SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

Parallel structure is a grammar rule that is often referenced yet often misunderstood. After reading this article, you’ll comprehend parallel structure and be able to correctly answer ACT English questions that test your knowledge of parallel structure.

Because you will most likely see parallel structure questions on the ACT, let’s learn this rule and raise your ACT English score.

ACT English tests you on a number of specific grammar rules. Being able to understand and apply these rules will help you maximize your ACT English score. Besides knowing specific grammar rules, there are some general strategies to keep in mind that will help you correctly answer more questions. 

One of these tips is that the ACT prefers shorter sentences. Wordiness and redundancy are common errors on the ACT English section. The goal for each sentence is to express the same information in the shortest grammatically correct way.

“Parts of speech” is a fancy way of saying that every word in the English language can be put into one of eight categories, depending on how it is used. Of these eight parts of speech, only 7 are tested on the Writing SAT and on ACT English. 

Understanding the different parts of speech is absolutely essential to having a firm grasp of English grammar, and in succeeding on the SAT and ACT. Unfortunately, nowadays many schools no longer focus on teaching this type of grammar.

Are you a bit unsure about what, exactly, a preposition is, or can’t tell the difference between an adjective and adverb? Feeling a bit rusty after learning this years ago? This article will provide the foundational information you need before moving on to more complex grammatical concepts. I'll also go over a few important SAT/ACT grammar rules.

Idiom questions on the ACT are different from the other grammar questions on the ACT. Why? Idiom questions don’t conform to specific rules. You have to rely on your intuitive grasp of English and your familiarity with certain phrases.

Because you’re likely to encounter at least a few idiom questions on the ACT English test, I’ll provide you with some information about idioms that should help you raise your ACT English score.

The format of the ACT English is pretty weird and unusual, compared to most of your high school English tests. If you want to succeed on this section, you have to know how to approach its unique passage-based structure.

"And how," you ask, "do I do that?" Always, always, have a plan.  

In this guide, I'll show you the best way to read and answer ACT english questions when you attack the passage. These strategies come from my experience working personally with nearly a hundred students. You should apply them in your own ACT English practice to help you prepare thoroughly for test day.

One of comedian Groucho Marx's most famous jokes involves a pachyderm and some sleepwear.

"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas," he says. "How he got in my pajamas I don't know!"

This joke is a play on a grammatical error called a misplaced modifier. 

The modifier errors on the ACT English may not be quite as funny as Groucho's, but you still have to understand how they work. To that end, we'll be covering both the basic grammatical concepts behind faulty modifiers and how to apply that knowledge on the test:

What's the difference between a period and a semicolon? Between a comma and a dash? These questions bedevil not just students, but even professional writers. Punctuation can be one of the weirdest, most confusing parts of writing.

However, the ACT English section isn't writing—it's a multiple choice test, which means that every question has to have only one correct answer. The ACT tests a specific set of punctuation rules, most of which deal with commas. I ;covered commas in a separate post—here I'll be explaining the other punctuation rules you need to know, which deal with apostrophes, semicolons, colons, and dashes.

Do you need to study vocabulary for the ACT but aren’t sure where to start? We have links to free lists of ACT vocab from around the web.

We also have found other vocab study resources – from videos to apps to browser plug-ins – to help you study ACT-specific vocabulary.

In this article, we shall delve into the fun-filled world of subject-verb agreement on the ACT. Subject-verb agreement questions on ACT English are less common than punctuation questions; however, you can count on having at least a couple of subject-verb agreement on your ACT English section, so understanding this grammatical rule can easily help you improve your ACT English score.

While the grammar rule itself is relatively simple, the questions related to it can be challenging and a bit tricky. In this article, I’ll teach you strategies and tips to become a master of all things subject-verb agreement on the ACT.

The ACT English can be overwhelming. There are so many questions! And they're mostly just underlined text: what are they even asking? Of course, that confusion is the whole point: it's what makes this part of the test hard. 

What does that mean for you? Because the ACT test writers rely on your confusion about the format to confuse you, the questions themselves usually aren't that difficult. 

Are you wondering about the difference between the ACT English and SAT Writing sections? Do you want to know how the two sections are similar? Are you trying to figure out which section would be better for you? (Or maybe you just love reading my guides?)

In this article, we will compare and contrast the ACT English and SAT Writing sections.  We'll compare their formats and content.  Reading this post can inform your studying and help you decide whether the ACT or SAT would be a better match for you and your abilities.

Are you planning to take the ACT soon? Curious about what the English section is like? It's more than just correcting grammar and recognizing proper punctuation. In this post we will break down exactly what the ACT English section tests.