ACT English: Conventions of Standard English Overview

👀 Overview of the ACT English Section 

This section consists of 75 multiple-choice questions which you have 45 minutes to answer. The questions are split over 5 passages that have a variety of rhetorical situations. The ACT breaks the questions in this section down into 3 categories:

• • Production of Writing (29–32%): For these questions, you'll apply your understanding of the purpose and focus of a piece of writing.
• • Knowledge of Language (15–17%): These questions ask you to demonstrate effective language use by applying concise word choices and maintaining consistency in the tone of a piece.
• • Conventions of Standard English (52–55%): Here you'll apply your understanding of standard English grammar, usage, and mechanics to revise text. 💡 In this guide, we'll take a closer look at the Conventions of Standard English questions: these make up over 50% of the questions on the English section of the exam!

📚 Conventions of Standard English

Conventions of Standard English is made up of three question types: Sentence Structure and Formation, Usage, and Punctuation. To look at each of these question types in more depth, you can check out the corresponding ACT study guides here on Fiveable! 

Sentence Structure and Formation

Punctuation

Usage 

For now, let's just take an overview of this section. When you come across these questions on the exam, you'll be acting like an editor. You'll read a short section of text and decide what edits (if any) need to be made in order to ensure the passage is understandable and in line with English grammar rules. Sentence structure, punctuation, and proper word use will be the focus of these types of questions.

Let's look through a few of the kinds of questions that might come up on this section of the exam

Image Courtesy of Act.org

In this question, we need to decide how to properly punctate the underlined sentence. Specifically, the question answer options appear to focus on proper implementation of commas in the sentence. 

Commas are used to separate items in a list and lend structure to complex sentences -- they serve as an indicator to pause while reading. Keeping this in mind, the comma after the word "students" seems to interrupt the flow of the sentence. So we can rule out answers A and B. Similarly, the comma following "Silver" also interrupts the flow of the sentence and doesn't lend any clarity to the meaning, so it's unnecessary here. This means that the best option is answer C. ✍️

Image Courtesy of Act.org

Read through this sentence a few times, replacing the underlined portion with each of the answer options in turn. 

We can infer that the writer is trying to explain that tiny bar codes were used to track bees' activities. However, the way the sentence is currently written makes it sound like bar codes were placed on bees and the bees were tracking their own activities. So a change is likely in order, and we can rule out F. 🙅

Answer G again puts focus on the bees, creating an image of the bees themselves tracking their own activities, so we rule out G as well. Option H does convey the tracking power of the bar codes, but the sentence is awkward and could probably be written a bit more fluidly. We'll go back to this option if J doesn't sound any better. 🤔

Reading the sentence through with option J in place makes the most sense. It's clear that the purpose of the bar codes is to track the bees' activities, and the sentence flows smoothly without any clunky word choices. Answer J is the best option here. 📝

Image Courtesy of ACT.org

This question is rather detail-focused. Here we need to determine what words, if any, should directly follow the comma after the word “basket”. While some questions in this section would ask if a comma was proper punctuation for this sentence, this question is asking you to decide if the sentence itself needs to be altered given that the comma is placed there. 📄

Consider the two phrases either side of our comma: the winning piece was a basket, and it was eighteen inches tall with a curved, vaselike silhouette. Since both of these clauses make sense and could be independent sentences on their own, they are independent. When two independent clauses are joined by a comma, this is commonly referred to as a “comma splice” and is not considered grammatically correct. This means we need to change the underlined words so that the second clause is no longer a sentence on its own. 

Reading through the second clause with answers G or H, still forms a complete sentence and would not eliminate the comma splice. However, removing the underlined portion completely makes the second clause dependent. This means that the correct answer is J. 🎯

Image Courtesy of ACT.org

The use of an em-dash pair is to interject a sentence with another idea, much as one might use parenthesis, or in some cases, commas. When checking to see if it has been used correctly, one must check that the interjection is completely contained within the em-dashes and that the surrounding sentence is complete with the elimination of the portion between the em-dashes. 

In this case, both of these checks prove true. While you may be itching to see if there's a better option or some trick answer, you shouldn't be afraid to choose no change! A good portion of the questions on the test won't require any fixing, and it's important not to overthink too much when this happens. 

As you practice, you'll learn to identify these questions quickly, answer them, and move on without dithering over other answer options. If you are unsure, it's always a good idea to read the sentence through with each of the other options in place; if none of the others seems significantly better, probably no change is needed after all. ✅

🧠 English Section Tips & Tricks

• • 🤔 Notice the underlined portions: Many questions in this section will refer to an underlined portion of text. Make sure to read a little bit before and after this portion so you can understand the context!
• • 🗣 Take care to read through ALL the answer options: Sometimes, multiple answers will be technically correct, but the ACT wants you to choose the best option out of your choices, so be careful and consider all your choices clearly.
• • 🔍 Note subtle differences between answers: One answer may correct one error but introduce another! Make sure you examine all your choices and analyze the correctness and fluidity of each in the context of the passage.
• • 🤩 Think like an editor: For these questions, you are being asked to edit an already existing piece of writer to make it clearer and more precise. Read through each of the options and see which flows most smoothly and makes the most sense.
• • ✅ Answer everything: Even if you aren't 100% sure about an answer, take your best informed guess - you won't lose points for an incorrect answer! With practice and patience, you can implement these strategies to improve your ACT English score and prepare for test day. You've got this! 🚀

P.S. Don't forget to check out the other ACT English Section study guides so that you can get to know each question type in detail! 

Fiveable's ACT English Section Overview: What's On It?

ACT English: Conventions of Standard English: Sentence Structure and Formation

ACT English: Conventions of Standard English: Punctuation

ACT English: Conventions of Standard English: Usage