1. English ACT Prep
Grammar and Usage

2. The English test is a 75-question, 45-minute test, covering:
Usage/Mechanics
(53% - 40 questions)
Punctuation (13%)
Grammar and usage (16%)
Sentence structure (24%)
Rhetorical Skills
(47% or 35 questions)
Strategy (16%)
Organization (15%)
Style (16%)
Based on research
The college readiness benchmarks on the ACT
Used for placement by some colleges and universities
Predict success in freshman level course
Students have a 50% chance of getting a B or higher
Students have a 75% chance of getting a C or higher 2

3. The English test is a 75-question, 45-minute test, covering:
Usage/Mechanics
(53% - 40 questions)
Punctuation (13%)
Grammar and usage (16%)
Sentence structure (24%)
Rhetorical Skills
(47% or 35 questions)
Strategy (16%)
Organization (15%)
Style (16%)
Based on research
The college readiness benchmarks on the ACT
Used for placement by some colleges and universities
Predict success in freshman level course
Students have a 50% chance of getting a B or higher
Students have a 75% chance of getting a C or higher 3

4. Grammar and Usage Grammatical Rules Most Tested:
Noun-pronoun agreement
Pronoun-case agreement
Subject-verb agreement
Verb tense
Proper placement of adverbs and adjectives
Correct use of idiom

5. Words used to replace nouns.
Pronouns
Words used to replace nouns.
(he, she, it, they, etc.)

6. Pronoun Rule Number 1
Agreement

7. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
A pronoun must always agree with the noun it refers to. Sound Simple?

8. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
Identify the error in the sentence below: Any young boy who watched the first moon landing probably spent the next few years wishing that they could become an astronaut.

9. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
Identify the error in the sentence below: Any young boy who watched the first moon landing probably spent the next few years wishing that they could become an astronaut.

10. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
Identify the error in the sentence below: Any young boy who watched the first moon landing probably spent the next few years wishing that they could become an astronaut.

11. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
Identify the error in the sentence below: Any young boy who watched the first moon landing probably spent the next few years wishing that he could become an astronaut.

12. Commonly Used Singular Pronouns
Subject
Object
Possessive I Me My
You
Mine He
Him
Your
She
Her
Yours It
His
Hers
Its

13. Commonly Used Plural Pronouns
Subject
Object
Possessive We Us
Our
You
Ours
They
Them
Yours
Their
Theirs

14. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
Identify the error in the sentence below: Neither of the two young girls with whom I watched the first moon landing expressed their feelings out loud, but I knew that all three of us wanted to be astronauts too.

15. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
Identify the error in the sentence below: Neither of the two young girls with whom I watched the first moon landing expressed their feelings out loud, but I knew that all three of us wanted to be astronauts too.

16. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
Identify the error in the sentence below: Neither of the two young girls with whom I watched the first moon landing expressed their feelings out loud, but I knew that all three of us wanted to be astronauts too. Be careful with Indefinites!

17. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
The following indefinite pronouns are singular: Either Neither Each Anyone No one Everyone Everybody Somebody Anybody

18. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
Identify the error in the sentence below: Neither of the two young girls with whom I watched the first moon landing expressed her feelings out loud, but I knew that all three of us wanted to be astronauts too.

19. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
On the ACT:
Although the American bald eagle has been on the endangered species list for years, they have been sighted in wildlife preserves much more frequently during the past two years.
NO CHANGE
they are
it can be
it has been

20. Pronoun Rule #1: Agreement
On the ACT:
Although the American bald eagle has been on the endangered species list for years, they have been sighted in wildlife preserves much more frequently during the past two years.
NO CHANGE
they are
it can be
it has been

21. Pronoun rule #2
Case

22. Pronoun Rule #2: Case
If a pronoun is the subject of the sentence, it must be expressed as a subject: I, we, he, she , it ,they, and who If a pronoun is the object of the sentence, or the object of the preposition, it must be expressed as an object: me, us, you, him, her, it, them, and whom.

