ACT English : Word Usage Errors
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Example Question #501 : Word Usage Errors
Adapted from The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1774; trans. Boylan 1854)
Wilhelm, what is the world to our hearts without love. What is a magic-lantern without light? You have but too kindle the flame within, and the brightest figures shine on the white wall; and, were love only to show us fleeting shadows, we are yet happy, when, like mere children, we behold it, and are transported with the splendid phantoms. I have not been able to see Charlotte today. I was prevented by company from which I could not disengage myself. What was to be done? I sent my servant to her house, that I might at least see somebody today whom had been near her. Oh, the impatience with which I waited for his return! Oh, the joy with which I welcomed him. I should certainly have caught him in my arms and kissed him, if I had not been ashamed.
It is said that the Bonona stone, when placed in the sun, attracts its rays and for a time appears luminous in the dark. So was it with me and this servant. The idea that Charlotte's eyes had dwelt on his countenance, his cheek, his very apparel, endeared it all inestimably to me so that, at that moment, I would not have parted from him for a thousand crowns. His presence made me so happy! Beware of laughing at me, Wilhelm. Can that be a delusion which makes us happy?
Which of the following is the best form of the underlined selection, "that I might at least see somebody today whom had been near her"?
that I might at least see somebody today who had been near her
so that I might at least see somebody today whom had been near her
NO CHANGE
that I might at least see somebody today, whom had been near her
that I might at least see somebody today who had been near her
As written, the error in the selection is its misuse of the relative pronoun "whom." "Whom" is used when you are designating an object. A simple example is the use of a prepositional phrase: "to whom I gave . . ." In our selection, the relative pronoun is describing a person who would have at least been near Charlotte. It is the servant—the "who"—that is near. Therefore, in the relative clause, "who" designates the subject of the verb, thus requiring "who," not "whom."
Example Question #502 : Word Usage Errors
The witness turned and pointed a shaky finger at the person that had fired the gun into the air.
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
person whom had fired
person who had fired
person which had fired
person that fired
NO CHANGE
person who had fired
"Who" is used for people. "That" and "which" are used for things. In addition, "person that fired" changes the tense of the verb "fired," and introduces confusion into the sentence.
Example Question #503 : 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."
I run more than him, so I should beat him in the race.
he
his
him or her
NO CHANGE
he
The first clause compares the pronouns “I” and “him,” which are in different cases. To properly compare them, you must match “I” with “he.” Another way to remember this rule is that the clause has colloquially dropped the verb “does.” When added back in, this would correctly read as “I run more than he does.”
Example Question #504 : 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."
When Margaret got back from the business meeting, she excitedly told me whom she had sat next to: the company’s CEO.
NO CHANGE
with whom
with who
whose
who
NO CHANGE
In this case, it is necessary to use “whom” instead of “who.” An easy way to remember which to use is to rearrange the sentence to see if you can replace the noun in question with either “he” or “him.” If you can do so, you should use "whom," not "who." Here, the rearranged sentence might read: “Margaret excitedly told me about the CEO and about how she had sat next to him,” which indicates the usage of “whom” (and “he” would correlate with using “who.”)
Example Question #505 : 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."
After the party, Maria, who the party was thrown for, walked home alone, savoring the memories of the friends she would be leaving when she moved for her new job next week.
for whom the party was thrown for
for who the party was thrown
for whose the party was thrown
for whom the party was thrown
NO CHANGE
for whom the party was thrown
In this clause, the party is thrown for Maria, so she is an object and not the subject of the clause. "Who" is used to refer to the subject and is therefore incorrect. "Who . . . for" is also incorrect because it ends the clause with a preposition, which one generally should try to avoid doing when using standard written English.
Example Question #506 : Word Usage Errors
"Our Family Trip to Hawaii" by Jennifer Mings (2013)
Last summer, my mother, sister, brother, and me took a trip to Honolulu, Hawaii. We were excited to see everything, and couldn’t wait to arrive. After our lengthy plane ride, we stepped off of the plane in a daze. There was two flight attendants who immediately greeted us, putting flower wreaths around our necks. We then met up with our tour guide; and he told us that we would be going straight to Pearl Harbor.
On our way to Pearl Harbor, there was a largely immense amount of traffic, something that aggravated my mother. Luckily, the tour guide was a native of the island, and he was able to calm my mother down.
When we finally arrived at Pearl Harbor, there was many tourists and natives of different nationalities. The first thing we did when we arrived was watching a movie about the history of Pearl Harbor, which included the story of the USS Arizona. During the movie, everyone had been excited to see the USS Arizona Memorial and wanted to get on the boat. After, we all got on a boat and we were driven to the USS Arizona Memorial. It was an amazing, beautiful, gorgeous, and great experience for everyone.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
Last summer, my mother, sister, brother and I
Last summer, my mother sister brother and me
Last summer, my mother, sister, brother, and I
NO CHANGE
Last summer, my mother, sister, brother, and I
The comma placement is correct in the passage, but “me” must be changed to “I” in order for the sentence to be grammatically correct.
Example Question #507 : Word Usage Errors
As the class entered the museum, Ms. Johnson noticed that two of her students had fallen behind the group. After all of the tickets had been secured, she approached the two girls, saying: “what on Earth is causing you to go so slow?” The taller girl, whose name was Ashley, was the first to respond:
“Veronica and I were just discussing something very private. Nobody can hear what her and I are discussing.”
