ACT English : Word Usage Errors

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT English

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store varsity tutors ibooks store

Example Questions

Example Question #511 : 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.

Which of the following is the best form of the relative pronoun following “creature” in the bolded expression, “creature whom is poked and pulled” in the second paragraph?

Possible Answers:

whose

who's

who

NO CHANGE

Correct answer:

who

Explanation:

The relative pronoun being used in this sentence functions as the subject of the clause. It might seem to be the direct object since the creature "is poked and pulled." However, this verb is in the passive voice.  Therefore, the relative pronoun (standing in for "creature") is the subject of the action. This means that the pronoun should be "who" and not "whom." Certainly, it is not possessive, so the other two options should not be a temptation.

Example Question #512 : Word Usage Errors

Adapted from “Emerson’s Prose Works” in The Works of Orestes A. Brownson: Philosophy of Religion by Orestes Brownson (ed. 1883)

Mr. Emersons literary reputation is established and placed beyond the reach of criticism. No living writer surpasses him in his mastery of pure and classic English; nor do any equal himneither in the exquisite delicacy and finish of his chiseled sentences, or in the metallic ring of his style. It is only as a thinker and teacher that we can venture any inquiry into his merits; and as such we cannot suffer ourselves to be imposed upon by his oracular manner, nor by the apparent originality either of his views or his expressions.

Mr. Emerson has had a swarm both of admirers but also of detractors. With many, he is a philosopher and sage, almost a god; while with others, he is regarded as an unintelligible mystic, babbling nonsense fitted to captivate beardless young men and silly maidens with pretty curls, all of who constituted years ago the great body of his hearers and worshipers. We rank us in neither class, though we regard he as no ordinary man. Indeed, we believe he to be one of the deepest thinkers as well as one of the first poets of our country. Indeed, by long acquaintance have him and us been in mutual contact—if only from a distance at times. We know him to be a polished gentleman, a genial companion, and a warmhearted friend, whose' kindness does not pass over individuals and waste itself in a vague philanthropy. So much, at least, we can say of the man, and this do we base not only upon former personal acquaintance and upon our former study of his writings.

Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."

Possible Answers:

NO CHANGE

all whose

all of whose

all of whom

all of who's

Correct answer:

all of whom

Explanation:

The subordinate clause is describing the young men and maidens who had been Emerson's hearers at an ealier time. Those persons are the implied subject of the subordinate clause. (It is they who had constituted the group.) When "who" is the object of a preposition (here, "of"), the form "whom" must be used. This is similar to the case of "he."  That is, we do not say, "I took it from he." Instead, we say, "I took it from him."

Example Question #1641 : Act English

Adapted from “Emerson’s Prose Works” in The Works of Orestes A. Brownson: Philosophy of Religion by Orestes Brownson (ed. 1883)

Mr. Emersons literary reputation is established and placed beyond the reach of criticism. No living writer surpasses him in his mastery of pure and classic English; nor do any equal himneither in the exquisite delicacy and finish of his chiseled sentences, or in the metallic ring of his style. It is only as a thinker and teacher that we can venture any inquiry into his merits; and as such we cannot suffer ourselves to be imposed upon by his oracular manner, nor by the apparent originality either of his views or his expressions.

Mr. Emerson has had a swarm both of admirers but also of detractors. With many, he is a philosopher and sage, almost a god; while with others, he is regarded as an unintelligible mystic, babbling nonsense fitted to captivate beardless young men and silly maidens with pretty curls, all of who constituted years ago the great body of his hearers and worshipers. We rank us in neither class, though we regard he as no ordinary man. Indeed, we believe he to be one of the deepest thinkers as well as one of the first poets of our country. Indeed, by long acquaintance have him and us been in mutual contact—if only from a distance at times. We know him to be a polished gentleman, a genial companion, and a warmhearted friend, whose' kindness does not pass over individuals and waste itself in a vague philanthropy. So much, at least, we can say of the man, and this do we base not only upon former personal acquaintance and upon our former study of his writings.

