Introduction: 9 ACT® English Tips to Score a 36 on Your Test
In this article, we will cover 9 ACT® English Tips to Get Your 36. Has someone told you that the ACT® English test only requires common sense? Do you just plan on buying a review book to study with? Think again! The ACT® English test is not as easy as many people think, especially if you’re striving for a perfect 36.
A lot of ACT® English test-takers end up relying on what “sounds right,” not fully understanding the grammar and rhetorical skills that are being tested. As a result, many students make careless mistakes and hurt their chances of getting a good score. But that doesn’t have to be you! Let’s take a look at the 9 best tips for the ACT® to help get you that perfect English score.
Let’s dive into some ACT® English strategies you should master.
What We Review
Tip 1: Know the ACT® Rules of Grammar and Rhetoric.
The ACT® English section is divided into two general categories: Usage and Mechanics (think editing an essay for grammatical errors), and Rhetorical Skills (think editing an essay for content and style). Because of this, you need to have a firm grasp on all of the specific grammar rules and rhetorical skills that will be on the test. Sounds easy enough, right? Not so much.
The ACT® English section will test grammatical and rhetorical concepts in ways that are designed to trip you up. It’s not going to be as easy as simply choosing the answer that “sounds right.” In fact, many of the answers that “sound right” are included for the purpose of leading you down the wrong path!
When doing your test prep for this section, work on memorizing the broad rules of grammar instead of every small nuance. Check out Albert’s 7 Must-Know Grammar Skills for ACT® English for more in-depth help on the grammar question. If you’re shooting for a perfect score of 36, you should know all of the following grammar and rhetorical ACT® English rules:
- Punctuation (commas, apostrophes, dashes, etc.)
- Subject/Verb Agreement and Pronoun/Number agreement
- Idioms
- Wrong words (affect/effect, their/they’re, etc.)
- Parallel construction
- Verb tenses and conjugations
- Run-on sentences and sentence fragments
- Misplaced modifiers
- Pronoun choice
- Sentence organization
- Tone/Mood
- Author’s intent
- Relevance of sentences
- Word choice
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Tip 2: Avoid Redundancy and Wordiness.
Redundancy questions are very common on the ACT® English test. Redundancy refers to words or phrases that are unnecessary and can be eliminated without affecting the sentence’s meaning. The ACT® typically includes two different types of redundancies: two synonyms used to describe something and implied phrases that don’t add anything to the sentence. The best thing to do in these situations is to remember to keep it short and simple and get rid of words that are meaningless.
For example:
- “Laura is an outgoing and sociable person.”
This sentence uses “outgoing” and “sociable” to describe Laura, but these words are synonyms so one of them can be removed to avoid redundancy.
Similarly, another example of redundancy could look like this:
- “The campers were terrified to come across a giant bear that towered over them.”
Again, avoiding redundancy, we can take out the phrase “towered over them” since it is implied by the adjective “giant”:
- “The campers were terrified to come across a giant bear.”
Just remember: keep sentences short and grammatically correct to avoid redundancy.
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Tip 3: Know the Four Most Common Question Types.
The ACT® may be difficult, but it’s very predictable. In your test prep, be sure you’re aware of the most common ACT® English question types. All of the example questions below are taken from ACT®’s practice page.
1. Using correct punctuation:
You’ll be given a passage to read, with whole sentences or parts of sentences underlined. You’ll then be asked in multiple choice form to select and identify which punctuation mark should be used (comma, apostrophe, semicolon, colon, dash, parenthesis, etc.) and where it should go in the sentence.
Example question:
- “My father was an avid gardener, he still is; and every Saturday morning he would put on his work clothes…”
Choose the best answer:
a. NO CHANGE
b. gardener-he still is-
c. gardener, he still is-
d. gardener and he still is
To successfully answer this example question, we need to know the ACT® English rules for when to use commas, semicolons, and hyphens.
2. Choosing the correct form or word:
Identify the best word to use in the sentence. Some questions might ask you to find the right form of the word, such as correct verb tense, singular or plural, correct pronoun, correct preposition, or correct idiom.
