ACT English Section Practice: Semicolons, Dashes, and Commas

Practice Question 4

I wasn't planning on going to the wedding, however you've convinced me that it's a good idea. NO CHANGE wedding, however, wedding. However, wedding,

Practice Question 3

Talking to my friends, on the phone, is one of my favorite things to do. NO CHANGE friends on the phone friends on the phone, friends on, the phone

Sandwich Rule

As a general rule, any part of a sentence that can be removed without changing the sentence's fundamental meaning must be bracketed by commas.

Dash Examples

Incorrect: Allie was minding her own business when her brother, a mischievous eight-year-old—snuck up and surprised her. Correct: Allie was minding her own business when her brother—a mischievous eight-year-old—snuck up and surprised her. Correct: Allie was minding her own business when her brother, a mischievous eight-year-old, snuck up and surprised her.

Commas with a List of Adjectives

This is a slightly different type of list, but it does come up on the ACT occasionally. If you have more than one adjective in front of a noun or pronoun and their order doesn't matter, then you need to put a comma between them.

Colons ::::::::::::

Colons can, in fact, connect two independent clauses, but they are usually used to introduce lists or explanations. The key rule for colons is that they must come after a complete sentence. You should be able to put a period at the end of the clause before the colon and have it make sense. Otherwise, it doesn't matter if you're introducing a list or explanation, it's still wrong.

Answers

1. A, 2. C, 3. B, 4. C

Answers

1. C, 2. G, 3. D, 4. F

Practice Question 3

Adding to the drama, Joe according to the rumor mill — stole Alfonso's girlfriend. A. NO CHANGE B. Joe, C. Joe who D. Joe —

Practice Question 2

After hearing good things about it, I wanted to read Crime and Punishment, but the book, itself, turned out to be super boring. NO CHANGE the book itself, the book itself itself

Dash Examples

Allie's eight-year-old brother surprised her—he snuck up behind her and yelled "boo!" You were right - he did eat the whole thing. There are three places I'll never forget—Paris, Bangkok and Hanoi.

TEST TIP (Which and That)

An important point for the ACT: clauses starting with "which" are always non-restrictive, while those starting with "that" are always restrictive. This means that "which" ALWAYS takes a comma and "that" NEVER does: I love reading books that are full of adventure because they take me away from my boring life. I love Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which is full of adventure, because it takes me away from my boring life.

Appositive Phrases

Appositive phrases are basically the grammatical younger sibling of descriptive clauses: they serve the same purpose, describing a noun or pronoun, but they don't include a verb. Nonetheless, the basic rule for comma use is identical. If a phrase can be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence, it needs to be surrounded with commas.

Reversed Appositive Examples

Ernest Hemingway, an author, wrote nine novels. Ernest Hemingway ^^^^^^^^^ wrote nine novels. In the above example, we employ our strikethrough strategy and determine that the commas are appropriately placed. However, when we reverse the word order below, you'll notice a change. Author Ernest Hemingway wrote nine novels. Author ^^^^^^^ wrote nine novels. Even though "author" now comes first, it's still modifying "Ernest Hemingway." This means that "Ernest Hemingway" shouldn't be set off with commas; as you can see, the sentence wouldn't make sense with his name removed. Moreover, tempting as it may be to put a comma after "author," it's actually serving as an adjective in this context. Just like you wouldn't put comma in the middle of "President Barack Obama," you shouldn't stick one in "Author Ernest Hemingway."

Introduction Examples

Even though I was tired, Jenny convinced me to go to the strawberry festival. In the library, she found the books she needed. Weird-looking as it was, the lizard was sort of cute.

Practice Question 4

Even though she's been trying to cut it down, Fran's action album collection is still impressive: over 400 vinyl records, 2000 CDs, and even a handful of tapes. F. NO CHANGE G. impressive; over H. impressive over J. impressive, it's

Appositive Examples

Her mother a doctor was often late. → Her mother, a doctor, was often late. Jonah a fifth-grader jumps rope on the playground everyday. → Jonah, a fifth-grader, jumps rope on the playground everyday. The nouns "a doctor" and "a fifth-grader" modify "her mother" and "Jonah," respectively, but they aren't necessary to main idea of the sentences.

Interjection Examples

However, my sister refused to help me move the couch. My sister, however, refused to help me move the couch. The second type of sentence structure appears relatively frequently on the ACT—just know that if you see a transition word interrupting a clause, it needs to be set off with commas.

Crossing Out Strategy

If you aren't sure whether a part of a sentence needs to be surrounded by commas, try crossing it out. If the sentence still makes sense, then the commas are needed; if it doesn't, then they aren't. Let's try it out with an example: The student who forgot her homework got detention. "Who forgot her homework" seems like it might need to be set off with commas, so let's cross it out and try reading the sentence again: The student ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ got detention. With that clause crossed out, it's no longer clear which student got detention, so by removing it we have changed the meaning of the sentence. This means that it shouldn't be surrounded by commas.

Semicolon Example

Incorrect: After seeing that the amusement park had four roller coasters; Maria was determined to ride them all. Correct: The amusement park has four roller coasters; Maria was determined to ride them all.

Conjunction plus Comma Examples

Incorrect: I had a terrible case of the flu, my mom brought me chicken noodle soup in bed. Correct: I had a terrible case of the flu, so my mom brought me chicken noodle soup in bed. Correct: I had a terrible case of the flu; my mom brought me chicken noodle soup in bed. The important thing to remember is that using just a comma (no FANBOYS) to connect two independent clauses is absolutely always incorrect. A comma isn't interchangeable with a semicolon. This mistake is called a comma splice, and it's one of the most common errors students make on the ACT English.