What is the correct form of the bolded selection, "though we regard he as no ordinary man"?

Possible Answers:

though we regard he like no ordinary man

though we regard him as no ordinary man

though we regarded him as no ordinary man

NO CHANGE

Correct answer:

though we regard him as no ordinary man

Explanation:

The main issue with the sentence as written is the fact that the direct object of "regard" is not in the proper objective form. The personal pronoun "he" should be rendered "him" when it functions as an object. The incorrect answer that has "him" but likewise changes the verb "regard" to "regarded" is less acceptable than the correct answer because there is nothing in the sentence (or the context) to justify shifting the tense into the past. 

Example Question #513 : Word Usage Errors

Adapted from “Emerson’s Prose Works” in The Works of Orestes A. Brownson: Philosophy of Religion by Orestes Brownson (ed. 1883)

Mr. Emersons literary reputation is established and placed beyond the reach of criticism. No living writer surpasses him in his mastery of pure and classic English; nor do any equal himneither in the exquisite delicacy and finish of his chiseled sentences, or in the metallic ring of his style. It is only as a thinker and teacher that we can venture any inquiry into his merits; and as such we cannot suffer ourselves to be imposed upon by his oracular manner, nor by the apparent originality either of his views or his expressions.

Mr. Emerson has had a swarm both of admirers but also of detractors. With many, he is a philosopher and sage, almost a god; while with others, he is regarded as an unintelligible mystic, babbling nonsense fitted to captivate beardless young men and silly maidens with pretty curls, all of who constituted years ago the great body of his hearers and worshipers. We rank us in neither class, though we regard he as no ordinary man. Indeed, we believe he to be one of the deepest thinkers as well as one of the first poets of our country. Indeed, by long acquaintance have him and us been in mutual contact—if only from a distance at times. We know him to be a polished gentleman, a genial companion, and a warmhearted friend, whose' kindness does not pass over individuals and waste itself in a vague philanthropy. So much, at least, we can say of the man, and this do we base not only upon former personal acquaintance and upon our former study of his writings.

Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."

Possible Answers:

NO CHANGE

we believe, he to be, one

we believe him to be one

we believe, him to be, one

we believe that he to be one

Correct answer:

we believe him to be one

Explanation:

The problem here is the fact that "he" is functioning as the object of the verb "believe"—even though you are likely to read the sentence, "We believe that he is." That is the sense of the formation "him to be," but since we have a believe about him, it is necessary to render "he" in the proper object form, namely, him. The incorrect option with commas adds extra punctuation where it is not necessary.

Example Question #514 : Word Usage Errors

Adapted from “Emerson’s Prose Works” in The Works of Orestes A. Brownson: Philosophy of Religion by Orestes Brownson (ed. 1883)

Mr. Emersons literary reputation is established and placed beyond the reach of criticism. No living writer surpasses him in his mastery of pure and classic English; nor do any equal himneither in the exquisite delicacy and finish of his chiseled sentences, or in the metallic ring of his style. It is only as a thinker and teacher that we can venture any inquiry into his merits; and as such we cannot suffer ourselves to be imposed upon by his oracular manner, nor by the apparent originality either of his views or his expressions.

Mr. Emerson has had a swarm both of admirers but also of detractors. With many, he is a philosopher and sage, almost a god; while with others, he is regarded as an unintelligible mystic, babbling nonsense fitted to captivate beardless young men and silly maidens with pretty curls, all of who constituted years ago the great body of his hearers and worshipers. We rank us in neither class, though we regard he as no ordinary man. Indeed, we believe he to be one of the deepest thinkers as well as one of the first poets of our country. Indeed, by long acquaintance have him and us been in mutual contact—if only from a distance at times. We know him to be a polished gentleman, a genial companion, and a warmhearted friend, whose' kindness does not pass over individuals and waste itself in a vague philanthropy. So much, at least, we can say of the man, and this do we base not only upon former personal acquaintance and upon our former study of his writings.

