ACT English : Correcting Grammatical Errors

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT English

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Example Questions

Example Question #1741 : Correcting Grammatical Errors

Known as Prohibition the political fight in the United States to ban the sale, consumption, and possession of alcohol took a long time. The official ratification of the 18th Amendment, which banned alcohol, took place in January of 1919, after Nebraska became the 36th state to have its legislature ratify the amendment. The Amendment had first been passed of the United States Senate in 1917, and needed vigorous political action taken by its supporters just to get the necessary 36 states to ratify it. Its official enactment on January 1, 1920 was met with equal amounts of relief and joy by it’s proponents.

Most of them had been fighting to ban alcohol for decades. The American Temperance Society was founding in 1826. Frances Willard had been running the Women’s Christian Temperance Union for decades by the time a national debate was taking place on Prohibition. Carrie Nation had banded together women in the Midwest since the turn of the century to destroy bars and saloons with her trademark hatchet. The Anti-Saloon league organized thousands of everyday Americans to vote against any politician that did not support Prohibition. A burgeoning movement had grown into a legitimate groundswell, by the late 1910s.

After the ratification of the 18th Amendment, few of these supporters thought that it would be the abject failure it turned out to be. Most Americans did not want the absolute ban of all sale, consumption, and possession of alcohol. The most enterprising Americans found many illicit ways to profit from alcohol’s new illegal status. Americans looking for alcohol were seldom out of options, as every corner had either a speakeasy or a bootlegger selling imported or homemade liquor. Criminal organizations grew in strength thanks to profits from illegal booze, and federal agents were hopelessly outmanned of mobsters and thugs. On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution repealed the 18th Amendment, eliminating the Prohibition of alcohol and turning back the work of all of the Prohibition activists.

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:

Known as Prohibition—the political fight—

Knowing as Prohibition the political fight

Known as Prohibition, the political fight

NO CHANGE

Being known today as Prohibition the political fight

Correct answer:

Known as Prohibition, the political fight

Explanation:

The phrase "Known as Prohibition" is an introductory phrase, one that adds information to a sentence but remains outside the sentence's main structure. Any introductory phrase must be set apart from the rest of the sentence by a comma. The only answer choice that correctly deploys a comma in such a manner is "Known as Prohibition, the political fight."

Example Question #3 : Interrupting Phrase Errors

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

Our friends who were often busy with sports didn't have a lot of time to spend with us.

Possible Answers:

Our friends, who were often busy with sports, didn't have a lot of time to spend with us.

NO CHANGE

Our friends; who were often busy with sports didn't have a lot of time to spend with us.

Our friends- who were often busy with sports didn't have a lot of time to spend with us.

Correct answer:

Our friends, who were often busy with sports, didn't have a lot of time to spend with us.

Explanation:

"Who were often busy with sports" should be set apart with commas because it is a non-essential part of the sentence, meaning it can be removed from the sentence and the sentence would still make sense. Without that part of the sentence, the sentence would read "Our friends didn't have a lot of time to spend with us" and would still make perfect sence.

Example Question #1 : Interrupting Phrase Errors

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

Janet being a mother of five has a very strong sense of patience.

Possible Answers:

Janet, being a mother of five, has a very strong sense of patience.

Janet: being a mother of five: has a very strong sense of patience.

NO CHANGE

Janet being a mother of five; has a very strong sense of patience.

Correct answer:

Janet, being a mother of five, has a very strong sense of patience.

Explanation:

Interrupting phrases are separated by commas. It does not matter where they come in a sentence. In this case, "being a mother of five" acts as such a contextualizing interrupting phrase.

Example Question #1742 : Correcting Grammatical Errors

Coupons

Are you trying to stick to a budget? Using coupons for [61] purchases, also known as “couponing” is a great way to save money on groceries. [62] Coupons are a little piece of paper that can give you a discount on what you buy. You will be amazed at the [63] great bargains and amazing savings you can get!

It’s easy to get started. [64] When you open up your daily newspaper, one might find a glossy insert full of coupons. [65] Some of the coupons will be for things you don’t buy, some will be for things you buy all the time. Go through the coupons and [66] chop out the ones you can use.

The key to successful couponing is getting multiple copies of coupon circulars. Ask [67] your friends, your neighbors, and family if they have any extras. Some coupon users even go through the recycling at their office to find more coupons! [68] Completely devoted, these circulars help coupon users to get even more savings.

