ACT English Flashcards
What do commas do?
Commas separate independent clauses that begin with conjunctions like “and, but, so”
Commas link independent clauses to dependent clauses and phrases
How do you know if a clause is independent?
When it can be read on its own
What does the semicolon do? ;
A semicolon connects two independent clauses when they do NOT have a conjunction word
What does the colon do? :
The colon comes after an independent clause and introduces a list, and explanation, or an explanatory quotation
How to use the apostrophe
- For singular nouns not ending in s, just add ‘s
- For singular nouns ending in s, add ‘s
- For plural nouns ending in s, add ‘
- For plural nouns not ending with s, add ‘s
What do dashes and parenthesis do? () -
They both separate information
if both dashes and parenthesis are in the answer choices something else is incorrect
Subject verb requirement
The subject and verb must agree
Pronouns requirement
The pronoun must agree with the noun to which it refers
Adjectives modifying nouns and adverbs modifying verbs
Mix up 1: using words like “more” and “most” with “-er” and “-est” adjectives
Mix up 2: using adverbs the common way, without “-ly”, when technically they need an “-ly”
When a comma or period is underlined——
Check the surrounding sentence for run-ons and fragments
for parallelism and comparison questions: If you see “than” underlined or near an underline—-
Check that you are comparing the same thing
Last sentence questions
These questions are really asking which sentence best summarizes the main idea of the passage
