ACT English Assessment
Strategies for Success
English-- one 45-minute section
with 75 English Questions
I. Usage
/Mechanics
II. Rhetorical Skills


Punctuation
 Grammar and usage
 Sentence structure
Writing strategy
 Organization
 Style
The Question Types-There are three main question types
you’ll encounter in ACT English
 Economy
 Sense
 Technicality
Economy
These questions test
your understanding of
whether material is
strictly essential to the
passage, or whether it
could be said more
simply or
economically.
Sense
These questions
ask you to identify
and correct logical
flaws in the
passage-statements that
just don’t make
sense.
Technicality
These questions
check your
knowledge of
key punctuation,
grammar, and
usage issues.
Suggested Strategies for taking
the English test
 Practice
pacing yourself on the test.
Taking the practice test will help you feel
more comfortable with the pace at which
you should work. You should allow about
30 seconds for each question.
Suggested Strategies cont. . .
 Answer
every question. First do the
questions that are easy for you. Eliminate the
answers you’re sure are incorrect. Guess the
answer from the remaining choices. You won’t
be penalized if your guess is wrong and you just
might be right.
Suggested Strategies cont. . .
 Save
the hard items for last.
you find yourself spending too
much time on any one question, circle
it in the test booklet and pass it by.
Return if you have time.
 If
Suggested Strategies cont. . .
 Notice
that the directions ask for
the BEST answer.

That means that you cannot stop at the
first correct answer you find. You must
read all the choices and select the one you
think is best.
Suggested Strategies cont. . .
 Read
the text before and after the
underlined portion before
selecting your answer.
The correct answer will be consistent with
the author’s intent for the paragraph and
the passage as a whole.
Suggested Strategies cont. . .
 Determine
the best phrasing for the
underlined portion and look for it among the
answer choices.
 Re-read
the sentence you are
correcting, substituting your answer choice for the
underlined portion to make sure it is the best answer.
Suggested Strategies cont. . .
 Circle
the letter for the answer choice
in your test booklet. Going back and forth from
the test booklet to the answer sheet is difficult, takes
time, and can result in a mis-marked answer sheet.
When you have circled the answer choices for each twopage spread, transfer the answer choices to the answer
sheet.

All that matters is which circle you fill in.
you get the right answer but fill in the wrong circle, the
machine will mark it wrong.
If
Suggested Strategies cont. . .
 Keep
it short--on all English
questions. Almost a third of all the English items
test your awareness of redundancy, verbosity, relevance,
and similar issues. For these questions--economy
questions--the shortest answer is very frequently correct.

AVOID WORDINESS.
short and clear.
Pick the selection that is
Suggested Strategies cont. . .
 Sentences
have to have fluency
or flow. Subvocalize--say it to
yourself--so you can hear how it
sounds.
 When
in doubt, look for the two
shortest options, and pick the one
that sounds like English. (It must
have flow or fluency.)
Suggested Strategies cont. . .
 Relax.

You’re going to make mistakes.

(The average score for the ACT is about 55%
correct.)
QUICK SUMMARY
When in doubt, take it out.
2. Make it make sense.
3. Use your ears.
4. Look for pitfalls.
1.
Take Practice Seriously!