Couponing might sound like hard work, but for [69] many people, it’s also a hobby. Not only does it help them save hundreds of dollars per year, [70] but instead it gives them a fun challenge every time they do their shopping.

Is there perhaps a greater value to a life lived without constant counting, penny-pinching, and miserliness? [71] But of what value are such savings? [72] At the end of the day; money is a construct, invented by the elite for the sole purpose of controlling the populace. [73] If we accept this fundamental truth, it behooves one to question the monetary structures that control our lives. Indeed, from this perspective, the very practice of couponing might seem a venial distraction from the valuable human endeavor of personal philosophical consideration. [74]

The papers we pore over should be in our books; the pennies we save should be in the currency of our happiness; [75] the budget we have made should have been a budget of our contentment.

A sort of couponing of the soul might ultimately be the solution.

Choose the answer that best corrects section [61].

Possible Answers:

purchases; also known as "couponing," is

purchases, also known as "couponing," is

purchases, also known as "couponing." Is

NO CHANGE

Correct answer:

purchases, also known as "couponing," is

Explanation:

This question asks you to correct an interrupting phrase error. An interrupting phrase is a phrase that provides extra information, but can be removed without changing the sentence. These phrases should be surrounded on either side by commas. In the original text, the second comma after "couponing" is missing. 

Example Question #6 : Interrupting Phrase Errors

“The Dark Ages?” by Matthew Minerd (2016)

There are two different ways to consider the so-called “Dark Ages.” On the one hand, you can think of the period directly after the fall of the Roman Empire, when civilization began to collapse throughout the Western Empire. On the other hand, you can consider the period that followed this initial collapse of society. It is a gross simplification too use the adjective dark to describe the civilization of either of these periods.

As regards the first period it is quite a simplification to consider this period to be a single historical moment. It is not as though the civilization switched off like a lightbulb. At one moment light and then, at the next, dark. Instead, the decline of civilization occurred over a period of numerous decades and was, in fact, already occurring for many years before the so-called period of darkness. Thus, the decline of civilization was not a rapid collapse into barbarism, but instead, was a slow alteration of the cultural milieu of a portion of Europe. Indeed, the Eastern Roman Empire retained much of it’s cultural status during these years of decline!

More importantly, the period following the slow collapse of the Western Empire was much less “dark” than almost every popular telling states. Indeed, even during the period of decline, the seeds for cultural restoration was being sown. A key element of this cultural revival were the formation of monastic communities throughout the countryside of what we now know as Europe. Although these were not the only positive force during these centuries, the monasteries had played an important role in preserving and advancing the cause of culture through at least the thirteenth century and arguably until the Renaissance.

How should the underlined and bolded selection be changed?

Possible Answers:

It is not as though the civilization switched off like a lightbulb; at one moment light and then, at the next, dark.

It is not as though the civilization switched off like a lightbulb—at one moment light and then, at the next, dark.

It is not, as though, the civilization switched off like a lightbulb.  At one moment light and then, at the next, dark.

It is not as though the civilization switched off like a lightbulb; at one moment light, and then, at the next, dark.

NO CHANGE

Correct answer:

It is not as though the civilization switched off like a lightbulb—at one moment light and then, at the next, dark.

Explanation:

As written, the expression, "At one moment light and then, at the next, dark," is only a sentence fragment. Therefore, you need to integrate it into the first sentence in this selection in some way. Among the options provided, the only one that does this appropriately is the one that places a long dash after the first sentence. This makes the fragment into a kind of interrupting expression at the end of the main thought. A semicolon is not proper, for then you would need two fully formed sentences.

Example Question #1743 : Correcting Grammatical Errors

As a child the only thing I wanted to be was a race car driver. My mothers family all lived in central Indiana, and I went to the Indianapolis 500 every year growing up. Between the colors on the cars the speed of the race and the enthusiasm of the crowd, nothing in the world seemed more exciting to a child. I would lay awake at night thinking about getting behind the wheel of my own race car. My bedroom walls were adorned with posters of the all great racers from all over the world.

When I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to race go karts on small tracks against other kids my age. Very quickly I realized I am the terrible driver. Any bumping with another driver was too much for me to handle, and I could not take the turns quick enough to keep pace with the best drivers. None of this diminished my love of racing, however, because just being at the track was such a thrill. The noise, the speed, and rushing were all more exciting from the pits than from the grandstand. If I could never be in the driver’s seat, then I would place myself behind the scenes.

With this new focus, I began studying mechanical engineering and automotive design. I might not have been able to drive a race car; but now I could design a car, build a car, and engineer it to win a race. The drivers still get all the credit for the championships, but everyone knows they would never win without the people like myself.

