ACT English : Punctuation Errors
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Example Questions
Example Question #353 : Comma Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
"Well” he said “I think I’ll go for a walk.”
"Well," he said "I think
"Well," he said, "I think
NO CHANGE
"Well" he said, "I think
"Well", he said, "I think
"Well," he said, "I think
In this sentence, the correct version will use a comma to transition from a quote ("Well,") to narration ("she said,") and back to the quote ("I think I'll go for a walk."). Always put the comma inside the quotation marks! Also, in this sentence the correct version will use a comma to separate dependent clauses ("Well,") ("he said,") from one another and from the independent clause ("I think I'll go for a walk"). Again, always put the comma inside the quotation marks!
Example Question #354 : Comma Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
The more you practice, the easier the game becomes.
more, you practice, the easier
NO CHANGE
more you practice the easier
more, you practice the easier
more you, practice, the easier
NO CHANGE
The best version of this sentence will use a comma to separate the two parts of a paired comparison. Each clause ("The more you practice" and "the easier the game becomes") should have similar syntax, or word order. This kind of sentence construction is very common in English. Try making your own similar sentences with other comparative words ("The more... the faster," "The better... the better," etc.). With practice, you'll spot the comma every time!
Example Question #355 : Comma Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
Jane Doe, an award-winning author will be signing copies of her book.
NO CHANGE
Jane Doe, an award-winning, author will
Jane Doe, an award-winning author, will
Jane Doe an award-winning author will
Jane Doe an award-winning author, will
Jane Doe, an award-winning author, will
The correct version of this sentence will use commas to separate an appositive ("an award-winning author") from the main clause of the sentence ("Jane Doe will be signing copies of her book."). An appositive just further describes the subject, so you should have a complete sentence that makes sense if you remove it. Try reading the sentence without the phrase in commas to hear whether they are in the correct place.
Example Question #356 : Comma Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
The professor canceled class, which was a relief to her students.
canceled, class, which was
NO CHANGE
canceled class, which, was
canceled, class which was
canceled class which was
NO CHANGE
A comma should be used to separate an independent clause ("The professor canceled class") from a modifying dependent clause ("which was a relief to her students"). Be careful with relative pronouns like "which." Without a comma before it, this sentence would mean that the class was a relief to her students, not the fact that their professor canceled it. Never use a comma to separate a verb from its direct object ("canceled, class")
Example Question #357 : Comma Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
The new song a fan favorite opened the band’s set.
NO CHANGE
new, song a fan favorite opened
new song, a fan favorite opened
new song, a fan favorite opened,
new song, a fan favorite, opened
new song, a fan favorite, opened
In this sentence you should use commas to offset the appositive ("a fan favorite") from the main clause ("The new song opened the band's set.") Tip: An appositive just further describes the subject, so you should be able to remove it and still have a complete sentence that makes sense. Try reading the sentence without the phrase surrounded by commas ("a fan favorite"), and you'll have your main clause! Remember to include commas on BOTH sides of the appositive. Using just one ("The new song, a fan favorite opened" or "The new song a fan favorite, opened") makes the sentence incomplete. Never use commas to separate an adjective and a noun ("The new, song")
Example Question #358 : Comma Errors
Choose the answer that best corrects the underlined portion of the sentence. If the underlined portion is correct as written, choose "NO CHANGE."
The new chicken recipe did not go over well with the rest of the family, they ate it out of kindness but were not thrilled to do so.
NO CHANGE.
family, they ate it out of kindness but were not thrilled to do so.
family: they ate it out of kindness but were not thrilled to do so.
The new chicken recipe did not go over well with the rest of the family; they ate it out of kindness but were not thrilled to do so.
family and they ate it out of kindness but were not thrilled to do so.
The new chicken recipe did not go over well with the rest of the family; they ate it out of kindness but were not thrilled to do so.
Both of these clauses are independent clauses, meaning each could stand on its own as a full, complete sentence. For that reason, joining them with a comma and no conjunction is creates a comma splice. A semicolon is the appropriate punctuation to use here. Another, equally grammatically viable, option here would be to use a comma and a coordinating conjunction.
Example Question #502 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
There once was a shepherd boy whom sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. He was hot and exhausted fanning himself, rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down. On top of that, he had never been so bored before.
To amuse himself, he decided to play a joke. He put his hands around his mouth and yelled in a loud voice, "Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is chasing the sheep!”
They came running. They asked the boy, “What’s going on? Did you yell ‘A wolf is chasing the sheep?’ ”
The boy laughed. “It was just a joke, everyone.”
The people fumed, but they all returned to their homes.
The next day, the boy bored again decided to amuse himself again. He bellowed, “Wolf! Wolf!”
Again, the townspeople came running. Once they arrived and witnessed the laughing boy, they realized they’d been tricked a second time. Nonetheless, they returned home and irritated resolved to never fall for the trick again for third time.
The next day, the boy was watching his sheep. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a wolf appeared from behind the bushes. With its teeth bared, the boy cowered as the wolf approached the sheep. Terrified, he called, “Help! A wolf! A wolf is here!”
The people ignored his cries. “That mischievous boy,” they all said to one another. “He must think he can fool us again.” But not one of them came running.
No one was there to witness as the wolf ate every last sheep on the hillside, as the boy helplessly cowered behind a bush. As the boy hid, he shook his head. “I shall never fib again,” he resolved to himself.
Which is the best alternative for the underlined sentence: "He was hot and exhausted fanning himself, rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down"?
