ACT English Rules

ACT Golden Rule

🧠 If two answers mean the same thing, pick the SHORTER one.

Independent Clause

🧠 A complete sentence. It has a subject + a verb and makes sense by itself.

How do I join 2 complete sentences?

✅ Period (.) ✅ Semicolon (;) ✅ Comma + and/but

Semicolon Trick

🧠 If you can replace it with a period, the semicolon is probably correct.

Dashes (—)

🧠 Dashes ALWAYS come in pairs.

What do dashes mean?

🧠 Everything between the dashes is EXTRA. Cross it out. If the sentence still makes sense, you're good.

Commas Around Extra Info

Same rule as dashes. Cross it out and see if the sentence still makes sense.

Singular Subject

🧠 ONE person or thing = verb ends in S. Example: She walks.

Plural Subject

🧠 MORE THAN ONE = verb has NO S. Example: They walk.

Subject-Verb Agreement

🧠 Find the subject first, then make the verb match it.

Verb Tense

🧠 Stay in the same time. If the sentence starts in the past, don't randomly switch to present.

Colon (:)

🧠 Think: "Here's what I mean…" A colon starts a list or explanation.

Colon Rule

The part BEFORE the colon must be a complete sentence.

Lists

🧠 Everything should match. (run, jump, swim) NOT (run, jumping, swimmer)

Comma + Pronoun

⚠️ Be careful if you see ", he" ", she" ", it" or ", they." It's often wrong.

Sentence Starts with "Running…"

🧠 After the comma should be WHO was running. Example: Running home, Sarah smiled.

Transitions

🧠 Ask yourself: Are these ideas agreeing, disagreeing, or showing what happened next?

Continue Transitions

Also, Furthermore, In addition

Contrast Transitions

However, Instead, Nevertheless

Cause & Effect Transitions

Therefore, Thus, As a result

Vocabulary Questions

🧠 Cover the choices. Think of YOUR word first, then pick the closest answer.

Affect

🧠 ACTION = Affect = Verb.

Effect

🧠 END RESULT = Effect = Noun.

Its

🧠 Shows ownership. Example: The dog wagged its tail.

It's

🧠 Means "it is."

Its'

❌ Not a real word.

Than

🧠 Used when comparing. Example: Taller than me.

Then

🧠 Means next. Example: First eat, then leave.

This, That, These, Those

🧠 They should usually be followed by a noun. Example: This book.

Pronouns

🧠 Keep them the same. One → one. You → you. People → they.

Last Step Before Bubbling

🧠 Read the WHOLE sentence, choose an answer, then read it again. If it sounds weird, it's probably wrong.