Transcript ACT Writing Prep

Objective: TSW take a practice ACT English
test of 14 questions to get an idea of the type
of question that is a “Just listen to it” question.
Which one “sounds right” and
which “sounds funny”?
0 Bob doesn’t know the value of the house he lives in.
0 Bob don’t know the value of the house he lives in
The first sounds a lot better, right? For many of these type
of questions, all you need to do is “listen” carefully in this
way. You may not know the formal rules of grammar,
punctuation, and diction, but you communicate in English
every day. You wouldn’t be communicating unless you had
a decent feel for the rules.
Did anyone catch the error in both of those sentences????
This is undesirable in extremely formal writing. But ACT passages
aren’t usually that formal. The ACT test writers expect you to have
a feel for the level of formality in writing. If the passage is
informal, pick informal answers. If the passage is slightly formal
(as most ACT passages are), pick slightly formal answers. If the
passage is extremely formal, pick extremely formal answer.
For example, if the passage starts off “You’ll just love Bermuda – great
beaches, good living….”
it won’t end like this:
“and an infinitely fascinating array of flora and fauna which may conceivably
exceed, in range and scope, that of any alternative….”
This is too formal. Pick something like this:
“You’ll just love Bermuda – great beaches, good living, and lots of awesome
plants and animals.”
Objective: TSW comprehend the 19 most common
grammar errors that the ACT tests over the next three
days and practice correcting those errors.
Warm-up: On a sheet of paper, do the following questions. Write out the
sentence with the correct choices in them.
1) Though the choice is not (theirs, their’ s), (their, they’re) not afraid to
move to a new town.
2) We began the long trip to California on Monday (: ;) after six fast food
meals and two hotel rooms, we finally reached Los Angeles.
3) (Whose, Who’s) likely to become the football (teams’, team’s) captain
this year?
Nineteen Classic Grammar
Errors
The most tested “matching” rule :
singular nouns must match with singular verbs and pronouns,
and plural nouns must match with the plural verbs and
pronouns.
Error 1: They and It (singulars and plurals)
The most common error in this area involves the use of the
word they. It’s plural but in everyday speech, we often use it
as a singular.
Sentence: “If a student won’t study, they won’t do
well.”
Problem: A student (singular) and they (plural) don’t
match.
Correction: “If students won’t study, they won’t do well,” or “If
a student won’t study, he or she won’t do well.”
Error 2: And (compound subject)
Another common matching error concerns
“compound subjects” (lists).
Sentence: “The fool gave the wrong tickets to
Bob and I.
Problem: I is a subject; it can’t be the object of
the preposition to.
Correction: “The fool gave the wrong tickets to Bob
and me.”
Error 3: Commas or Dashes (Parenthetical
Phrases/ Appositive phrases)
This is the rule of punctuation that is tested more
than any other on the ACT.
A Parenthetical Phrase can be marked off by
commas, parentheses, or dashes. Must have the
same punctuation at both ends of the phrase
“Bob, on his way to the store, saw a large
lizard in the street.”
Sentence: “Bob – on his way to the store, saw a
lizard.”
Problem: The parenthetical phrase starts with a
dash but finishes with a comma.
Correction: “Bob, on his way to the store, saw a
lizard.”
Error 4: Commas (Run-Ons and Comma
Splices)
The ACT test makers expect you to understand what
makes a sentence and what doesn’t. You can’t combine
two sentences into one with a comma (though you can
with a semi-colon or conjunction).
Sentence: “Ed’s a slacker, Sara isn’t.”
Problem: Two sentences are spliced together with a
comma.
Correction: “Ed’s a slacker, but Sara isn’t.” or “Ed’s a
slacker; Sara isn’t,” or “Ed, unlike Sara, is a slacker.”
Error 5: Fragment
This goes hand in hand with Error 4. a sentence must have at
least one “major event”. A fragment is writing that could be a
part of a sentence but not the whole part.
Sentence: “Emily listened to music. While she
studied.”
Problem: She studied” would be a sentence, but
while makes this a fragment.
Correction: “Emily listened to music while she
studied.”
Your turn to practice!!!