Example question:
- “The pipes, which can vary numerously from three to fifteen, are fashioned from clay that is rolled around a mold.”
Choose the best answer:
a. NO CHANGE
b. in quantity of number
c. numbers-wise
d. in number
To answer this question, we have to determine whether the word should stay an adverb (numerously), or change to an adjective or prepositional phrase.
3. Logic questions:
Choose the answer that expresses the correct relationship between two parts of the sentence, paragraph, or passage (conjunction, where a sentence should go, the relevance of a sentence, etc.)
Example question:
- “I am more often sorry I didn’t follow my father out to the garden.”
The best placement for the underlined portion would be:
a. where it is now.
b. after the word sorry.
c. after the word follow.
d. after the word garden (ending the sentence with a period).
When answering this question, we have to consider where the best placement for this phrase is within the sentence.
4. Finding the main idea and interpreting a passage:
Identify the main purpose or point of the passage, sentence, or paragraph.
Example question:
- “Due to the limited number of notes that can be played on an antara, early musicians’ most likely worked in groups, coordinating the timing and pitch of their instruments to extend the range of sounds produced.”
If the writer were to delete the phrase “coordinating the timing and pitch of their instruments” from the preceding sentence, the sentence would primarily lose:
a. a description of how musicians overcame the limitations of the antara.
b. an indication that music was an important element in Incan life.
c. the idea that the antara was a key feature of Incan music.
d. nothing of significance, because the phrase is redundant.
For this question, we have to consider the purpose of this phrase, and how it contributes to the sentence as a whole.
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Tip 4: Think Carefully Before Choosing the “NO CHANGE” Answer Option.
In ACT® English, you should choose the “NO CHANGE” answer option if you can’t detect anything wrong with the sentence. But be very careful. For many students, the “NO CHANGE” option is an easy go-to if they can’t see anything immediately wrong with the grammar or syntax, especially under the time crunch.
But if you’re aiming for more than just passing ACT® English and shooting for a 36, you need to be more careful than that.
For grammar questions, make sure you’re evaluating the grammar of the sentence and not just listening to how it sounds in your head. If you really think it’s “NO CHANGE,” double-check the answer choices to be sure. All of this being said, don’t be afraid to choose “NO CHANGE,” because it’s still the correct answer around 25% of the time.
As mentioned before, keep in mind that the simplest, most concise answer is often the best choice. If the other options are wordier than the original, NO CHANGE may be correct, Example question from the ACT® website:
- “Having tried and failed, my father was unable to make a gardener of me. I had no qualms of course, about enjoying the results of his labor:’
a. NO CHANGE
b. More important, I had no qualms
c. It stands to reason, then, that I certainly would have no qualms
d. I had no qualms, as a consequence of it
The answer here is NO CHANGE, because it is the most clear and concise choice. Choices C and D and unnecessary words, and choice B adds the transition “more importantly” that doesn’t transition well with the content of the previous sentence.
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Tip 5: Practice, practice, practice!
The only way to get a perfect 36 on the exam is to practice. When I say practice, I mean practice. It’s not enough to just study grammar rules and read tips and ACT® English strategies from a review book. Taking ACT® English practice tests (notice “tests” is plural!) will:
- Get you used to the format of the test
- Show you the types of questions you can expect to see
- Get you familiar with the instructions
- Let you understand the timing and how long to spend on each question
- Improve your test-taking stamina and focus
If you go into the ACT® English test blind, you’ll waste precious time trying to orient yourself. If you’re really serious about getting that perfect ACT® score, you’ll need to aim for a score of 36 every time you sit down to take a practice test. Remember that you shouldn’t be blindly guessing at all if you want a perfect score.
Create a study schedule for yourself in the days leading up to the test. First, take one practice test and grade yourself. Reflect on the questions you got right and the ones you didn’t. What areas are you already strong in, and which do you need to study more? Then, create your study schedule. Aim to take 3-5 full practice tests before exam day.