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:

As a child, the only thing

As a child only thing

NO CHANGE

As a child that only thing

Correct answer:

As a child, the only thing

Explanation:

The phrase "As a child" is an introductory clause, one that conditions the action of the sentence but remains outside its main structure. Any introductory clause must be set apart from the main body of the sentence by a comma. "As a child, the only thing" is the only answer choice that appropriately uses a comma to separate the clause from the main body of the sentence.

Example Question #1744 : Correcting Grammatical 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 him—neither 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 underlined selection, "acquaintance and upon our former study of his writings"?

Possible Answers:

acquaintance but also upon our former study of his writings

acquaintance and also upon our former study of his writings

NO CHANGE

acquaintance but upon our former study of his writings

Correct answer:

acquaintance but also upon our former study of his writings

Explanation:

As written, the sentence does not use the correlative conjunctions "not only . . . but also" correctly.  It has the form, "not only upon . . . and upon." The correct option is the one that corrects the second member of the correlative pair, replacing it with "but also."

Example Question #1745 : Correcting Grammatical Errors

Adapted from “The Nose Tree” in German Fairy Tales and Popular Stories by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (trans. Taylor, ed. 1864)

Then the king made known to all his kingdom, that whomever would heal her of this dreadful disease should be richly rewarded. Many tried, but the princess got no relief. Now the old soldier dressed himself up very sprucely as a doctor, and said he could cure her. Therefore, he chopped up some of the apple, and, to punish her a little more, gave her a dose, saying he would call to-morrow and see her again. The morrow came, and, of course, instead of being better, the nose had been growing on all night as before; and the poor princess was in a dreadful fright. So the doctor then chopped up a very little of the pear and gave it to her. He said that he was sure that it would help, and he would call again the next day. Next day came, and the nose was to be sure a little smaller. However, it was bigger than when the doctor first began to meddle with it.

Then he thought to him, "I must frighten this cunning princess a little more before I am able to get what I want from her." Therefore, he gave her another dose of the apple and said he would call on the morrow. The morrow came, and the nose was ten times bad as before.

"My good lady," said the doctor, "Something works against my medicine and is to strong for it. However, I know by the force of my art that it is this, you have stolen goods about you. I am certain of it. If you do not give them back, I can do nothing for you."

The princess denied very stoutly that she had anything of the kind.

"Very well," said the doctor, "you may do as you please, but I am sure I am correct. You will die if you do not own it." Then he went to the king, and told him how the matter stood.

"Daughter," said he, "send back the cloak, the purse, and the horn, that you stole from the right owners."

Then she ordered her maid to fetch all three and gave them to the doctor, and begged him to give them back to the soldiers. The moment he had them safe, he gave her a whole pear to eat, and the nose came right. And as for the doctor, he put on the cloak, wished the king and all his court a good day and was soon with his two brothers. They lived from that time happily at home in their palace, except when they took an airing to see the world in their coach with their three dapple-grey horses.

What is the best form of the underlined sentence, "The morrow came, and the nose was ten times bad as before"?

Possible Answers:

NO CHANGE

The morrow came, and the nose was ten times worse as before.

The morrow came and the nose was ten times as bad as before.

The morrow came, and the nose was ten times as bad as before.

Correct answer:

The morrow came, and the nose was ten times as bad as before.

Explanation:

As written, the mistake in the sentence is its lack of the appropriate correlative conjunction "as" to accompany the "as" that precedes "before." The comma is appropriate, for the sentence is a compounding of two independent clauses. The comparison should not be made by using "worse." This would require "than" instead of "as" (and also would sound somewhat awkward as the sentence is written).

Example Question #1746 : Correcting Grammatical Errors

Adapted from The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James (1902)

