ACT Grammar Practice & Rules

ACT Grammar Practice & Rules Explained

You will find ACT grammar practice exercises in the first two sections of this page and ACT grammar rules in the last section of this page.

ACT Grammar Practice – Exercise 1

Instructions: Read each of the sentences in the ACT Grammar practice test below and answer the questions that follow. Your score and the explanations will be shown when you finish the practice test.

1. Infused with garlic and seasonal herbs, the chef prepared the sauce with great care.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

2. While many of them are toxic, botanists are discovering new plants around the world every day.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

3. Loosely laid out along the natural curves in the road, race drivers will have to exercise extreme caution on this course.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

4. Despite initially being viewed as vandalism, the city has come to accept the graffiti that adorns its streets.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

5. After more than a century in place, this generation will have to determine how the law should be applied moving forward.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

6. Suffering great trauma in the attack, lawyers want to achieve justice for the victim.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

7. In spite of repeatedly defecating on the sidewalk, the community celebrates the life of the swan residing in the lake in the town park.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

8. A wonderful day out, spectators enjoy attending the circus.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

9. After causing the car crash yesterday, doctors said the driver had no injuries.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

10. Capable of eating more than twice their body weight in food, most students were amazed by the statistics on crows and other birds.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

11. Despite cherishing the castle so much, the marauder had no regard for the princess and her possessions.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

12. Only partly furnished, Jen will have to use her imagination when she moves into this home.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

13. In spite of unconditional support throughout the campaign, the President’s inaugural speech was too much for the party members to bear.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

14. Having no choice but to move back home after college, the parents thought their son, Charlie, should have been more motivated to look for a job.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

15. Home to the wares of over twenty dealers, Catherine is on the lookout for a bargain at the antiques center.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

16. Although only small now, the guidelines state that these chickens can grow to five pounds each.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

17. Sometimes irritable because of increasingly poor health, many people choose to limit their contact with the elderly.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

18. Famous for stained glass, admirers flock to the artist’s home during the summer months.

The words after the comma should be:

 
 
 
 

19. Like humans, dog blood saves lives.

Choose the best version of the sentence below.

 
 
 
 

20. After years of abuse, the battered wife will be challenging her conviction in a landmark case.

Choose the best version of the sentence below

 
 
 
 

Question 1 of 20

ACT Grammar Practice – Exercise 2

Instructions: Correct the errors in the sentences below. The answers are provided in the next section. You may want to review the ACT grammar rules at in the last section of this page before you do this exercise.

1) I haven’t been in touch with him or his brother for a long time, they moved away many years ago

2) I love that new TV show, that is on at 7:00 PM.

3) Placed on a fancy hanger in the closet, Mary loved that dress more than any other.

4) I ran across campus in order to immediately speak to her.

5) Each student in the class needs their ID to register for the course.

6) Before leaving your house, your should check the following, the lights, the locks and the oven.

7) She loves partying, dancing, and to call her friends.

8) Your 6 AM phone call which I told you not to make woke me up too early.

ACT Grammar Practice – Answers to Exercise 2

1) A semicolon is needed instead of a comma.

2) The sentence does not need a comma.

3) Placed on a fancy hanger in the closet, that dress was loved by Mary more than any other.

4) I ran across campus in order to speak to her immediately .

5)Use “his or her” instead of “their”

6) Before leaving your house, your should check the following: the lights, the locks, and the oven.

7) The words “to call” should be “calling”

8) Your 6 AM phone call, which I told you not to make, woke me up too early.

ACT Grammar Rules & Examples

Here is a list of the most commonly-tested ACT Grammar rules. Have a look at the ACT grammar rules, and then study the example sentences.

ACT Grammar Rules (1) – Adverb Placement

Adverbs express how an action was done. They often end with the letters “ly.” Adverb placement can change the emphasis in your sentence.

For the test, you need to put the adverb in the right place in the sentence and to use a comma when needed.

If the adverb the first word in a sentence, you need to put a comma after the adverb.

CORRECT:  Normally, we would try to reserve a table at a restaurant well in advance.

CORRECT: We would normally try to reserve a table at a restaurant well in advance.

INCORRECT:  We would try to normally reserve a table at a restaurant well in advance.


ACT Grammar Rules (2) – Misplaced Modifiers

Modifiers describe nouns in your sentence. A modifier should be put next to the noun it is describing. Have a look at the example sentences below.

CORRECT: While waiting for a taxi, he lost his wallet.

INCORRECT: While waiting for a taxi, his wallet got lost.

The adverbial phrase “while waiting for a taxi” describes the noun “he,” so the word “he” comes directly after the phrase.


ACT Grammar Rules (3) – Parallelism

For parallelism, be sure that all of the items you give in a list in a sentence are the same form. So, all of the items must be nouns or verbs, for example.

In other words, you should not use both nouns and verbs in a list. Where verbs are used, they should be in the same form or tense.

CORRECT:  The trip allowed me time to me a great chance to relax, think, and re-evaluate the future. (relax, think, and re-evaluate are verbs.)

INCORRECT:  The trip allowed me time to me a great chance to relax, think, and re-evaluating the future.


ACT Grammar Rules (4) – Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

Pronouns are words like: he, she, it, they, and them. An antecedent is a noun or phrase that comes before the pronoun.

Pronouns need to agree with their antecedents, so you need to use singular pronouns with singular antecedents and plural pronouns with plural antecedents.

Be careful not to mix singular and plural forms.

CORRECT:  Each person needs to bring his or her own lunch on the day out.

INCORRECT:  Each person needs to bring their own lunch on the day out.


ACT Grammar Rules (5) – Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns include “which” and ” that.”

(1) THAT: Last night, I watched a romantic-comedy movie that was really funny.

(2) WHICH: Last night, I watched a romantic-comedy movie which was really funny.

(3) WHICH: Last night, I watched 50 First Dates, which was really funny.

Notice that when you give essential information after the word “which” as in sentence 2, you do not need to use a comma.

Be careful about using the comma with When you have already identified something by using its name, for example, you need to use a comma before the word “which” as in sentence 3.


ACT Grammar Rules (6) – Punctuation – Colons and Semicolons

Colons (:) should be used when giving a list of items.

Semicolons  (;) should be used to join independent sentences.

COLON: The the following items are on sale: sheets, pillows, towels, and quilts.

SEMICOLON: I love this time of year; it is so beautiful.


ACT Grammar Rules (7) – Run-On Sentences (Comma Splices)

Run-on sentences use commas incorrectly, instead of the period.

These sentences are sometimes called comma splices.

An independent clause or sentence has a grammatical subject and verb.

The first word of an independent clause or sentence begins with a a capital letter.

The previous sentence needs a period

CORRECT: I love this time of year. It is so beautiful.

INCORRECT: I love this time of year, it is so beautiful.

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