Usage and Style (ACT English)

Word Choice and Diction

Precision

Choose the most exact word for the context:

❌ "The scientist did an experiment."
✓ "The scientist conducted an experiment."

❌ "The storm was really bad."
✓ "The storm was severe."

Avoid vague words: thing, stuff, nice, good, bad, really, very

Formal vs Informal

ACT prefers formal academic writing:

❌ "The study was kinda interesting." (too informal)
✓ "The study was somewhat interesting."

❌ "Lots of people showed up." (informal)
✓ "Many people attended."

Avoid:

• Contractions in formal writing (unless in quotes)
• Slang: "cool," "awesome," "totally"
• Colloquialisms: "a lot," "kind of," "sort of"

Commonly Confused Words

Affect vs Effect:

• Affect (verb): to influence
  ✓ "The weather affected our plans."
• Effect (noun): result
  ✓ "The effect was significant."
• Effect (verb - rare): to bring about
  ✓ "The new law will effect change."

Accept vs Except:

• Accept: receive, agree to
  ✓ "I accept your apology."
• Except: excluding
  ✓ "Everyone went except Tom."

Than vs Then:

• Than: comparison
  ✓ "She is taller than I am."
• Then: time, sequence
  ✓ "We ate dinner; then we watched a movie."

Fewer vs Less:

• Fewer: countable items
  ✓ "Fewer students attended."
• Less: uncountable quantities
  ✓ "Less water is needed."

Among vs Between:

• Between: two items
  ✓ "Choose between chocolate and vanilla."
• Among: three or more
  ✓ "The prize was divided among the five winners."

Redundancy

Eliminate unnecessary repetition:

❌ "She returned back to her home."
✓ "She returned to her home."

❌ "The reason is because..."
✓ "The reason is that..."

❌ "In my opinion, I think..."
✓ "I think..." OR "In my opinion,..."

❌ "At 8 a.m. in the morning"
✓ "At 8 a.m."

Tone and Style

Consistency

Maintain consistent:

Point of view: ❌ "When you study hard, one can succeed."
✓ "When you study hard, you can succeed."

Verb tense: ❌ "She walked to the store and buys milk." (shifts from past to present)
✓ "She walked to the store and bought milk."

Formality level: ❌ "The experiment yielded significant results; it was totally awesome."
✓ "The experiment yielded significant results; it was quite impressive."

Sentence Variety

Good writing mixes sentence structures:

Avoid repetitive patterns: ❌ "The dog ran. The cat jumped. The bird flew." (all same structure)
✓ "The dog ran swiftly. Meanwhile, the cat jumped over the fence, and the bird flew away."

Vary sentence length:

• Short sentences: emphasis, clarity
• Long sentences: complex ideas, flow
• Mix both for engaging writing

Conciseness

Eliminate Wordiness

Say more with fewer words:

| Wordy | Concise | |-------|---------| | at this point in time | now | | in the event that | if | | due to the fact that | because | | in spite of the fact that | although | | has the ability to | can | | in order to | to | | for the purpose of | for, to | | is able to | can | | make an assumption | assume | | come to a conclusion | conclude |

Example: ❌ "In the event that it rains, we will cancel the game due to the fact that the field will be wet."
✓ "If it rains, we will cancel the game because the field will be wet."

Remove Unnecessary Modifiers

❌ "The book was completely finished."
✓ "The book was finished."

❌ "She totally agreed with the decision."
✓ "She agreed with the decision."

Exception: Keep modifiers that add meaning ✓ "The exam was extremely difficult." (adds useful emphasis)

Idioms and Prepositions

Common ACT Idioms

With "different": ✓ "different from" (preferred in formal writing)
❌ "different than"

With "ability": ✓ "ability to" (not "ability of")
✓ "He has the ability to succeed."

With "try": ✓ "try to" (not "try and")
✓ "I will try to help."

With "type" or "kind": ✓ "type of" / "kind of"
✓ "What type of car is that?"

With "regard": ✓ "in regard to" or "with regard to"
✓ "regarding" (simpler)
❌ "in regards to"

Prepositional Pairs

Memorize these common pairs:

• agree with (person), agree to (plan), agree on (topic)
• angry with (person), angry about (situation)
• different from
• independent of
• native to
• prevent from
• prohibit from
• responsible for
• similar to
• superior to

Transitions and Logical Flow

Common Transitions

Addition:

• furthermore, moreover, additionally, also, in addition

Contrast:

• however, nevertheless, nonetheless, on the other hand, conversely

Cause/Effect:

• therefore, consequently, thus, as a result, accordingly

Example:

• for example, for instance, specifically, namely

Time:

• meanwhile, subsequently, previously, finally

Emphasis:

• indeed, in fact, certainly

Choosing Right Transition

Match relationship between ideas:

❌ "I studied all night. However, I felt prepared."
(However shows contrast, but these ideas agree)
✓ "I studied all night. Therefore, I felt prepared."

✓ "I studied all night. However, I still felt unprepared."
(Now however makes sense — contrast between studying and feeling unprepared)

Active vs Passive Voice

Active Voice (Preferred)

Subject does the action: ✓ "The researcher conducted the experiment."

Passive Voice

Action is done to subject: "The experiment was conducted by the researcher."

When passive is acceptable:

• Actor unknown: "The window was broken."
• Actor unimportant: "The tests were administered."
• Emphasis on action/receiver: "The law was passed in 1965."

Usually choose active for:

• Clarity
• Conciseness
• Directness

ACT Question Types

Type 1: Word Choice

Given context, choose most precise word:

Strategy:

• Eliminate vague words
• Choose word that fits formal tone
• Consider connotation (positive/negative feeling)

Type 2: Delete or Keep

"Should the writer delete this phrase?"

Keep if:

• Adds important information
• Clarifies meaning
• Provides necessary example

Delete if:

• Redundant
• Obvious/unnecessary
• Off-topic

Type 3: Transition Words

Which transition fits best?

Strategy:

1. Identify relationship between sentences
2. Eliminate transitions that show wrong relationship
3. Choose most precise option

Type 4: Conciseness

Multiple options say same thing — choose shortest:

Strategy:

• If meaning is identical, pick shortest
• Don't sacrifice clarity for brevity
• Watch for changes in meaning

Common ACT Mistakes

❌ Using informal language in formal passage
"kinda," "a lot," "really good" → too casual

❌ Choosing wordy over concise
"due to the fact that" when "because" works

❌ Keeping redundant information
"return back," "8 a.m. in the morning"

❌ Wrong preposition with idiom
"ability of" instead of "ability to"

❌ Inconsistent tone
Mixing formal and informal language

❌ Wrong transition word
"However" when ideas don't contrast

Quick Tips for ACT

✓ Shorter is better — if meaning is same, choose concise
✓ Formal beats informal — avoid slang and contractions
✓ Active beats passive — unless passive has good reason
✓ Specific beats vague — "conducted" better than "did"
✓ Delete redundancy — "return back" → "return"
✓ Match transition to relationship — contrast = however, agreement = furthermore
✓ Consistent tone/tense/POV throughout passage

Practice Approach

1. Read for context — understand passage tone and purpose
2. Identify what's being tested — word choice? transition? conciseness?
3. Eliminate clearly wrong — informal, redundant, wrong transition
4. Choose most effective — precise, concise, appropriate tone
5. Reread with your choice — does it flow naturally?

Remember: ACT English rewards clear, concise, formal writing. When in doubt, choose the option that's most direct and precise!