![\"red](\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/act\/files\/2020\/02\/11.png\")
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For a top-notch ACT English score<\/a>, you need to know your grammar rules inside and out. More than half of the questions in the ACT English section<\/a> test your understanding of English grammar, known on the ACT as “Conventions of Standard English” questions. <\/p>\n Although this post won’t go through ALL the English rules to know for the ACT, we will discuss the most commonly tested rules to help you kickstart your ACT grammar practice. Master the following 19 grammar rules, and you’ll not only be better prepared to take on the ACT English<\/a> questions, but you’ll also have a leg up on the ACT essay<\/a> (the optional Writing test<\/a>). Make sure to use our Comprehension Checks<\/em> and ACT Grammar Practice Questions<\/em> to test your understanding along the way!<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The basic objective of grammar is to create sentences! Knowing how sentences are structured and how to identify improperly structured sentences should be the first thing you focus on in your ACT grammar practice.<\/p>\n In the sentence “Susie loves fancy snacks<\/span>,” Susie<\/span> is the subject<\/strong> (who or what the sentence is about) and loves fancy snacks<\/span> is the predicate<\/strong> (a phrase that has a verb and a complete thought).<\/p>\n If a sentence doesn’t have these two components, it is called a fragment<\/strong>. Here are a few examples of fragments:<\/p>\n Why are the above fragments not considered complete sentences?<\/p>\n “Jumped over the fence<\/span>” lacks a subject. <\/p>\n Knowing how to fix fragments is key for ACT English grammar questions. Most times, fragments can be fixed by…<\/p>\n or combining it with another sentence:<\/p>\n One of our biggest ACT grammar tips is to watch out for fragments that seem to be connected to the previous sentence, but can\u2019t stand alone grammatically. For example:<\/p>\n She was a wonderful professor. The most <\/em>wonderful professor.<\/span> <\/p>\n The second sentence does not have a subject or a complete predicate. An acceptable edit of the sentence would be: <\/p>\n She was a wonderful professor. In fact, she was<\/em> the most wonderful professor. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many fragment questions on the ACT refer to what look like complete sentences but are actually just two or more fragments connected to each other. In these cases, adding or combining sentence elements might not be enough; you might need to change an element altogether. <\/p>\n Finishing his lab experiment before the rest of the class, then deciding to leave early.<\/span><\/p>\n Why is this an incomplete sentence? Because it lacks a subject and a proper verb. To fix it, you would need to add a subject and change the verb form:<\/p>\n Finishing his lab experiment before the rest of the class, Jack decided<\/em> to leave early.<\/span> The use of gerunds and the pronoun<\/a> “he” in the above sentence tricks you into thinking that there is a subject and a verb. A gerund looks like a verb, but it\u2019s actually a derivative of a verb that functions as a noun, sometimes called a helping verb (such as, \u201cShe is running.\u201d). Rest assured, you do not need to memorize the definition of \u201cgerund\u201d for the ACT! However, do make sure you can differentiate between verbs and nouns that appear in passages on the exam. The ACT will try to trick you with gerunds, so watch out! <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A. NO CHANGE Answer: <\/strong>D. That changed when I met Scottie.<\/p>\n Explanation: <\/strong>“Until” is a subordinating conjunction, which creates a dependent clause that can’t stand alone as a sentence (more info on dependent clauses and subordinating conjunctions are in the following sections). The only choice that’s a complete sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence is D. The passage should now read as: <\/p>\n The idea of living with them scared me. That changed when I met Scottie.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n (Wondering why the other answer choices for this question are incorrect? Check out the video explanation<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/p>\n In order to understand run-on sentences<\/strong>, it’s important to understand the difference between independent clauses and dependent clauses. An independent clause<\/strong> is a phrase that can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent clause<\/strong> is a phrase that contains a verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence.<\/p>\n What are the independent and dependent clauses in the following?<\/p>\n I enjoyed my night alone despite initially wanting to see a movie with friends.<\/span> <\/p>\n “I enjoyed my night alone” is the independent clause and “initially wanting to see a movie with friends” is the dependent clause. (FYI, “despite” is a subordinating conjunction<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/details>\n A run-on sentence is when a sentence has too many independent clauses that aren\u2019t combined properly. Students frequently make the mistake of attempting to combine run-on sentences with a comma, and this results in a grammatical error known as the comma splice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The following is an example of a comma splice:<\/p>\n I run five miles along the river on Saturdays, I do this even when it\u2019s raining.<\/span><\/p>\n Knowing how to identify a comma splice and fix it is critical for your ACT grammar prep. You can fix a comma splice by:<\/p>\n For more on comma rules and more, be sure to check out this video!<\/p>\nTable of Contents<\/h2>\n
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Sentence Structure<\/h2>\n
ACT Grammar Rule #1: A Complete Sentence Needs a Subject and a Predicate.<\/h3>\n
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![\"Comprehension](\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/act\/files\/2020\/02\/1.png\")
Comprehension Check:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\nClick here for the answer<\/summary>\n
\n“I am<\/span>” lacks a complete predicate.
\n“Without a dream to hold on to<\/span>” lacks a subject and a verb.
\n“Such as chocolate-dipped strawberries<\/span>” lacks a subject and a verb.<\/p>\n<\/details>\nHow to fix a fragment<\/h4>\n
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\n![\"ACT](\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/act\/files\/2020\/02\/light-bulb-150x150.png\")
ACT Grammar Pro Tip:<\/strong><\/span> <\/p>\nFixing tricky fragments<\/h5>\n
\n <\/p>\n ACT Grammar Pro Tip:<\/strong><\/span> <\/p>\nACT grammar practice: Sentence fragments<\/h4>\n
The idea of living with them scared me. Until I met Scottie.<\/u><\/p>\n
\nB. That is until I met Scottie.
\nC. I met Scottie.
\nD. That changed when I met Scottie.<\/p>\n\nClick here for the answer<\/summary>\n
![\"Go](\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/act\/files\/2017\/08\/back-to-top-button-1-e1502493700147.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nRun-On Sentences<\/h2>\n
Comprehension Check:<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n\nClick here for the answer<\/summary>\n
ACT Grammar Rule #2: A Comma Splice Improperly Combines One or More Independent Clauses.<\/h3>\n
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