In the matter of religions, it is particularly easy distinguishing the too orders of question. Every religious phenomenon has its history and its derivation from natural antecedents. What is nowadays called the higher criticism of the Bible are only a study of the Bible from this existential point of view, neglected to much by the earlier church. Under just what biographic conditions did the sacred writers bring forth their various contributions to the holy volume? What had they exactly in their several individual minds, when they delivered their utterances? These are manifestly questions of historical fact, and one does not see how the answer to it can decide offhand the still further question: of what use should such a volume, with its manner of coming into existence so defined, be to us as a guide to life and a revelation? To answer this other question we must have already in our mind some sort of a general theory as to what the peculiarities in a thing should be which give it value for purposes of revelation; and this theory itself would be what I just called a spiritual judgment. Combining it with our existential judgment, we might indeed deduce another spiritual judgment as to the Bibles’ worth. Thus, if our theory of revelation-value were to affirm that any book, to possess it, must have been composed automatically or not by the free caprice of the writer, or that it must exhibit no scientific and historic errors and express no local or personal passions, the Bible would probably fare ill at our hands. But if, on the other hand, our theory should allow that a book may well be a revelation in spite of errors and passions and deliberate human composition, if only it be a true record of the inner experiences of great-souled persons wrestling with the crises of his fate, than the verdict would be much favorable. You see that the existential facts by itself are insufficient for determining the value; and the best adepts of the higher criticism accordingly never confound the existential with the spiritual problem. With the same conclusions of fact before them, some take one view, and some another, of the Bible's value as a revelation, according as their spiritual judgment as to the foundation of values differ.

What is the clearest form of the underlined selection?

Possible Answers:

either must have been composed automatically or not by the free caprice of the writer or that it must exhibit no scientific and historic errors and express no local or personal passions, the Bible would probably fare ill at our hands

must have been composed automatically, neither by the free caprice of the writer nor that it must exhibit no scientific and historic errors and express no local or personal passions, the Bible would probably fare ill at our hands

NO CHANGE

either must have been composed automatically (or, at least, not by the free caprice of the writer) or that it must exhibit no scientific and historic errors and express no local or personal passions, the Bible would probably fare ill at our hands

Correct answer:

either must have been composed automatically (or, at least, not by the free caprice of the writer) or that it must exhibit no scientific and historic errors and express no local or personal passions, the Bible would probably fare ill at our hands

Explanation:

This sentence is very long, and it is necessary to pay attention to the author's logic when considering ways in which the sentence might be rephrased. Notice that the author says that there are two standards of value that will make the status of the Bible seem questionable if they are rigorously applied. (This is the author's opinion. We are not here to get into the justifications for his reasoning.) They are:

(1) To say that the book was composed automatically or at least that it was not composed by the free caprice of the writer

(2) To say that it must have no scientific and historic errors and express no local or personal passions

Now, the confusing part is the fact that (1) and (2) are joined by an "or," but (1) also has an "or" in it as well. There really is a case of correlative conjunctions here: either 1 or 2. However, to make this clear, the correct answer isolates the "secondary" "or" that is found in (1).

Example Question #1747 : Correcting Grammatical Errors

An adapted selection from The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (1532)

Now, if you will consider what was the nature of the government of Darius, you will find it similar to the kingdom of the Turk. Therefore it was only necessarily for Alexander, first to overthrow him in the field, and then to take the country from him. After this victory, Darius being killed, the state remained secure in Alexander’s power, for the reasons noted earlier. If his successors had been united they would have enjoyed it securely and at their ease, for there was no tumults raised in the kingdom except those they provoked themselves. However, it is impossible to hold with such tranquility states constituted like that of France. Hence arose those frequent rebellions against the Roman’s in Spain, France, and Greece, owing to the many principalities there were in these latter states, of which the Romans always held an insecure possession; however, with the power and long continuance of the empire, the memory of them passed away, and the Romans then became secure possessors. When fighting afterwards amongst themselves, each one was able to attach to himself his own parts of the country, according to the authority he had assumed there; and the family of the former lord being exterminated, none other than the Romans were acknowledged.

When these things are remembered, no one will marvel at the ease with which Alexander held the Empire of Asia or at the difficulties that others have had to keep an acquisition. This is not occasioned by the little or abundance of ability in the conqueror but, instead, by the want of uniformity in the subject state.

Which of the following is the best form of the underlined selection, "This is not occasioned by the little or abundance of ability in the conqueror"?

Possible Answers:

This is occasioned neither by the scarcity or the abundance of ability in the conqueror

This is not occasioned by the scarcity nor the abundance of ability in the conqueror

NO CHANGE

This is occasioned neither by the scarcity nor the abundance of ability in the conqueror

Correct answer:

This is occasioned neither by the scarcity nor the abundance of ability in the conqueror

Explanation:

As written, the word "little" is somewhat confusing, though it is clear that the author wishes to say that the difficulties are caused neither by a lack of ability nor by an abundance thereof. While replacing this word with "scarcity," the correct answer likewise uses "neither" to draw out the contrast. Note that the other options do not use the correlative construction correctly. When using "neither," you must use "nor" as the correlative conjunction for the second half of the conjoined pair.

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