ACT English : Word Usage Errors
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT English
All ACT English Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #141 : Subject Verb Agreement Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
Lauren and I am not going to the party.
Lauren and me is not going to the party.
Lauren and I are not going to the party.
Me and Lauren are not going to the party.
NO CHANGE
Lauren and me are not going to the party.
Lauren and I are not going to the party.
Since "Lauren and I" is a plural subject, the verb has to be plural as well. Replace "Lauren and I" with "we," and the verb "are" might sound more natural than "am."
Example Question #142 : Subject Verb Agreement Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
Bill and Tiffany's brother buys a round of appetizers for the table.
NO CHANGE
buy
has bought
buying
was buying
buy
This question asks you about subject-verb agreement. When the subject of a sentence is plural, the verb must also use a plural form in order to agree. In this case, the compound subject includes two people, "Bill" and "Tiffany's brother," so it is plural. Therefore, the plural form of the verb, "buy," should be used rather than the singular form, "buys."
Example Question #173 : Word Usage Errors
Second language acquisition has already been positively correlated to increased cognitive flexibility (1): what has yet to be investigated is the correlation between cultural literacy—as a potential result of second language acquisition—and the facilitation of social relationships on the individual and community levels, academic and career success, and personal cultural enrichment. Cultural literacy may be (2) viewed as a deepest sense of foreign language study, as it encompasses all facets of culture rather than just language. If these positive correlations are accurately established (3) , the United State's education system and (4) its lack of priority given to foreign language studies must be reevaluated. Vastly extending foreign language requirements would allow individuals not only the obvious benefit of communicating in more than one language, (5) but also from greater academic success in high school, college, and the workplace, as well as less multicultural tension in social and professional arenas. (6) As the global market continues to be vital to the economic prosperity of nations, and immigration trends change their cultural make-up, (7) both linguistic and cultural understanding and awareness is essential.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded and underlined portion of the passage. If the bolded and underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
NO CHANGE
Since the global market is continuing
Because the global market will continue
As the global market is continuing
NO CHANGE
The word "continues" must be kept in the present tense in order to stay parallel with the verbs that follow.
Example Question #171 : Word Usage Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
Neither the lawyer nor his clients was ready to accept the settlement that was offered by the insurance company last month.
is
NO CHANGE
am
were
being
were
The verb "was offered" and the time signal "last month" indicate that the sentence is in past tense.
Since the one part of the subject ("lawyer") is singular and one part ("clients") is plural, one should use the noun closest to the verb to determine subject-verb agreement.
Example Question #143 : Subject Verb Agreement Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
According to the recent census conducted by researchers in 2010, only Panville and Saytown have a greater proportion of men to women.
Panville and Saytown has had
Panville and Saytown having
Panville and Saytown had has
Panville and Saytown has
NO CHANGE
NO CHANGE
The subject "Panville and Saytown" involves more than one city. Therefore, the subject is plural. Because of a plural subject, the verb must also be plural. "Have" is the plural form of the verb, and so "Panville and Saytown have" is the correct answer.
Example Question #1 : Pronoun Antecedent Gender Errors
Adapted from Looking Backward: 2000 to 1887 by Edward Bellamy (1888)
I first saw the light in the city of Boston in the year 1857. "What" you say "eighteen fifty-seven? That is an odd slip. He means nineteen fifty-seven, of course." I beg pardon, but there is no mistake. It was about four in the afternoon of December the 26th, one day after Christmas, in the year 1857, not 1957, that I first breathed the east wind of Boston, which, I assure the reader, was at that remote period marked by the same penetrating quality characterizing it in the present year of grace, 2000.
These statements seem so absurd on their face, especially when I add that I am a young man apparently of about thirty years of age, that no person can be blamed for refusing to read another word of what promises to be a mere imposition upon his credulity. Nevertheless I earnestly assure the reader that no imposition is intended, and will undertake if he shall follow me a few pages to entirely convince him of this. If I may, then, provisionally assume, with the pledge of justifying the assumption, that I know better than the reader when I was born, I will go on with my narrative.
Which is the best form of the underlined section?
no one
no man
no individual
no woman
no man
While in contemporary English, we would use the phrase "no one," as it doesn't make any assumptions about the reader's gender, the sentence later uses the masculine possessive pronoun "his," so in order for the sentence to be grammatically correct, we need to use the phrase "no man," even though this assumes the reader is male; this was a common convention in 19th-century prose.
