The ACT English Test is not a grammar test or a test of how well you write. Instead, the ACT tests your editing skills—your ability to fix errors in grammar and punctuation and to improve the organization and style of five different passages. Sound scary? We can help! Learn what to expect on test day and the expert ACT English strategies you need to score higher.
On the ACT English Test you’ll face five passages on topics ranging from historical essays to personal narratives. Portions of each passage are underlined, and you must decide if these are correct as written or if one of the other answers would fix or improve the selection. Other questions will ask you to add, cut, or reorder text, and ask you to evaluate the passage as a whole.
Here's an example question, which comes straight from a passage in our book ACT Premium Prep .
One college class chose Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao as (3) their favorite book of the semester.
A. NO CHANGE
B. it’s favorite book
C. they’re favorite book
D. its favorite book
Answer: (D)
That original sentence sounded pretty good to us, how about you? But before we circle NO CHANGE and go on our merry way, look at the answers to identify the topic and confirm there is no error. Only the pronoun changes, so the question is testing pronouns. Their is a plural pronoun, but class is singular. Cross off choices (A) and (C)—choice (C) isn’t even the right type of pronoun, plural or not. Since we need a possessive pronoun, cross off choice (B) as well. Choice (D) is the correct answer.
Stumped? Here are six ACT English tips for prepping for any passage.
Even when you can’t figure out what type of error a question is really testing, apply the 4 C’s, and you’ll be able to eliminate answer choices.
You don’t need to memorize your grammar textbook to prep for the ACT. But it’s a smart move to review the most common grammar rules tested on the ACT English Test. You can expect to encounter grammar questions about the following topics (to name a few):
You can squeeze in extra practice questions using our book 1,523 ACT Practice Questions .
Nervous about the ACT English Test? Remember the 4 C's!
The answer choices are your clues to identifying what the question is really asking. Do any of the words or punctuation change? Pay attention to what changes versus what stays the same in the answers to figure out what the potential error is.
Your ear is pretty reliable at raising the alarm for outright errors and clunky, awkward phrasing. Always verify what your ear is telling you by checking the answers to identify the topic and confirm there is no error. If something sounds off, investigate further, but remember to be careful for errors your ear won’t catch.
To go from good to great on the English test, you can’t just fix a question in your head and then find an answer that matches. Instead, after you’ve identified what’s wrong, eliminate all the choices that do not fix the error.
NO CHANGE is a legitimate answer choice. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that all questions have an error that you just can’t spot.
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