ACT English : Correcting Grammatical Errors
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT English
All ACT English Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #481 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
The French philosopher Rene Descartes once went out to dinner at a French restaurant because (1) after all (2) where else would he go to eat? On that occasion (3) he ordered the escargot en beurre, the chicken liver paté, the gratineed scallops (4) and the blanquette de veau. Then he proceeded to order another portion of each dish. The waitress was appeased (5). She had never seen anyone order so much food in one sitting it (6) made her slightly ill to watch him eat it all. What made it worse he had no table manner at all since (7) philosophers tend to be thinking about life and death and (8) not about using a napkin. Finally (9) as he sipped the last of his burgundy (10) Descartes made a motion for the check. The waitress asked (11) "Would you care for any desert, monsieur?" At that point, Descartes replied, "I think not" (12) and promptly vanished.
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."
NO CHANGE
occasion,
occasion:
occasion;
occasion,
"On that occasion" is an introductory phrase and as such should be followed by a comma.
Example Question #481 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
The French philosopher Rene Descartes once went out to dinner at a French restaurant because (1) after all (2) where else would he go to eat? On that occasion (3) he ordered the escargot en beurre, the chicken liver paté, the gratineed scallops (4) and the blanquette de veau. Then he proceeded to order another portion of each dish. The waitress was appeased (5). She had never seen anyone order so much food in one sitting it (6) made her slightly ill to watch him eat it all. What made it worse he had no table manner at all since (7) philosophers tend to be thinking about life and death and (8) not about using a napkin. Finally (9) as he sipped the last of his burgundy (10) Descartes made a motion for the check. The waitress asked (11) "Would you care for any desert, monsieur?" At that point, Descartes replied, "I think not" (12) and promptly vanished.
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."
all: since
all, since
NO CHANGE
all; since
all, since
The phrase "since" is about to introduce extra information into the sentence, and since such info can be removed from the sentence without damaging it grammatically, it should be preceded by a comma.
Example Question #483 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
The French philosopher Rene Descartes once went out to dinner at a French restaurant because (1) after all (2) where else would he go to eat? On that occasion (3) he ordered the escargot en beurre, the chicken liver paté, the gratineed scallops (4) and the blanquette de veau. Then he proceeded to order another portion of each dish. The waitress was appeased (5). She had never seen anyone order so much food in one sitting it (6) made her slightly ill to watch him eat it all. What made it worse he had no table manner at all since (7) philosophers tend to be thinking about life and death and (8) not about using a napkin. Finally (9) as he sipped the last of his burgundy (10) Descartes made a motion for the check. The waitress asked (11) "Would you care for any desert, monsieur?" At that point, Descartes replied, "I think not" (12) and promptly vanished.
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."
death; and
death: and
death, and
NO CHANGE
death, and
The comma is used here to avoid confusion and to show that "life and death" are one subject to be thought about while "using a napkin" is a separate one.
Example Question #484 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
The French philosopher Rene Descartes once went out to dinner at a French restaurant because (1) after all (2) where else would he go to eat? On that occasion (3) he ordered the escargot en beurre, the chicken liver paté, the gratineed scallops (4) and the blanquette de veau. Then he proceeded to order another portion of each dish. The waitress was appeased (5). She had never seen anyone order so much food in one sitting it (6) made her slightly ill to watch him eat it all. What made it worse he had no table manner at all since (7) philosophers tend to be thinking about life and death and (8) not about using a napkin. Finally (9) as he sipped the last of his burgundy (10) Descartes made a motion for the check. The waitress asked (11) "Would you care for any desert, monsieur?" At that point, Descartes replied, "I think not" (12) and promptly vanished.
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."
Finally,
Finally;
Finally:
NO CHANGE
Finally,
"Finally" also acts as an introductory expression and must thus be followed by a comma.
Example Question #482 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
The French philosopher Rene Descartes once went out to dinner at a French restaurant because (1) after all (2) where else would he go to eat? On that occasion (3) he ordered the escargot en beurre, the chicken liver paté, the gratineed scallops (4) and the blanquette de veau. Then he proceeded to order another portion of each dish. The waitress was appeased (5). She had never seen anyone order so much food in one sitting it (6) made her slightly ill to watch him eat it all. What made it worse he had no table manner at all since (7) philosophers tend to be thinking about life and death and (8) not about using a napkin. Finally (9) as he sipped the last of his burgundy (10) Descartes made a motion for the check. The waitress asked (11) "Would you care for any desert, monsieur?" At that point, Descartes replied, "I think not" (12) and promptly vanished.
