ACT English: Conventions of Standard English: Sentence Structure and Formation

Welcome aboard! Today, we're tackling a crucial aspect of the ACT English exam - Sentence Structure and Formation Questions. Just like the backbone of a building🏛️, sentence structure forms the backbone of English communication. It's all about arranging words and phrases correctly to convey clear and complete ideas. Ready? Let's dive in! ⬇️

Let's walk through each concept that will be tested:

🏃 Run-On Sentences:

Run-on sentences are like a non-stop express train without any stations in between. They squeeze together two or more independent clauses without any proper punctuation or connectors, making them confusing and hard to follow.

Example 1:

Run-on Sentence - "My cat loves chasing lasers she can do it all day."

Correct Sentence - "My cat loves chasing lasers; she can do it all day."

Example 2:

Run-on Sentence - "After finishing his homework he played video games his friends joined him later."

Correct Sentence - "After finishing his homework, he played video games. His friends joined him later."

To tackle these, think of yourself as a train conductor who needs to identify where the train (i.e., the sentence) needs to stop or slow down. Look for spots in the sentence where separate ideas collide, causing confusion. Introduce appropriate punctuation or use connecting words to join these independent clauses together logically. This breaks the sentence down into bite-sized pieces, making it easier to understand.

Misplaced modifiers are like mischievous little gremlins that have slipped into the wrong place in a sentence, causing ambiguity and confusion 🤔. They are words, phrases, or clauses that don't clearly or logically relate to the word or phrase they're intended to modify.

Example 1:

Misplaced Modifier - "Running fast, the wind couldn't catch up with me."

Correct Sentence - "Running fast, I couldn't be caught by the wind."

Example 2:

Misplaced Modifier - "Having finished the race, the medal was awarded to John."

Correct Sentence - "Having finished the race, John was awarded the medal."

Image Courtesy of Grammar Monster

To deal with these, channel your inner detective and scan the sentence for words or phrases that seem out of place or unclear. Ask yourself, "What is this word/phrase modifying?" Once you've identified the misplaced modifier, relocate it so that it sits close to the word or phrase it's meant to modify. This eliminates any potential misunderstanding and makes the sentence clear.

🔗 Comma Splices:

Comma splices are like trying to merge two busy highways with just a flimsy traffic cone. They occur when two independent clauses are inappropriately connected by just a comma, leaving the sentence feeling unsettled and disjointed.

Example 1:

Comma Splice - "We drove to the beach, we enjoyed the sunny weather."

Correct Sentence - "We drove to the beach and enjoyed the sunny weather."

Example 2:

Comma Splice - "She loves ice cream, she eats it every day."

Correct Sentence - "She loves ice cream, and she eats it every day."

To fix these issues, imagine yourself as a skilled road engineer tasked with designing a smooth interchange. Look for the spot in the sentence where the two independent clauses try to meet without a proper connection. Replace the comma with a semicolon to create a solid bridge between the two thoughts, or use a coordinating conjunction like "and" to form a seamless junction. This ensures your sentence flows harmoniously, without any traffic jams of ideas.

📏 Parallelism:

Parallelism is all about maintaining symmetry and balance in your sentence. When you're listing items or linking similar ideas, all the elements should follow the same grammatical form.

Example 1:

Faulty Parallelism - "He loves running, to swim, and reads a lot."

Correct Sentence - "He loves running, swimming, and reading."

Example 2:

Faulty Parallelism - "She enjoys dancing, painting, and to sing."

Correct Sentence - "She enjoys dancing, painting, and singing."

When handling these, visualize yourself as an artist trying to maintain symmetry in their artwork. Spot the series or list in the sentence, and then check if all the items follow the same grammatical pattern. If they don't, you'll need to adjust them so they do. This might mean changing a verb form, rearranging the sentence, or adding/removing words. Remember, balance is key here!

✏️ Know Your Grammar

Picture grammar as your palette.🎨 Understand and familiarize yourself with the grammar rules, as they form the backbone of the English language. This mastery will help you spot errors in a flash! Make sure you're comfortable with basics such as parts of speech, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation rules.

⚒️ Practice Makes Perfect

Never underestimate the power of practicing! The more you immerse yourself in correcting sentence structures, the more natural it becomes to spot and correct errors. Consider it as a brain workout. 💪 Start with simple sentences and gradually challenge yourself with more complex ones.

🐢 Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Though the ACT is a timed test⏱️, rushing through the questions can cause you to miss out on tiny, yet significant errors. It's crucial to give each question the attention it deserves, like treating each question as your only task📝. Try to fully understand what's being asked before you jump to answering. Remember, it's not about being the quickest, but about being the most accurate. 🎯

Ready to test your skills? Let's jump into some ACT-style practice questions! 💪 Remember, it's not just about picking the right answer but understanding why it's correct. So, take a deep breath, and let's dive in! 🚀

Practice Question 1

Walking quickly, the distance seemed shorter.

A. Walking quickly, I found the distance seemed shorter.

B. I found the distance seemed shorter, walking quickly.

C. Walking quickly was the distance seemed shorter.

D. The distance seemed shorter, walking quickly.

Correct Answer: A. In the original sentence, there's a misplaced modifier, "Walking quickly," that makes it unclear who is doing the action. Modifiers should be placed next to the word they're describing. The corrected sentence resolves this by moving the modifier next to "I," clearly indicating that "I" am the one walking quickly. This adjustment clarifies the sentence and eliminates any confusion.

Practice Question 2

He enjoys reading, to write, and playing soccer.

A. He enjoys reading, writing, and playing soccer.

B. He enjoys to read, to write, and playing soccer.

C. He enjoys read, write, and play soccer.

D. No change.

Correct Answer: A. The sentence "He enjoys reading, to write, and playing soccer," sounds a bit off because we're mixing different ways of talking about actions. To fix it, we should use the same style for all three actions. So, we can say "reading, writing, and playing."

Practice Question 3

My brother loves playing football he's on the field every day. A. My brother, who loves playing football, he's on the field every day. B. My brother loves playing football. He's on the field every day. C. Football, my brother loves playing, he's on the field every day. D. No change.

Correct Answer: B. This one's about those pesky run-on sentences we discussed earlier. In the original sentence, we've got two independent thoughts crammed into one sentence without any punctuation or conjunction to properly join them. That's a big no-no! 🙅‍♀️ Solution? We use a period to separate these two complete thoughts, et voila! We have two separate, grammatically correct sentences.

Practice Question 4

"We drove to the beach, we enjoyed the sunny weather."

A. "We drove to the beach we enjoyed the sunny weather."

B. "We drove to the beach and enjoyed the sunny weather."

C. "Since we enjoyed the sunny weather, so we drove to the beach."

D. No change.

Correct Answer: B. This sentence contains a comma splice issue, incorrectly joining two independent clauses. Option B provides the correct solution by using the coordinating conjunction "and" to link the related thoughts, making it a single sentence with proper parallel structure.

Kudos, you've made it through the Sentence Structure and Formation study guide for the ACT English! 🎉 You're now equipped to handle run-on sentences, misplaced modifiers, and parallelism. In short: dissect run-ons with the scalpel of punctuation, reposition those stray modifiers, and ensure all elements in a series mirror each other grammatically. Now go forth, practice, and ace that ACT English! Good luck, future ACT conquerors! 🍀🎓