On the same sheet of paper as your warm-up, do the
following exercises:
Pg. 438 – odd numbers
Pg 202 – even numbers
Error 6: Any Punctuation Mark
The ACT doesn’t test tricky rules of punctuation. It does expect you to know what
the punctuation marks mean and to match their use to their meanings.
Period (.) : means “full stop” or “end of sentence”
Question mark (?): serves the same purpose, but for questions.
Exclamation point (!) : can be used instead of a period, but is
generally for only very informal writing because it indicates
extreme emotion.
Comma (,) : means “little stop”. In many cases a comma is
optiuonal. But never use a comma where a stop would be
confusing, as in “I want to go, to the, store.”
Semicolon (;): used to separate two complete, but closely related
thoughts.
Error 6: Any Punctuation Mark (Continued)
Colon (:) : works like an “=“ sign, connecting two equivalent
thugs. Colons are usually to begin a list.
Dash (-) can be used for any kind of pause, usually a long
one or one indicating a significant shift in thought.
Ex: According to the Constitution, only one person - and
that is the President - can appoint justices to the Supreme
Court.
Error 7: -LY endings (Adverb or Adjectives)
The ACT expects you to understand the difference between adverbs (the –ly
words) and adjectives. The two are similar because they’re both modifiers.
The modify (refer to, or describe) another word or phrase in the sentence. The
trick is that nouns and pronouns must be modified by adjectives, while other
words, especially verbs and adjectives themselves, must be modified by
adverbs.
Sentence: “Anna is an extreme gifted child, and she
speaks beautiful too”
Problem: Extreme and beautiful are adjectives, but
they’re supposed to modify an adjective (gifted) and a
verb (speaks) here, so they should be adverbs
Correction: “Anna is an extremely gifted
child, and she speaks beautifully too.”
Error 8: Good or Well
In everyday speech, we often confuse the words good and
well. But good is an adjective (it modifies a noun or pronoun);
well is an adverb (it can modify verbs and adjectives).
Sentence: “Joe did good on the ACT.”
Problem: Good is an adjective, but here it’s
modifying a verb (did), so use an adverb.
Correction: “Joe did well on the ACT.”
Error 9: Less or Fewer
Make sure that you use the word less only for uncountable
things. When things can be counted, they are fewer!!!
Sentence: “I have fewer water than I thought, so I can fill
less buckets.”
Problem: You can count buckets, but you can’t count water.
Correction: “I have less water than I thought, so I can fill fewer
buckets.”
Error 10: Between or Among
Use the word between only when there are two things
involved. Use among when there are an unknown number of
things.
Sentence: “I will walk among the two halves of the class.” “I will
walk between the many students in class.”
Problem: Use between for two things; among for more than two.
Correction: “I will walk between the two halves of the class.” “I will
walk among the many students in class.”
Practice:
Just write the correct choice
Pg 182-183 #’s
1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 17
Error 11: Lie, Lay, Laid, Lain
We often confuse the words lie and lay because
they look alike and have similar meanings. The
key is the point of view. If the speaker is doing
something without a direct object, he is lying.
If the speaker is doing it to something else, he is
laying.
Example: “I will go lie down” (not lay down),
but “I will lay this pencil on the desk” (not lie
it).
Now it gets confusing!!!
If you don’t get it, don’t sweat it….it’ll count
for 1 point at the most, if they even have a
question on this.
The past tense of lay is laid. Not too hard, right?
The past tense of lie is lay;
Now, when used for special tenses (with the words
had, have or been, for example), the form is lain.
Thus you would say, “I lay down” (meaning you,
yourself took a rest at some time in the past), or “I
have lain down for a nap every afternoon for years
now”
Practice: Write only the correct
choice that belongs in the blank
Pg 139 1 - 5
Error 12: Who or Whom
Many students fear the words who or whom more than any other
grammatical problem/issue.
Easy way to remember when to use them: They work the same way as he and
him work. Turn the sentence into a question. If the answer to the question is
he, she, we or they, the form should be who. If the answer is him, her, us or
them, the form should be whom.
Sentence: “Always remember who you’re speaking to.”