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."
burgundy:
burgundy;
NO CHANGE
burgundy,
burgundy,
The phrase describing the philosopher finishing his wine is extra information in the sentence and thus should be set off in commas.
Example Question #486 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
The French philosopher Rene Descartes once went out to dinner at a French restaurant because (1) after all (2) where else would he go to eat? On that occasion (3) he ordered the escargot en beurre, the chicken liver paté, the gratineed scallops (4) and the blanquette de veau. Then he proceeded to order another portion of each dish. The waitress was appeased (5). She had never seen anyone order so much food in one sitting it (6) made her slightly ill to watch him eat it all. What made it worse he had no table manner at all since (7) philosophers tend to be thinking about life and death and (8) not about using a napkin. Finally (9) as he sipped the last of his burgundy (10) Descartes made a motion for the check. The waitress asked (11) "Would you care for any desert, monsieur?" At that point, Descartes replied, "I think not" (12) and promptly vanished.
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."
asked:
asked,
asked;
NO CHANGE
asked,
Attribution phrases such as "the so-and-so asked" are considered introductory phrases and thus should be followed by a comma.
Example Question #487 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
The French philosopher Rene Descartes once went out to dinner at a French restaurant because (1) after all (2) where else would he go to eat? On that occasion (3) he ordered the escargot en beurre, the chicken liver paté, the gratineed scallops (4) and the blanquette de veau. Then he proceeded to order another portion of each dish. The waitress was appeased (5). She had never seen anyone order so much food in one sitting it (6) made her slightly ill to watch him eat it all. What made it worse he had no table manner at all since (7) philosophers tend to be thinking about life and death and (8) not about using a napkin. Finally (9) as he sipped the last of his burgundy (10) Descartes made a motion for the check. The waitress asked (11) "Would you care for any desert, monsieur?" At that point, Descartes replied, "I think not" (12) and promptly vanished.
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."
NO CHANGE
not;"
not."
not,"
not,"
A comma is needed here since the sentence has not ended and since the quotation needs to be set off from the rest of the sentence.
Example Question #486 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
In the intervening years, the old man rarely talked to his children as the pain was too much for him to bear.
rarely talked to his children, as the pain was too much for him to bear.
rarely talking to his children, as the pain was too much for him to bear.
rarely talked to his children, as the pain too much for him to bear.
rarely talked to his children as the pain was too much for him to bear.
rarely talking to his children as pain was bearing too much for him.
rarely talked to his children, as the pain was too much for him to bear.
The underlined portion of the sentence contains a small punctuation problem. Specifically, the phrase "as the pain was too much to bear," is a phrase that explains the sentence, but is not necessary to its construction. All such phrases need a comma to separate them from the body of the sentence. "Rarely talked to his children as the pain was too much for him to bear," is the best answer choice.
Example Question #381 : Correcting Punctuation Errors
Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Reading writing, and arithmetic have long been considered the most basic building blocks of elementary education.
Reading writing and arithmetic, have
Reading, writing, and arithmetic, have
Reading, writing, and arithmetic have
Reading writing and arithmetic have
Reading writing, and arithmetic have
Reading, writing, and arithmetic have
The list that is the subject of the sentence contains three separate elements, but only appropriately separates two of them. All lists of three or more elements need to have commas between each component. The only answer choice that appropriately does this is "Reading, writing, and arithmetic have."
Example Question #481 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
Grains proteins and vegetables are all part of a balanced diet.
Grains, proteins and, vegetables are
Grains, proteins, or vegetables are
Grains, proteins, and vegetables are
NO CHANGE
Grains proteins, and vegetables are
Grains, proteins, and vegetables are
Commas should be used to separate individual nouns in a compound subject: in this case, "grains," "proteins," and "vegetables." The conjunction "and" should be used instead of "or," since the items are "all" part of a balanced diet. The best version of this sentence will NOT use a comma to separate a conjunction from the noun that follows it ("and, vegetables"). The correct version of this sentence separates all items in the list with commas, and in the case of the final item a comma preceding the conjunction "and."
All ACT English Resources