23. Pronoun Rule #2: Case
If a pronoun is the subject of the sentence, it must be expressed as a subject: I, we, he, she , it ,they, and who If a pronoun is the object of the sentence, or the object of the preposition, it must be expressed as an object: me, us, you, him, her, it, them, and whom.

24. Pronoun Rule #2: Case
Which choice best fits the sentence below? (She/Her) bought a souvenir NASA sweatshirt.

25. Pronoun Rule #2: Case
Which choice best fits the sentence below? (She/Her) bought a souvenir NASA sweatshirt.

26. Pronoun Rule #2: Case
Which choice best fits the sentence below? Jane bought a souvenir NASA sweatshirt for (he/him).

27. Pronoun Rule #2: Case
Which choice best fits the sentence below? Jane bought a souvenir NASA sweatshirt for (he/him).

28. Pronoun Rule #2: Case
Who/Whom

29. Who/Whom
Let’s look at a correct example: The T.V. announcer, who was quite an expert, told us many interesting facts about the lunar mission.

30. Who/Whom
Let’s look at a correct example: The T.V. announcer, who was quite an expert, told us many interesting facts about the lunar mission. Always use “who” when the relative pronoun is functioning as the subject of a clause, or as the subject of the entire sentence

31. Who/Whom Let’s look at a another correct example:
Before the moon landing, the T.V announcer gave some additional background on the astronauts, about whom we were all quite interested.

32. Who/Whom Let’s look at a another correct example:
Before the moon landing, the T.V, announcer gave some additional background on the astronauts, about whom we were all quite interested.
Always use “whom” when the pronoun is functioning as the object of a preposition, or of the entire sentence.

33. Pronoun Rule #2: Case On the ACT: NO CHANGE
The students, who had been studying the space program, were thrilled to witness the lunar landing.
NO CHANGE
about who had been studying the space program
whom had been studying the space program
who had been studying the space program

34. Pronoun Rule #2: Case On the ACT: NO CHANGE
The students, who had been studying the space program, were thrilled to witness the lunar landing.
NO CHANGE
about who had been studying the space program
whom had been studying the space program
who had been studying the space program

35. Verbs

36. Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb of a sentence must always agree with its subject:
If the subject is singular, then the verb must be singular.
If the subject is plural, then the verb must be plural.

37. Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb of a sentence must always agree with its subject: The best moment during a broadcast filled with many great moments were when the astronaut stepped out of the lunar lander and bounced on the moon.

38. Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb of a sentence must always agree with its subject: The best moment during a broadcast filled with many great moments were when the astronaut stepped out of the lunar lander and bounced on the moon.

39. Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb of a sentence must always agree with its subject: The best moment during a broadcast filled with many great moments were when the astronaut stepped out of the lunar lander and bounced on the moon.

40. Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb of a sentence must always agree with its subject: The best moment during a broadcast filled with many great moments was when the astronaut stepped out of the lunar lander and bounced on the moon.

41. Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb of a sentence must always agree with its subject:
The best moment were when the astronaut stepped out of the lunar lander and bounced on the moon. ?

42. Subject-Verb Agreement
Be careful with subjects that are pronouns!

43. Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb must still agree with the subject, even if it is just a pronoun: Each of these moments have played in my mind again and again as I try to recapture the excitement of that momentous day in June.

44. Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb must still agree with the subject, even if it is just a pronoun: Each of these moments have played in my mind again and again as I try to recapture the excitement of that momentous day in June.

45. Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb must still agree with the subject, even if it is just a pronoun: Each of these moments have played in my mind again and again as I try to recapture the excitement of that momentous day in June.

46. Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb must still agree with the subject, even if it is just a pronoun: Each of these moments has played in my mind again and again as I try to recapture the excitement of that momentous day in June.

47. Subject-Verb Agreement
A strategy to use when you come across a subject-verb agreement question is to isolate the subject and the verb, even physically placing parentheses around all the extra words, phrases or clauses in between.