“Well, Ashley, I think that our tour guide, Dr. Mitchell, will be offended by your behavior. You and Veronica should find separate places in the group and you should pay attention to him and me.”
The two girls reluctantly joined the rest of the class. Ms. Johnson looked to see if another student was out of their place, but everything seemed to be in order. The tour guide, Dr. Mitchell, introduced himself to the class:
“Hello everyone! My name is Dr. Mitchell. I’m so glad that you have all come to the Museum of Natural History today; I think you’ll really enjoy our exhibits, which have been curated with the utmost care. The museum has three distinct types of exhibitions. Permanent exhibitions, temporary exhibitions, and space shows. The permanent exhibition and the space show is always available for viewing, but the temporary exhibition changes seasonally.“
Having finished his introduction, the permanent exhibition was the first thing that Dr. Mitchell showed to the class.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
NO CHANGE
Nobody can hear what her and me are discussing.
Nobody can hear what she and I are discussing.
Nobody can hear what she and me are discussing.
Nobody can hear what she and I are discussing.
Veronica and Ashley are the subjects doing the discussing, so we must use a pronoun that functions as a subject, not an object. These pronouns are I, you, she, he, we, and they. In this case, the correct answer is "she and I."
Example Question #508 : Word Usage Errors
As the class entered the museum, Ms. Johnson noticed that two of her students had fallen behind the group. After all of the tickets had been secured, she approached the two girls, saying: “what on Earth is causing you to go so slow?” The taller girl, whose name was Ashley, was the first to respond:
“Veronica and I were just discussing something very private. Nobody can hear what her and I are discussing.”
“Well, Ashley, I think that our tour guide, Dr. Mitchell, will be offended by your behavior. You and Veronica should find separate places in the group and you should pay attention to him and me.”
The two girls reluctantly joined the rest of the class. Ms. Johnson looked to see if another student was out of their place, but everything seemed to be in order. The tour guide, Dr. Mitchell, introduced himself to the class:
“Hello everyone! My name is Dr. Mitchell. I’m so glad that you have all come to the Museum of Natural History today; I think you’ll really enjoy our exhibits, which have been curated with the utmost care. The museum has three distinct types of exhibitions. Permanent exhibitions, temporary exhibitions, and space shows. The permanent exhibition and the space show is always available for viewing, but the temporary exhibition changes seasonally.“
Having finished his introduction, the permanent exhibition was the first thing that Dr. Mitchell showed to the class.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
NO CHANGE
pay attention to he and me
pay attention to him and I
pay attention to he and I
NO CHANGE
In the phrase "pay attention to __________," the blank represents the place where we need to insert two pronouns. Because the blank follows a preposition ("to"), the blank is the object of the preposition. This means that we need to use one of the following pronouns: me, you, her, him, them, us (rather than "I," "you," "she," "he," etc.).
Example Question #22 : Pronoun Case Errors
Jeremy had no luck convincing the members of the orchestral committee about his suggestions. He pleaded, cajoled, was begging, and even threatened the committee at various times, but yet despite being the conductor, he couldnt get them to agree to his requests. Despite many attempts, the committee would not listen to him. In the end, he decided to go through with the Christmas concert despite him not having his favorite composer on the program. Afterward, one of his friends, whom was in the audience, came up and asked him why was there no Handel on the program? "I did try" Jeremy replied "but the committee were unanimously against me. I nearly begged them all day to put one piece on the program. But try as I might I could not get a Handel on it."
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
NO CHANGE
which
who
the which
who
The pronoun is being used here as the subject for the phrase, "was in the audience," and thus "who" would be appropriate here.
Example Question #509 : Word Usage Errors
Adapted from “Authority: The Unavoidable” in What’s Wrong with the World by G.K. Chesterton (1912)
The important point here is only that you cannot get rid of authority in education. It is not so much that parental authority ought to be preserved. The more, important truth, is that such authority cannot be destroyed. Mr. Bernard Shaw once said that he had hated the idea of forming a child's mind. In that case, Mr. Bernard Shaw had better hang himself, for he hates something inseparable from human life. I only mentioned [earlier in the book] the drawing out of the child’s abilities in order to point out that even this mental trick does not avoid the idea of parental or scholastic authority. The educator's drawing out is just as arbitrary and coercive as the instructor’s action, for he draws out what he chooses. He decides what in the child shall be developed and what shall not be developed.
The only result of all this pompous distinction between the “educator” and the “instructor” is who the instructor pokes where he likes and the educator pulls where he likes. Exactly the same intellectual violence is done to the creature whom is poked and pulled. We must all except the responsibility of this intellectual violence, whether from poking or from pulling.
Education is violent; because it is creative. It is such because it is human. It is as reckless as playing on the fiddle, as dogmatic as drawing a picture, as brutal as building a house. In short, it is what all human action is, it is an interference with life and growth. After that it is a trifling and even a jocular question whether we say of this tremendous tormentor, the artist Man, that he puts things into us like a pharmacist or draws things out of us.
Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
who's
whose
NO CHANGE
that
that
The conjunction here is not a relative conjunction. The simplest form of the sentence should make this obvious: "The only result . . . is that . . . " An even simpler form of this would be something like, "The only result . . . is (e.g.) agony." The "that" merely makes the predicate to be indirectly stated.
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