What is the best form of the bolded selection, "by long acquaintance have him and us been in mutual contact"?

Possible Answers:

by long acquaintance, have we been in mutual contact

by long acquaintance have we been in mutual contact with each other

by long acquaintance have we been in mutual contact

NO CHANGE

Correct answer:

by long acquaintance have we been in mutual contact with each other

Explanation:

Clearly, the problem with the selection is the fact that "him and us" are not appropriate forms of the personal pronouns that are to be used for "have been." Although the sentence is inverted, these two are the subjects of the verb. Therefore they should be in the form "he and we." This is awkward, however. It is perhaps most tempting merely to state, "we." However, notice that the author has used "we" to refer to himself. (This creates a slightly less personal tone than using "I.") In order to retain this tone, it is best to indicate that this new use of "we" indicates more than just the author himself. This is best done in the correct answer, which adds "with each other" to the end of the clause.

Example Question #23 : Subjective And Objective Pronoun Errors

The bayou was quiet, except for the sounds of insects, water and the occasional alligator. Jim was cleaning his blade, which he had recently used to dispatch one of the undead. His partner Bill and him had come out to the bayou for their nightly patrol and they had found a nest of the undead by an old abandoned dock.

"Hey, Bill!," he shouted gleefully, mindless of whether the noise would attract more undead. "Where'd you go, man?"

A noise to his left had startled him. He turned quick and saw the man who had been closest to him than a brother for the past six months walking slowly toward him.

"Whew," he said: "there you are." He went back to cleaning his blade. "I thought one of those things had got 'cha."

Standing in the dark, the light of the moon did not reach his partners face. The sudden silence caused Jim to look up again. "What's the matter with you, Bill?"

It was only when the thing that was once Bill stepped into the light and Jim saw the fresh bite on it's newly dead face that he realized what the matter was.

Choose the answer that best corrects the bolded portion of the passage. If the bolded portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."

Possible Answers:

Him and his partner Bill

His partner, Bill, and him

His partner Bill and he

NO CHANGE

Correct answer:

His partner Bill and he

Explanation:

Both "Bill" and the pronoun replacing Jim are being used as subjects in this sentence, which would make the correct pronoun "he." All of the other choices use "him," which is an objective pronoun.

Example Question #515 : Word Usage 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."

Possible Answers:

who's

who

NO CHANGE

whose

Correct answer:

who

Explanation:

The object pronoun here needs to work as a subject ("who") rather than an object ("whom") to complete the phrase "is the boss," so "who" is more appropriate.

Example Question #516 : 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."

People fondly remember him as the physics teacher from whom they learned not only about solving physics problems but also about thinking critically and creatively.

Possible Answers:

from who

from which

by who

NO CHANGE

by whom

Correct answer:

NO CHANGE

Explanation:

The personal pronoun takes the object form "whom." "Who" is the subjective form. In this sentence, the personal pronoun is functioning as the object of the preposition "from," so its objective form should be used. You would say "I learned from him," not "I learned from he," so use "whom" here.

Example Question #31 : Pronoun Case Errors

The newspaper was delivered every morning to him and I.

Possible Answers:

to he and me.

from him and I.

to me and him.

to he and I.

for him and I.

Correct answer:

to me and him.

Explanation:

The underlined portion of the sentence is the object, and both words need to be in the objective form. "Him" is objective, but "I" should only be used as a subject. The correct answer is "to me and him."

Example Question #2 : Correcting Pronoun Errors: Case

Me and you have never seen eye to eye on any issue.

Possible Answers:

You and me

Me and you

I and You

You, me

You and I

Correct answer:

You and I

Explanation:

The problem with the sentence is in the two pronouns underlined. The correct usage of the first person pronoun as an object is "I," not "me." Additionally, "you" should come before "I." 

Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors