High school students who plan to take the ACT must first master a number of grammatical rules for the English section.
For many students, grammar is a dreaded subject, but it is a central portion of ACT English. Conventions of Standard English accounts for 51-56 percent of this section score, versus 29-32 percent for Production of Writing and 13-19 percent for Knowledge of Language.
Here are four major areas of grammar that students should understand fully prior to completing the ACT English section.
[Read: 3 Differences Between ACT English, SAT Writing and Language.]
Consistent verb tense. An ACT passage should maintain its verb tense throughout a single sentence. Present tense, for instance, will not arbitrarily become past tense.
So, a phrase in the present tense such as, “He walks to the river every morning…” will not conclude in the past tense with, “…because he liked looking at the barges.” Instead, this sentence should read, “He walks to the river every morning because he likes looking at the barges.”
When in doubt about how to answer an ACT question on verb tense, review the words on both sides of the portion in question to determine the tense of other verbs in the sentence. Your response should use the same tense. Context clues embedded in the sentence may also signal the correct tense.
It is also critical to review less common tenses. Use present perfect tense — has/have plus the past participle — when actions began in the past but are ongoing. Use past perfect tense — had plus the past participle — when describing the first of two completed actions in the past. Use future perfect — will have plus the past participle — when an action will take place after a future event.
[Read: Avoid 3 Mistakes to Excel on ACT English Section.]
Apostrophes and possessives. Some students become confused when working with possessives on the ACT because there are two general instances in which apostrophes are used: contractions and possessives.
Any time letters in two words are truncated to form a contraction, you must replace the missing letters with an apostrophe; for instance, “did not” becomes “didn’t.”
For possessives, use an apostrophe with any noun other than a pronoun to show ownership. Use an apostrophe followed by an “s” for singular possessives, such as “Jim’s dog.” Use an apostrophe without an “s” when the word is plural and ends in an s, such as “the girls’ grades.” Use an apostrophe followed by an “s” for plural possessives that do not end in s, such as “the children’s shoes.”
Pronouns like hers, his and its are all possessive pronouns and do not need an apostrophe. Note that “it’s” is always “it is,” while “its” is always the possessive. So if the passage says, “The dog chewed it’s bone,” you would correct it to read, “The dog chewed its bone.”
[Read: Tackle Pronoun Usage Errors on ACT English Section.]
Semicolons. Semicolons always separate two complete thoughts. Normally, you use a comma plus what’s known as a FANBOYS word — for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so — to connect two complete thoughts. However, semicolons can also do the trick without needing a FANBOYS or other connective word. Stylistically, semicolons should always connect two related thoughts.
For example, “It’s going to rain on Tuesday; you should bring a jacket,” makes logical sense. “It’s going to rain on Tuesday; watch out for rampaging elephants,” is not as logical.
When taking the ACT, focus on semicolons as a way to link two independent clauses, or full thoughts or sentences. A semicolon cannot link an independent and dependent clause.
Commas. Commas are frequently tested on the ACT English section, and there are three main rules that can help you determine when you should use a comma.
First, if information is not necessary to the sentence and can be removed without changing the meaning, it is contained within commas. For example: “Flour, which can be used for baking a wide variety of goods, is a common ingredient.” Here, “which can be used for baking a wide variety of goods” is not important to the meaning of the sentence.
You should also use commas to separate items in a list of at least three things, such as in this phrase that uses the Oxford comma: “apples, oranges, lemons, and pears.”
Finally, remember that two independent clauses can be connected using a comma and a FANBOYS word. Note that you cannot use just a comma — it must come paired with a FANBOYS word, or it becomes a comma splice. “Give it up, you can’t win,” has a comma splice. To fix it, you could write, “Give it up, for you can’t win.”
While this is not an exhaustive list of ACT English grammar concepts, you will be more prepared for test day after mastering these rules.
More from U.S. News
3 Benefits of Standardized Testing Beyond College Admissions
3 ACT Writing Errors Students Make
How to Take the SAT, ACT for Free
4 Grammar Rules to Learn for the ACT English Section originally appeared on usnews.com
