Grammar and Usage

Pronoun Rule: If a pronoun is the subject of a sentence, it must be expressed as a subject—I, we, you he, she, it they, and who. (She/her) bought a souvenir NASA sweatshirt. If the pronoun is the object it must be expressed as me, us, you, him, her, it, them, and whom.

Subject-Verb Agreement The verb must agree with the 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. What is wrong with this sentence??

The Error? The subject is “moment”, which is singular. Were should be changed to was

Verb Tense You can spot these errors when you see a verb in the underlined portion of the sentence or in any answer choice. Sam is walking down the street when he found a large suitcase. (was) Be careful of two past tense verbs put together- Mike has ate all the cookies in the cookie jar. Mike ate all he cookies in the cookie jar.

Punctuation

Commas A comma by itself can’t come in between two complete ideas, but it can when it’s paired with FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). The music changed suddenly, but Snowball picked up the new beat.

Incomplete to Complete A comma can link an incomplete idea to a complete idea. After Snowball stopped dancing, the trainer gave the bird another treat. Snowball rocked out to Lady Gaga, oblivious to the growing crowd of fans.

Lists Use a comma to separate items on a list. Snowball prefers songs with a regular, funky beat. Snowball seems to like best the music of The Backstreet Boys, Lady Gaga, and Queen.

Unnecessary Info Use a pair of commas around unnecessary information. Further research has shown that parrots, including cockatoos, can dance in perfect synch to music.

Practice Many people point to dog dancing competitions to argue that birds are not the only animals that can dance. A. No Change B. argue, that birds are not the only animals, C. argue, that birds are not the only animals D. argue that birds are not the only animals,

Answer? (A) No Change Why? It is not FANBOYS, it isn’t two complete ideas or a list, it isn’t linking a complete idea to an incomplete idea, so the answer is NO CHANGE.

Semicolons Semicolons are punctuation marks used to put two or more clauses together to form one big sentence. Use a semicolon instead of a period to connect two related independent clauses. Just then, the woman screamed; the bird jumped up and perched on her head.

How to Spot a Semicolon Error If the underlined portion or any of the answer choices contains a semicolon, you should ask yourself whether the sentence contains two related independent clauses not joined by a conjunction. OR Does the sentence contain two statements that could stand on their own but lack a conjunction? If so, the semicolon is probably correct.

Dashes I tried to express my gratitude-not that any words could be adequate-but she just nodded and walked away. Tip: Always have two dashes. On the ACT, if you see one dash, the answer choice should include the second dash.