ACT English : Appositive and Interrupting Phrase Errors

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT English

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Example Questions

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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."

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.

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.

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 #2 : 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.

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

NO CHANGE

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 #3 : Interrupting Phrase 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

NO CHANGE

purchases; also known as "couponing," is

purchases, also known as "couponing." Is

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 #1 : 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 #5 : Interrupting Phrase 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 that only thing

As a child only thing

NO CHANGE

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.

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