Shakespeare, you’re not (even if you do look good in tights). That doesn’t mean you can’t score well on an English test. Read below for the ACT English Basics. And when you’re done, try taking the free practice quiz at the bottom of the page to see how you’ll fare!
ACT English Basics
If you’ve read ACT 101, you know that there are 75 questions that you must answer in 45 minutes on this section. Sure, that’s a little more than 30 seconds per question, but since it should only take you about 25 seconds or so to answer each one at the very longest, you’ll have plenty of time to finish. Don’t sweat it.
Just like the other sections, the ACT English section can earn you between 1 and 36 points. The average is about a 21, but you’ll have to do much better than that if you’d like to hit up a top university for admissions acceptance – more like between a 30 and 34.
ACT English Test Content
Usage and Mechanics
You’ll see 40 questions out of the 75 total in this nuts and bolts section of the English test. Although the ACT English test isn’t a memorization test at all, you will have to know how to use those English basics. You know – the ones your English teacher always harped on you about.
- Punctuation: (10 questions total) Brush up your knowledge of commas, apostrophes, colons, semicolons, and maybe even a quotation mark or two.
- Grammar and Usage: (12 questions total) Here, you’ll need to understand subject/verb agreement, pronoun and verb forms, case, and tense. You’ll be given a sentence with an underlined word or phrase, and will have to identify the most appropriate replacement for that underlined word or phrase from the choices listed below it.
- Sentence Structure: (18 questions) This one is a little trickier. Watch out for misplaced modifiers (adjectives, adverbs, etc.) clause issues, problems with parallel structure, and more.
Rhetorical Skills
Obviously, this part covers the other 35 out of the 75 total questions in the English section, and it’s a little harder than the previous section because you have to read more. The test will provide you with a passage of text. You’ll have to read it, understand it completely, and be able to answer the following types of questions about the text.
- Writing Strategy: (12 questions total) You must be able to identify author’s purpose, tone, main point, theme, etc. This requires a full reading of the text. If you just skim the passage, you’ll get these answers incorrect because often the broader questions are explained in the details.
- Organization: (11 questions total) You’ll choose correct introductory, transitional and closing sentences. You’ll also have to decide on accurate placement of words within sentences and sentences within the paragraph.
- Style: (12 questions) This is the creative part where you get rid of redundancy, wordiness, and ambiguity. Basically, you’ll have to choose words and sentences that keep the tone and overall style of the passage the same throughout the text while maintaining clarity. Easy, right?
There it is – the ACT English section in brief. Think you can pass it? Take my free interactive ACT English Quiz to find out:
ACT English Quiz
And don’t forget to read ACT Tips for up-to-date testing information that can get you a higher score.