Example Question #1 : Pronoun Antecedent Gender Errors
In the last day of classes (1), everyone was distracted and unable to do their (2) work. Even the teacher, which normally (3) was attentive and cheery, seems (4) unable to focus. The final test took (5) way too long for everyone to complete, and many of students (6) had put down his head (7) on the desk. The sound of the heat blowing through the room was enough to put everyone (8) to sleep, and the teachers' (9) eyes began drooping despite hisself (10). After what seemed an eternity; (11) the bell had rung (12) and everyone, including the teacher, ran out of the room.
Choose from the following four options the answer that best corrects the underlined mistake preceding the question number. If there is no mistake or the original text is the best option, choose "NO CHANGE."
his
NO CHANGE
they're
his or her
his or her
Since the genders of the students are not known, the pronoun "his or her" must be used since "everyone" is singular.
Example Question #171 : Word Usage Errors
The world is full of contradictions and I am full of them as well. Every person has their quirks and I am no exception. I love sports but I am also lazy I love animals, but I am not a vegetarian and I love teaching but I hate taking classes. With all these contradictions how does a person like me make sense? I would love to enlighten you!
What option make the underlined portion grammatically correct?
person has his or her quirks
person has their quirk
person have their quirks
person has the quirks
NO CHANGE
person has his or her quirks
Since the subject of the sentence is singular—"person"—the pronoun that refers to it must also be singular. This means that "their" is not appropriate because it refers to more than one person.
Example Question #2 : Pronoun Antecedent Agreement Errors
The cat made it clear to Jeremy whom was the boss around the house. The only time it showed him any affection was when it was time for the cat to be fed, the moment at which it would rub up against his legs and purr loudly enough to be heard. But as soon as the food hit the cat dish, it would run to the dish, gorging itself, and then ignore him the rest of the day. If he attempts to pet the cat at any other time, it will hiss and spit at him trying to bite him. Playing with the cat was even worst because it would wait until Jeremy was dangling something over it's face and then leap up to sink its fangs into his' hand. Eventually he would give up trying to be affectionate toward the cat and simply interacted with it every morning at feeding time. It was safer that way.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
its
her
NO CHANGE
his or her
its
The possessive form of "it" is "its;" "it's" is the contraction of "it is" and thus would be inappropriate here. We still don't know the gender of the cat, so the other choices are also inappropriate here.
Example Question #2 : Pronoun Antecedent Agreement Errors
Adapted from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1911)
It was the sweetest, most mysterious-looking place any one could imagine. The high walls that shut it in were covered with the leafless stems of climbing roses which were so thick that they were matted together. Mary Lennox knew they were roses because she had seen a great many roses in India. All the ground was covered with grass of a wintry brown and out of it grew clumps of bushes which were surely rosebushes if they were alive. There were numbers of standard roses which had so spread their branches that they were like little trees. There were other trees in the garden, and one of the things which made the place look strangest and loveliest was that climbing roses had run all over them and swung down long tendrils which made light swaying curtains, and here and there they had caught at each other or at a far-reaching branch and had crept from one tree to another and made lovely bridges of themselves. There were neither leaves nor roses on them now, and Mary did not know whether they were dead or alive, but their thin gray or brown branches and sprays looked like a sort of hazy mantle spreading over everything, walls, and trees, and even brown grass, where they had fallen from their fastenings and run along the ground. It was this hazy tangle from tree to tree which made it all look so mysterious. Mary had thought it must be different from other gardens which had not been left all by themselves so long; and indeed it was different from any other place she had ever seen in her life.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded and underlined portion of the passage. If the bolded and underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
them
NO CHANGE
it
their
they've
NO CHANGE
The pronoun "they" must agree with its antecedent, which is "roses." "Roses" is a plural noun, and in the phrase "where they had fallen," the pronoun is supposed to be in subjective case. "It" is incorrect because it is singular in number. Although "them" is in third person, it is incorrect because it is in the objective case. Similarly, "their" is incorrect because its in the possessive case of pronouns. "They have" is incorrect because the "have" is unnecessary in the sentence.
All ACT English Resources