Problem: Who is wrong. Ask: Speaking to who?
Speaking to him, not to he. So, it should be whom.
Correction: “Always remember whom you’re speaking to.”
Practice: Write only the correct choice and
not the whole sentence.
Pg 115 1 - 5
Error 13: In, Of, To, For…. (Idiomatic Preposition Use)
Whenever you see a preposition, double check to make sure it makes
sense and that it “matches” the other words. Some words require
particular prepositions.
Sentences: “She tried to instill on me a respect to the law.” “I
want to protect you in all dangers.”
Problem: The prepositions don’t match the verbs
Corrections: “She tried to instill in a me a respect for
the law.” “I want to protect you from all dangers.”
Error 14: -ER and –EST, More, and Most (comparatives and superlatives)
Words with –er or with more should be used to compare only two things. If
there are more than two things involved, use –est or most.
Sentence: “Bob is the fastest of the two runners”
Problem: The comparison is between just two things, so
–est is inappropriate.
Correction: “Bob is the faster of the two runners.”
Don’t use the words more or most if you can use the
endings instead.
Say: “I think vanilla is tastier than chocolate,” not “I think
vanilla is more tasty than chocolate”.
Than and then:
“Than” is used in comparisons
such as “Bob is faster than Jim.” “Then” refers to
time, as in “Bob ran and then stopped.”
Error 15: Its or It’s ( Apostrophe use)
This is probably the trickiest rule on the ACT.
Apostrophes are used primarily for two purposes:
1) Possessives and contractions. To make a noun possessive, you use ‘s.
You never use ‘s on pronouns. For example the possessive of her is hers, not
her’s.
2) When you run two words together for form a single word. For example,
you’d (you had), he’s (he is) and they’re (they are)
The most common apostrophe questions on the ACT are involving it’s
(contraction)and its (possessive pronouns).
Sentence: “The company claims its illegal to
use it’s name that way.”
Problem: It’s is a contraction of it is; its is the
possessive form of it.
Correction: “The company claims it’s illegal to use its
name that way.”
Error 16: There Their, or They’re and Are or Our (Proper Word Usage)
Students sometimes confuse the words there, their and they’re.
How to remember: They’re is a contraction of the two words they and
are.
There is spelled like here, which is a location, so there is a location.
Their means “of or belonging to them” – possession….you will just have to
remember this one.
Error 17: Sang, Sung, Brang, Brung, etc…(Verb Forms irregular)
For regular verb forms, you would add an “s” or a “d” to show
plural or past tense. Ex: live (present tense), lives (plural),
lived (past)
Irregular verbs are a little trickier! For example, we say “sang”
rather than “singed” and “have sung” rather than “have singed” or
“have sang”. Each of these verbs need to learned separately.
One that is commonly tested on the ACT is bring.
Sentence: “I’ve brung my umbrella to work”
Problem: Brung and Brang are not used in Standard English…..so don’t use
them!!
Correction: “I’ve brought my umbrella to work”
Error 18: Be and Was (Forms of the verb To Be)
ACT tests the use of proper verb forms, especially of the verb to be. Use
the following forms…memorize them if need be!!!
Present Tense: I am, we are, you are, they are, he/she/it is. (Occurring now)
Past Tense: I was, we were, you were, they were, he/she/it was (occurred in
the past)
Future Tense: I/we/you/they/he/she/it will be (occurs sometime in future)
Perfect Tense: I/we/you have been, he/she/it has been (occurred some
undetermined time in past)
Past Perfect: I/we/you/he/she/it had been (occurs in the past before
another past event – ex: “By the time the police arrived, the disturbance had
been settled.”
Future Perfect: I/we/you/he/she/it will have been (Occurs in the future
before some other future event – ex: “By the end of June, she will have been
working for thirty years”.
Error 19: “ing” Endings
Don’t use –ing endings where they aren’t needed. They are used to indicate
repeated or continuous action and shouldn’t be used for a single action that only
occurs once!
Sentence: “When I left for the store, I was forgetting my list.”
Problem: The –ing ending isn’t necessary
Correction: “When I left for the store, I forgot my list.”