Colon Examples

Incorrect: Liz went to the costume shop for the supplies she needed for Halloween, including: fake blood, plastic spiders, and a witch's hat. Correct: Liz went to the costume shop for the supplies she needed for Halloween: fake blood, plastic spiders, and a witch's hat. Correct: Liz went to the costume shop for the supplies she needed for Halloween: a holiday when people dress up in scary costumes and eat a lot of candy. Correct: Liz went to the costume shop for the supplies she needed for Halloween: she was planning to dress up as a zombie witch.

List of Adjectives Examples

Let's look at two examples, one where you need a comma and one where you don't: The hot dry desert The first female astronaut Which one do you think needs a comma? If you're not sure, check whether the examples make sense with the order of the adjectives reversed: The dry hot desert The female first astronaut The first example makes perfect sense with the new word order, so it does need a comma: the hot, dry desert. The second, however, doesn't work when the order of the adjectives is switched, so no comma is needed: the first female astronaut.

Semicolons for Lists Example

My whole family was at the reunion, including my cousins, Kirsten and Jeremy; my aunts, Tracy and Megan; and my grandparents, Carl and Jen.

Dashes With Non Essential Clauses and Phrases

Non-essential clauses and phrases provide extra information that can be removed without altering the meaning of the sentence. When dashes are used with non-essential clauses or phrases, the key is making sure that you don't mix them with commas. Both are equally correct, but you have to stick to one or the other.

Semicolons Between Sentences ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Semicolons connect 2 independent clauses. A semicolon is ONLY correct if it can be replaced with a period. Remember that semicolons are interchangeable with periods—this means that you will never be asked to choose between them. If the only difference between two answers is that one has a period and the other semicolon in the same spot, both answers must be wrong.

Commas

The basic purpose of commas is to clarify relationships between phrases and clauses. That's a pretty broad goal, and there are a lot of different uses for commas. Luckily, you only really need to focus on a few main rules in order to do well on the ACT.

Interjections

The last case we'll discuss is interjections, which are words or short phrases that disrupt the flow of a sentence like "of course." We tend to use these a lot more when we speak than when we write, but they do pop up on the ACT occasionally. What you are more likely to see is the related construction that occurs when a transition word is moved into a sentence.

Commas and Lists

The last comma rule is likely the one you're most familiar with: in lists of three or more items, you must place a comma after every item except the last.

Reversed Appositives

The one slightly confusing spin on this rule is that when the order of appositives are reversed, they usually don't require commas anymore.

Connecting Independent Clauses (with a Conjunction)

The other main case where you need commas to separate clauses is when you use a coordinating conjunction to connect independent clauses. If you have two independent clauses and want to combine them into one sentence, you can use a comma and a coordinating conjunction, or FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so), instead of a semicolon. You probably use this construction correctly all the time without even thinking about it!

List Examples

The pirate loves going to Barbados because there's so much to do, including shopping for eye patches, sharpening his sword, and visiting the pub. Today, I'm going to skip school, go to the movies, and eat a giant bag of popcorn. Note that on the ACT you must use the oxford, or series, comma, which goes before the "and."

Practice Question 1

The soft, blue cloth slid through her fingers easily. NO CHANGE blue, cloth slid through blue cloth slid, through blue cloth, slid through

Practice Question 1

The two main types of camels are; bactrian camels, which have two humps, and dromedary camels, which have one. A. NO CHANGE B. are: bactrian C. are bactrian D. are, bactrian

Semicolons for Lists

There is one other, much less common, use of semicolons: to separate items in a list, especially if they include commas.

Restrictive Clauses

These are clauses that are necessary to the meaning of a sentence—they clarify exactly who or what you're talking about. You can't take a restrictive clause out of a sentence without fundamentally altering its meaning. Take a look at the example below. People who dislike kale won't enjoy green smoothies. In this sentence, if you take out the clause "who dislike kale," you're left with "People won't enjoy green smoothies," which is not making the same point as the original sentence. Because this kind of clause can't be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence, it should not be marked off with commas.

Non-Restrictive Clauses

These are clauses that provide additional information and are therefore not integral to the meaning of the sentence. My sister, who dislikes kale, doesn't enjoy green smoothies. The point of this sentence is that my sister doesn't enjoy green smoothies; even if you remove the underlined portion, that point is still made. Unlike in the example of a restrictive clause above, the underlined portion is not vital to meaning of the sentence. As such, it needs to be separated from the main thought of the sentence with commas.

Sandwich Rule Example

Timmy who loves Superman is excited for the upcoming movie. The point of the sentence is that Timmy is excited about the movie—his love of Superman is just helpful background info. Since taking out "who loves Superman" wouldn't affect the main idea of the sentence, that clause needs to be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas, like so: Timmy, who loves Superman, is excited for the upcoming movie.

Practice Question 2

Tootsie Pops are beloved for the lollipops chocolatey centers, even though no one knows how many licks it takes to get to them. F. NO CHANGE G. lollipops' H. lollipop's J. lollipop

Test Tip (Commas)

We've covered a lot of information and it may seem really complicated, but the important thing is to remember the fundamental principle: if something is surrounded by commas, then it isn't important to the main point of the sentence.

Dashes With List or Explanation

You may also see dashes used to introduce a list or explanation. Remember: always make sure you have an independent clause before the colon or dash!

Last Thoughts on Semicolons, Periods, and Colons

You may have noticed that semicolons, colons, and periods can all be used between independent clauses. However, as I mentioned in regard to semicolons, you will never be asked to choose between the three—the distinctions are purely stylistic.

Introductions and Commas

he basic rule for using commas with introductions is that any time a sentence starts with a dependent clause or modifying phrase, it must be followed by a comma.