ACT English Practice Questions

Clauses and Contractions

• A dependent clause cannot stand alone; examples include "when I went to Europe" and "because I am a teacher."
• The possessive form of "it" is its; used to show ownership.
• The contraction it's represents "it is."
• The form its' is incorrect and does not exist.

Possessive and Contraction Forms

• They're translates to "they are."
• Their indicates possession.
• There refers to a place.

Usage of Possessive Forms

• Example of possessive: Change "The salary of this teacher is very high" to "This teacher's salary is very high."
• For plural possessive: Change "The salaries of these teachers are very low" to "These teachers' salaries are very low."

Questions of Possession

• Who's is a contraction for "who is."
• Whose denotes possession, as in "whose hat is this?"

Comma Usage Rules

• A semicolon functions similarly to a period; it separates two independent clauses.
• Commas between independent clauses and dependent clauses require different rules; correct when in the order of dependent followed by independent.
• Commas are not needed before "that" in restrictive clauses.

Lists and Separators

• Use commas to separate three or more items in a list, such as "I like apples, pears, and bananas."
• No comma is needed for a list of only two items.
• Commas should separate adjectives when the order can be reversed (e.g., "snarling, drooling raccoon").

Avoiding Common Mistakes

• Two independent clauses must use a period or semicolon, not a comma (e.g., "Jacksonville is a very large city; some cities are even bigger.").
• No comma should exist between a subject and a verb.
• No comma precedes or follows a preposition.

Usage of 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

• To determine whether to use who or whom, replace with "he/she/they" for who and "him/her/them" for whom.
• Always use whom after a preposition.

Correlative Conjunctions

• Patterns include:
  • Neither...nor
  • Either...or
  • Not only...but (also)

Understanding English Structures

• Phrases like "would of," "should of," "could of," and "must of" are incorrect; use "have" instead.
• Colons introduce a list after an independent clause.

Grammar Concepts

• Tense refers to the verb form indicating the time of action.
• A verb is a word expressing an action or state.
• The subject is the main topic of a sentence.
• A pronoun replaces a noun.
• A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun.
• A preposition describes time or place.