sentence fragments happen by treating a
dependent clause or other incomplete
thought as a complete sentence. This error
can typically be corrected by combining it with
another sentence to make a complete
thought.
Incorrect: Because I forgot the exam was today.
Correct: I forgot the exam was today.
What are some common uses of the
semicolon?
• 1. Semicolons are used to join independent clauses that
aren’t joined by a coordinating conjunction. For example,
“Susie has brown hair; Susie’s brother has red hair.”
• 2. Semicolons are used to join two independent clauses
connected by a conjunctive adverb or a transition word. For
example, “In Washington D.C., she visited the National
Archives; however, she never made it to the Smithsonian
Institute.”
• 3. Semicolons are used to separate items in a sequence
containing internal punctuation. For example, “Our evening
activities are first, cook dinner; second, eat dinner; third,
exercise.
What are some common uses of the
comma?
• 1. Commas may be used to separate the items in a sequence (three
or more things). For example, “ She went to the store, dropped off
the clothes at the dry cleaners, and stopped by the post office.”
• 2. Use a comma along with a conjunction (and, but, for, nor, yet, or,
so) to connect two independent clauses. For example, “She wanted
to go to the store, but she did not have a car.”
• 3. Use a comma to set off introductory elements. For example,
“Driving to the grocery store, she suddenly realized that she forgot
her purse.”
• 4. Use a comma to set off parenthetical elements. For example,
“The Statue of Liberty, which stands in New York Harbor, was a gift
to the United States.”
What is a slash used for in poetry?
• A slash (/) is used to separate lines of poetry
that are part of the text of a paper. An
example would be this line of poetry: “What
soft, cherubic creatures / these gentle women
are / One would as soon assault a plush / or
violate a star.”
Describe a comma splice.
• A comma splice is the use of a comma between two
independent clauses. A comma splice can typically be
corrected by changing the comma to a period and
therefore making the two clauses into two separate
sentences, by changing the comma to a semicolon, or by
making one clause dependent by inserting a dependent
marker word in front of it.
Incorrect: She eats an apple every day, it tastes delicious.
Correct: She eats an apple every day. It tastes delicious.
(or) She eats an apple every day; it tastes delicious.
(or) She eats an apple every day, and it tastes delicious.
(or) She eats an apple every day because it tastes delicious.
(or) Because it tastes delicious, she eats an apple every day.
Describe an appositive.
• An appositive is a word or phrase that restates
or modifies an immediately preceding noun.
An appositive is often useful as a content clue
for determining or refining the meaning of the
word or words to which it refers. For example,
“My dad, whose name is James Brown,
(appositive) is a lawyer.”
Describe parallelism.
• When a sentence contains a series of items, all the items
should be in parallel form. Keeping all phrases and clauses
in the same form creates parallelism by clarifying the
relationship among the parts of the sentence.
Incorrect: I like running and to swim. (This sentence is not
parallel; “running and “to swim” are not in the same form.
Sentences can be corrected by putting both words in the same
form.
Correct: I like running and swimming. (Both words are now in
an “-ing” form.
Parallel grammatical structure is important for clear and
concise sentences.
Discuss uses for transitional words and
phrases.
• 1. To add ideas: again; furthermore; besides; too; also
• 2. To compare or contrast: likewise; yet; however;
although
• 3. To prove: because; since; obviously
• 4. To show exceptions: yet; however; occasionally
• 5. To show time: soon; finally; next; then; later
• 6. To show effect: consequently; thus; therefore
• 7. To emphasize: obviously, certainly, indeed
• 8. To give examples: for example; to demonstrate; to
illustrate
• 9. To conclude: thus; consequently; therfore
Describe verbs ending in “ed” or “ing.”
• When used as adjectives, the past participle (verb + ed) and the present
participle (verb + ing) of some verbs have very different meanings.
Psychological verbs (interest bore, amuse, etc.) describe emotions or
moods. When their participles are used as adjectives, they follow the rules
below. The past participle (verb + ed) describes the person’s mental state
or inner feelings: the tired student. The present participle (verb + ing)
describes the person or thing which causes the mental state or feelings:
the tiring exercises or the tiring speaker.
• The most common psychological verbs are: amuse, disappoint, flatter,
overwhelm, annoy, disgust, frighten, reassure, bore, encourage, horrify,
satisfy, charm, excite, inspire, surprise, confuse, fascinate, interest. When
the participles of action verbs (burn, blow, melt, etc.) are used as
adjectives, they follow the rules below. The past participle (verb + ed)
indicates a completed action – melted snow. The present participle (verb +
ing) emphasizes an ongoing process – melting snow. Action completed:
blown hair, boiled water. Ongoing process: blowing hair, boiling water.
Discuss active vs. passive verbs.
• In an active voice sentence, the subject is the actor. In a
passive voice sentence, the opposite is true: the subject is
the receiver or the object of the action.
Examples:
Active voice: Mary rocked the baby.
Passive voice: The baby was rocked by Mary.
• Only transitive verbs use the passive voice.
• The passive voice is formed by using be (am, is, are, was,
were, being, been) + past pariticiple
• In writing, always try to use the active voice. Use the
passive voice sparingly; overuse of the passive voice causes
a weak writing style.
Discuss the importance of simplicity in
writing.
• You should never choose a longer, more
complicated, or wordier replacement if a simple
one will do. When a point can be made with
fewer words, choose that answer.
• However, never sacrifice the flow of text for
simplicity. If an answer is simple, but does not
make sense, then it is not correct.
• Omit any words that pointlessly repeat
information that is already given.
• Beware of added phrases that don’t add anything
of meaning.