ACT ENGLISH 
General Overview & Punctuation 
 

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Basic Structure 

● Five 15-Question Passages (75 Total Questions) 

● 45 Minute Time Limit 
○ Approximately 9 minutes or less per passage 
● ACT English primarily focuses on passage editing & 
grammar 

 
  

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General Strategies: O
​ P T I C S 
1. O​rder​: Choose and answer the questions that come 
easiest to you; each question is worth the same number 
of points.  
2. P​ace y
​ ourself: English is long...ensure you are 
working at a pace that will allow you to finish in time. 
3. T​opical​: Ensure that any answer choice you mark 
adheres to the established passage topic. Ignore 
unnecessary information.  
4. I​nstinct​: Trust your instinct whilst answering, but 
don’t fall for answer choice traps (redundancy, comma 
splices, etc.) 
5. C​oncision​: If there is a more concise way to say 
something (without losing its meaning), it’s likely the 
correct answer. 
6. S​tructure​: Attack paragraph structuring and sentence 
order questions last (but before main idea questions).  
  

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The 8 Parts of Speech 

​ oun 
1. N
a. A
​ person, place, thing, or idea.  
i. Single or Plural 
ii. Often used with an article (the, a , an) 
2. Pronoun 
a. A word used in place of a noun.  
i. Substituted for specific noun (antecedent) 
ii. Types:  
1. Possessive- indicate ownership 
2. Personal- refer to specific persons or things 
3. Reflexive- emphasize other noun/pronoun 
3. Verb 
a. E
​ xpresses action or being. 
i. Main verbs and helping verbs 
4. Adverb 
a. Modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another 
adverb. 
5. Adjective 
a. Modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. 
6. Preposition 
  

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a. Word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase 

modifying another word in the sentence. 

7. Conjunction 
a. J
​ oins words, phrases, or clauses.  
i. Coordinating 
1. FANBOYS 
a. For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so 
ii. Subordinating 
1. AAAWWUBBIS 
a. Although, after, as, when, while, until, 
because, before, if, since 
8. Interjection 
a. Word used to express emotion.  
i. Often followed by an exclamation point. 
1. Ex: Oh! | Wow! | Oops! 

Punctuation 

 
  

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First, some basic grammatical definitions…  

Clause: ​A group of words that contains a subject, an object, or 

both, and a verb.  

Ex: ​I washed the car.  

Independent Clause:​ A clause that c​ an​ stand alone as a complete 

sentence.  

Ex: ​I washed the car.  

Dependent Clause: A
​ clause that ​cannot​ stand alone as a complete 
sentence.  

Ex: ​After I washed the car 

Possession: ​Showing ownership of something.  

Ex: ​My​ ice cream cone melted. 

Commas 

Comma Use 1:​ To separate introductory words from the main part 
of the sentence.  

Ex: ​After eating breakfast, I got ready for school.  

  

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Comma Use 2:​ Separate two independent clauses if a FANBOY 

conjunction comes between them.  

Ex: ​I was going to do my homework, but I had to eat dinner 

first.  

Comma Use 3:​ Separate words in a list.  

→ The ACT uses the oxford comma (the comma before and in a list 
of 3 or more items). 

Ex: ​I like eating apples, bananas, and guavas.  

Comma Use 4:​ To set off unnecessary information from the main 
sentence (always a p
​ air​ of commas that encompass nonessential 
information).  

Ex: ​Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, was born in 
the state of Ohio.  

Colons 

Colon Use:​ Follows an independent clause and introduces an 

explanation, list, phrase, or specific example. 

→ Whatever follows the colon ​does not​ need to be an independent 

clause.  

→ The information that follows a colon must be related to the 

clause that precedes it.  
  

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Ex: ​Everyone knew who would win the race: Team USA.  

Semicolons 

Semicolon Use​: Separates two independent clauses when a 

FANBOY is not present.  

Ex: ​I went to Rome last year; the architecture was amazing. 

Dashes 

Dash Use:​ To set off a break in the sentence or unnecessary 

information (always a p
​ air​ of dashes).  

Ex: ​My favorite brands-Nike, Adidas, and Puma- are all on 
sale at the mall.  

Apostrophes 

Apostrophe Use 1:​ To indicate possession.  

→ ’s = singular 

Ex: ​My dog’s favorite toy is blue.    

→ s’ = plural 

Ex: ​My friends’ favorite band is Maroon 5. 

Apostrophe Use 2:​ To indicate contractions. 

  

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Ex: ​They’re (they & are), who’s (who & is), it’s (it & is), don’t 
(do & not), you’re (you & are), there’s (there & is).