English Rules

Question 1

In the English section, if you are stuck between answers that all seem right to you, what should you do?

Answer 1

Pick the shortest answer - less is more in this case. (shortest of the ones that seemed right to you)

Question 2

When reading the options, and you come to a comma what should you do?

Answer 2

Take a decent sized pause - if it sounds really weird its probably not the right answer

Question 3

What are the three components of a sentence, also can you identify them in an example?
ex) Josh ran to catch the dog.

Answer 3

The three components are: subject, verb, and complete thought.
ex) Josh ran to catch the dog. Josh is the subject, ran is the verb, and catching the dog completes the thought

Question 4

What should you do in subject/verb agreement questions? (singular/plural agreement)

Answer 4

slash out any extra information: adjectives, prepositional phrases, adverbs, etc. and then check that the subjects agree with their vebs in number.

ex) the butterfly is beautiful
ex2) the friends are together

Question 5

What can be said about this list of words? Each, neither, either, anyone, anybody, someone, everyone, and everybody?

Answer 5

When these words are used, the verb should be in a singular tense.

ex) Each of the boys has arrived (has not have)
ex2) Neither of the teams is very good. (is not are)

Question 6

What are the rules concerning apostrophes? Also list the special cases where the apostrophe is always before the s.

Answer 6

Apostrophes show possession:
before the s: if there is one owner
after the s: if there is more than one owner
special cases - always before the s: men’s, women’s, children’s, and people’s

Question 7

What should you do when reading a contraction in a sentence?

Answer 7

Always say both words.

ex) isn’t = is not

Question 8

What is the impact of using contractions?

Answer 8

It makes the writing less formal, less emphatic, and less urgent

Question 9

What is the difference between who’s and whose, and what are examples of each’s proper use?

Answer 9

who’s = who is
whose= used to introduce a relative clause indicating possession by people
ex1) there’s the guy who’s an achiever, not a slacker
ex2) there’s the guy whose effort should lead to many scholarships

Question 10

When can a semi-colon be used?

Answer 10

A semi-colon is the equivalent of putting “ , and “ in a sentence and should be bracketed by two complete thoughts

Question 11

When should a colon be used?

Answer 11

A colon essentially means “examples to follow” and should follow the format ->
(complete thought)(colon)(examples)

Question 12

When should a hyphen or dash be used?

Answer 12

After a complete thought

Question 13

What is the difference between then and than?

Answer 13

Then - refers to time
Than - should be used for comparisons
ex) He went to the store; then he went home.
ex2) She likes brownies more than pizza.

Question 14

What is the difference between its, it’s, and its’

Answer 14

its - is a possessive pronoun
it’s - is a contraction meaning “ it is “
its’ - is NOT a word

Question 15

How should you combine two sentences into one?

Answer 15

Either use “ , and “ or “ ; ‘ in between the two sentences

Question 16

See picture about irregular verbs - try to grasp this concept and practice identifying the correct tense.

Answer 16

How well do you understand this?

Question 17

What do prepositional phrases begin and end with?

Answer 17

Prepositional phrases begin with prepositions and end with nouns or pronouns BUT they never have the subject

Question 18

What are some examples of prepositions?

Answer 18

See preposition picture

Question 19

what should be done with extra information in a sentence?

Answer 19

It should be surrounded by commas, parenthesis, or dashes

NOTE “however, indeed, in fact, of course, for example, for instance” should almost ALWAYS be surrounded by commas

Question 20

How can parallelism help us quickly know the right answer with verbs, voice, and structure?

Answer 20

verbs: copy the ending
ex) she was walking, talking, and smiling.
voice: copy what was already used for you/one
ex) One will find that a library is a great place for one to study.
structure: certain words are always paired together
ex) “neither … nor” , “either …. or”, “not only ….. but also”

Question 21

For pronoun choice using I/me, what is the rule to use?

ex) Give the books to Ed, Rob, and I/me .

Answer 21

For choosing I/me : cross out any names and the word “and” from the sentence and read it with the two choices, pick the one that sounds better.
ex) Give the books the Ed, Rob, and me.

Question 22

What is the rule for choosing who/whom?

ex) Who/whom got us this gift?
ex2) There’s the guy who/whom I want to meet
ex3) there’s the woman who/whom leads the company

Answer 22

1st: check if it is used with a preposition - if it is go with whom
2nd: If not, take out who/whom and plugin “he” or “they” - if he/they fits go with who, if neither fits go with whom
ex) Who got us this gift
ex2) there’s the guy whom I want to meet
ex3) there’s the woman who leads the company

Question 23

What are transition words for when the two thoughts agree?

Answer 23

consequently, thus, therefore, because of, furthermore, in fact, in deed, moreover

Question 24

what are transition words for when the two thoughts do not agree?

Answer 24

Conversely, despite, ironically, however, still, though, yet, nonetheless, in spite of, nevertheless

Question 25

What are words that they might throw into the ACT that we need to remember are NOT WORDS?

Answer 25

irregardless <<< this is a BIG one
funner
where at
its'
could of
thier

Question 26

For comparing multiple things: what should be used for two things vs for three or more things?

Answer 26

for two things: -er, more, or less

for three or more things: -est, most, least

Question 27

This one might be the key to picking the right sentence in a tricky situation - what is the rule for a modifying clause?

Answer 27

A modifying clause goes next to what it modifies
ex) After running a stoplight, the police officer pulled Sarah over
NOTICE: this is saying the police officer ran the stoplight since the clause is next to the police officer

Question 28

For content questions (not grammar) what should you do?

Answer 28

1. underline key words in the question
2. answer the question literally
3. narrow it down to the best answer