48. Verb Tense

49. Verb Tense
A review… Present Tense (what is happening now): He runs the 440 in 50 seconds.

50. Verb Tense
A review… Past Tense (what happened entirely in the past): He ran the 440 in 50 seconds.

51. Verb Tense
A review… Present Perfect Tense (action started in the past, but may continue into the present): He has run the 440 in 50 seconds in the last four races.

52. Verb Tense
A review… Past Perfect Tense (happened in the past and preceded another event in the past): He had run 100 yards when he twisted his ankle.

53. Verb Tense
A review… Future Tense (will happen sometime down the road): He will run the race next Saturday.

54. Verb Tense
A review… Future Perfect Tense (will be completed by a definite time in the future): He will have finished the race by next Saturday.

55. Verb Tense
ACT is looking for inconsistencies. (If a verb in a non-underlined portion of the sentence is in one tense, the verb in the underlined portion will tend to be in the same tense.)

56. Verb Tense
What’s wrong with the following sentence? Sam is walking down the street when he found a large suitcase.

57. Verb Tense
What’s wrong with the following sentence? Sam is walking down the street when he found a large suitcase.

58. Verb Tense
What’s wrong with the following sentence? Sam is walking down the street when he found a large suitcase?

59. Verb Tense
Two fixes: Sam is walking down the street when he finds a large suitcase. Or Sam was walking down the street when he found a large suitcase.

60. Adjectives and Adverbs

61. Adjectives and Adverbs
Two basic rules:
Adjectives modify nouns
Adverbs modify verbs

62. Adjectives and Adverbs
A simple procedure: Put the word you are now sure about in the following sentence: He/She/It is very _____. If the word fits the blank, then the word is an adjective.

63. Adjectives and Adverbs
Let’s try it out: He is very intelligent. He is very intelligently.

64. Adjectives and Adverbs
Let’s try it out: He is very intelligent. (adjective) He is very intelligently. (adverb)

65. Adjectives and Adverbs
Comparative Adjectives and Adverbs

66. Adjectives and Adverbs
A comparative adjective is often used when a sentence is comparing two things: Juanita is taller than Jane.

67. Adjectives and Adverbs
A comparative adjective is often used when a sentence is comparing two things: Juanita is taller than Jane.

68. Adjectives and Adverbs
In general, if an adjective has only one syllable, you can make it comparative by adding an “-er” to the end of the word. If an adjective has more than one syllable, you can usually make it comparative by adding a “more” or “less” in front of the adjective.

69. Adjectives and Adverbs
If an adjective has more than one syllable, you can usually make it comparative by adding a “more” or “less” in front of the adjective: Sid is more careful than Tom. Tom is less careful than Sid.

70. Adjectives and Adverbs
A comparative adverb is often used when a sentence is comparing two actions: Juanita dances more gracefully than Jane.

71. Adjectives and Adverbs
A comparative adverb is often used when a sentence is comparing two actions: Juanita dances more gracefully than Jane.

72. Adjectives and Adverbs
To make most adverbs comparative, you also need to add a “more” or “less” in front of the adverb: Sid behaves more correctly than Tom does. Tome behaves less correctly than Sid does.

73. Adjectives and Adverbs
Superlative Adjectives and Adverbs

74. Adjectives and Adverbs
When more than two things are being compared, a sentence often needs a superlative adjective: Of the many men in the room, John is the strongest.

75. Adjectives and Adverbs
When more than two things are being compared, a sentence often needs a superlative adjective: Of the many men in the room, John is the strongest. To make a comparison among three or more people or things, add “est” to the adjective.

76. Adjectives and Adverbs
When more than two actions are being compared, a sentence often needs a superlative adverb: Compared to the other boys in the school, Sid behaves the most correctly.

77. Adjectives and Adverbs
When more than two actions are being compared, a sentence often needs a superlative adverb: Compared to the other boys in the school, Sid behaves the most correctly.