He was hot and exhausted fanning himself rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down.
He was hot and exhausted fanning him, rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool him down.
He was hot and exhausted, fanning himself rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down.
He was hot, and exhausted, fanning himself rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down.
NO CHANGE
He was hot and exhausted, fanning himself rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down.
Commas should be used to separate a dependent clause from an independent clause. The independent clause in this sentence is "He was hot and exhausted," while the dependent clause is "fanning himself rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down." To separate the main clause from the dependent clause, a comma should be put between the word "exhausted" and "fanning."
Example Question #502 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
There once was a shepherd boy whom sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. He was hot and exhausted fanning himself, rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down. On top of that, he had never been so bored before.
To amuse himself, he decided to play a joke. He put his hands around his mouth and yelled in a loud voice, "Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is chasing the sheep!”
They came running. They asked the boy, “What’s going on? Did you yell ‘A wolf is chasing the sheep?’ ”
The boy laughed. “It was just a joke, everyone.”
The people fumed, but they all returned to their homes.
The next day, the boy bored again decided to amuse himself again. He bellowed, “Wolf! Wolf!”
Again, the townspeople came running. Once they arrived and witnessed the laughing boy, they realized they’d been tricked a second time. Nonetheless, they returned home and irritated resolved to never fall for the trick again for third time.
The next day, the boy was watching his sheep. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a wolf appeared from behind the bushes. With its teeth bared, the boy cowered as the wolf approached the sheep. Terrified, he called, “Help! A wolf! A wolf is here!”
The people ignored his cries. “That mischievous boy,” they all said to one another. “He must think he can fool us again.” But not one of them came running.
No one was there to witness as the wolf ate every last sheep on the hillside, as the boy helplessly cowered behind a bush. As the boy hid, he shook his head. “I shall never fib again,” he resolved to himself.
What is the best alternative for the underlined sentence, "The next day, the boy bored again decided to amuse himself again"?
The next day the boy bored again decided to amuse himself again.
The next day, the boy, bored again, decided to amuse himself again.
NO CHANGE
The next day, the boy, bored again decided to amuse himself again.
The next day, the boy bored, again decided to amuse himself again.
The next day, the boy, bored again, decided to amuse himself again.
The phrase "bored again" is an interrupting phrase in the main sentence. Therefore, it needs to be set apart with commas on either side: ", bored again,".
Example Question #361 : Comma Errors
There once was a shepherd boy whom sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. He was hot and exhausted fanning himself, rapidly in a feeble attempt to cool himself down. On top of that, he had never been so bored before.
To amuse himself, he decided to play a joke. He put his hands around his mouth and yelled in a loud voice, "Wolf! Wolf! A wolf is chasing the sheep!”
They came running. They asked the boy, “What’s going on? Did you yell ‘A wolf is chasing the sheep?’ ”
The boy laughed. “It was just a joke, everyone.”
The people fumed, but they all returned to their homes.
The next day, the boy bored again decided to amuse himself again. He bellowed, “Wolf! Wolf!”
Again, the townspeople came running. Once they arrived and witnessed the laughing boy, they realized they’d been tricked a second time. Nonetheless, they returned home and irritated resolved to never fall for the trick again for third time.
The next day, the boy was watching his sheep. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a wolf appeared from behind the bushes. With its teeth bared, the boy cowered as the wolf approached the sheep. Terrified, he called, “Help! A wolf! A wolf is here!”
The people ignored his cries. “That mischievous boy,” they all said to one another. “He must think he can fool us again.” But not one of them came running.
No one was there to witness as the wolf ate every last sheep on the hillside, as the boy helplessly cowered behind a bush. As the boy hid, he shook his head. “I shall never fib again,” he resolved to himself.
Which of the following is the best alternative for the underlined phrase, "they returned home and irritated resolved"?
they returned home and irritably resolving
they returned home and irritated resolved,
they returned home and irritated, resolved
they returned home and, irritated, resolved
NO CHANGE
they returned home and, irritated, resolved
The word "irritated" is an interrupter, and should be set off by commas on either side. Adding a comma after "irritated" makes the first part of the phrase "they returned home and irritated," which is incorrect as "returned" and "irritated" are not parallel.
Changing the phrase to "irritably resolving" ruins the parallelism of the sentence, with "resolving" not matching "returned". Adding a comma to the end of the phrase does not fix the issue of the interrupter, and it also ruins parallelism by making "returned" and "irritated" a pair. Therefore, the only correct answer is "they returned home and, irritated, resolved."
Example Question #504 : Correcting Grammatical Errors
The truth is, I kinda hate my brother. Can you blame me? We're always fighting. Today, he "borrowed" my favorite book and now its ripped in two. Likewise, my brother and I like to play sports together. We both bond over games like volleyball, and basketball. We both play real good. We even were considering trying out for the high school team together.
Which of the following is the best alternative for the underlined phrase, "volleyball, and"?
volleyball, also
volleyball, and,
NO CHANGE
volleyball and
volleyball; and
volleyball and
The comma between "volleyball" and "and" is unnecessary because we are only listing two objects. A semicolon leaves the phrase "and basketball" as a sentence fragment, because a semicolon divides two independent clauses. Adding a comma on both sides of "and" makes it an appositive that can be removed, but that leaves the sentence nonsensical. "Volleyball, also" is incorrect because "also" is a transitive adverb that starts a new sentence. "Volleyball and" is the only correct answer.
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