ACT English

their

plural pronoun

its

singular pronoun

singular verbs

end with s

plural verbs

do not end with s

finished

past tense

Plays

Present tense

Will travel

Future tense

I had appreciated

past perfect

I have lived

Present perfect

I will have left

Future perfect

to have to + past participles

Perfect tense

Pronouns

Take the place of nouns

Pronoun cases

Subject, object, possessive

Subject pronouns

I, we, you, she, he, it, they

object pronouns

Me, is, you, her, him, it, them

Possessive pronouns

My, mine, our, ours, your, her, hers, his, it's, their, theirs

My friends and ___ took the train

I (subject)

___ and I worked on the group project

She (subject)

The crowd pushed Cesar and ___ onto the stage

Me (object)

Adjectives

Modify nouns

Adverbs

Modify verbs, adjectives, adverbs; end in -ly

No one took her warnings _

Seriously (modifies VERB took)

Blizzard is a ___ energetic puppy

Charmingly (modifies ADJECTIVE energetic)

Comparisons

Adjectives with -er OR more + adjective

Superlatives

Adjectives with -est OR most + adjective

Joe is _ than Wesley is

Busier

Lara was the __ girl at the prom

Most beautiful

verb agreement

identify subject

check tense using context to determine past, present, or future

be concise (shortest correct answer)

tricky singular pronouns

anybody, anyone, each, either, everybody, everyone, nobody, somebody, someone

prepositions

words that show a relationship between nouns

ex: at, between, by, in, of, on, to, with

prepositional phrase

modifies (describes) a noun

TIP look towards left to find correct subject

active voice

preserves the performer of the action the subject

MORE CONCISE

passive voice

promotes the reciever of the action to subject and changes the verb by adding helping verb

contains to be verbs and preposition by

only choose if other answers are incorrect

changing pronouns

find the original

pronouns must stay consistent in number and gender with the rest of the sentence

myself

only used for emphasis OR when subject and object are the same

ex: I myself… OR I corrected myself…

which

only used for THINGS not people

If two pronouns…

check case INDIVIDUALLY by crossing out one

ex: picked up my boss and I———-> pick up I doesn't make sense

who

subject pronoun

use if you can replace with he

ex: who called me: he called me

whom

object pronoun

use if you can replace with him

ex: whom I called: I called him

possession

single nouns add 's

plural nouns just add the apostrophe after s

s'

possesive pronouns

instead of apostrophe to show possession

ex: his, their, its

contractions

pronouns with an apostrophe

apostrophe takes place of at least one letter

ex: it is=it's

they are= they're

who is= who's

a word that does NOT exist

its'

must change to its of it's

turn around transitions

although, but, despite, even though, however, nonetheless, nevertheless, or, yet

Keep Going Transitions

and, because, finally, furthermore, moreover, since, so, thus, therefore

use turn around transition words if

the two ideas on either side of the transition word disagree

AKA DIRECTION CHANGES

concision

if both could be right, both must be wrong

pick the simplest answer (eliminate answers that are unneccessarily wordy)

if you don't need a transition word, don't use it

ex: next, my boss——-> my boss

DELETE IT answer

choose if the underlined portion is irrelevant to the passage

*unless deleting the underlined portion would create an error or drastically change the meaning, CHOOSE IT

EXCEPT/LEAST/NOT

use process of elimination to cross out answers that are grammatically correct

the choice that has an error is the answer

word choice

refers to selecting the percise word that fits with the context

*if 3 answer choice all mean the same thing, pick the odd answer

*if word choice purpose is general, keep word choice more general to align with purpose

idiom

an expression that requires a specific preposition

*do not follow grammatical rules

strategy questions

revolve around the purpose of the text

*first identify purpose

TYPES

ask to add/replace text

determine if text should be added/deleted

evaluate the impact on the passage if text is deleted

judge the overall effect of the passage on the reader

order questions

involve the correct placement of ideas

place correctly a modifier of additional text (modifiers go before word that they are modifying)

or

evaluate/correct the order of sentences within a paragraph

*use process of elimination by eliminating answers that do not keep ideas consistent or make the meaning unclear

order of sentences

if there are number…keep reading and wait until you get to order question

look for transition words that

1) indicate introduction

2) indicate conclusion

3) indicate a pair of sentences that should go back to back

order tips

pairs stay in the same order