You can find ACT® practice tests on the ACT® website, in review books, and on Albert!
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Tip 6: Pinpoint Your Weaknesses.
Is grammar your weakness? Is it rhetorical questions? Or time management? The key to improving your ACT® score is to focus on strengthening your weaknesses.
So how do you get a 36 on practice tests? Well, you get 32s, then you get 34s, then you get 36s! The key to getting better each time is identifying your weaknesses. There’s no point in constantly running through questions you find easy. Yes, it will build your confidence, but you want to improve on the concepts you struggle with.
Follow these three steps to improving your weak areas:
1. Keep track of all the questions you guessed on.
To do this, make a list of all the questions on your practice tests that you guessed on– even if you ultimately answered it correctly. The questions you guess on are your weaknesses.
2. Keep track of all the questions you scored incorrectly on.
Keep another list of the questions you thought were correct, but were actually incorrect.
3. Reflect on your choices.
Once you’ve compiled your lists, get to the root of why you didn’t understand these questions. Did you simply read it wrong? Were you running out of time? Are you confused by a certain grammar rule? Write down why you got each question wrong and what you will do to prevent a similar mistake from happening again.
Learning from your mistakes is one of the best tips for the ACT® to improve on any section of the exam.
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Tip 7: Make Grammar a Part of your Everyday Life.
Have you ever scrolled through Facebook and cringed at your relative who constantly uses “their” instead of “there” in his or her posts? If so, you’re on the right track to becoming a grammar aficionado (if you aren’t one already).
For the ACT® English test, grammar needs to be your best friend. Don’t think of becoming a grammar nerd as “only a way to get a perfect score on the ACT®,” think of it as an essential life skill. To do this, you need to make grammar a part of your everyday life. For example, you can:
- Look out for grammar mistakes in brochures, posters, grocery store signs, etc.
- Proofread your friends’ essays and let them know that you’re going to be brutal.
- Start posting, tweeting, texting, and messaging with a higher standard of grammar and punctuation.
- Read, read, read! You can read novels, formal publications, reports, or whatever tickles your fancy. Just make sure they are high-quality works with no grammatical problems (unless you’re trying to find some!)
- Look through some of your old essays and try to make them better.
- Practice using Albert’s free Grammar course and grammar review guides.
- Follow grammar-related pages on social media. Check out GrammarREVOLUTION on Youtube, Grammar Girl on Facebook or Youtube, and Grammarly on Twitter.
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Tip 8: Pace Yourself and Leave Extra Time to Check Your Work.
Your goal on the ACT® English section should be to answer every question with confidence and still have time left over to go back and check your work. To do this, you should be spending around 30 seconds or less on each of the 75 questions.
So what’s the best way to check your work? As you’re answering the questions for the first time, put a mark next to the questions you’re not 100% sure about. That way, when you go back to review your answers, you don’t have to spend time searching for the questions you should be double-checking.
It’s also important that you double-check the questions you answered as “NO CHANGE,” to make sure you didn’t miss a grammar mistake the first time around.
If you have time, go back for the third time. Ignore the questions you’re 100% sure about and focus on the questions you’re still struggling with. In the last two minutes before the test is over, quickly go through and make sure you answered every question and filled them out correctly on the bubble sheet.
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Tip 9: Read the Whole Passage Purposefully.
When taking the exam, it might be tempting to ignore the entire reading passage and only read the underlined portion the question is asking about. Don’t do this! You’ll miss out on key information. Follow these steps to reading the passage.
1. Read the title.
A lot of us tend to ignore the title, but it provides key information about the passage’s main ideas and the author’s purpose.
2. Read the passage.
Read the whole passage for understanding. You can ignore the underlined words and the questions this time.
3. Read the question.
Now, read the first multiple choice question. Read all of your answer choices carefully.
4. Read the whole paragraph.
Go back to the passage and find the underlined portion. Read through the entire paragraph that contains the sentence you’re revising, and don’t just read the underlined portion itself. This will help give you a sense of the context, the flow of the paragraph, and the structure of the sentences, which will make it easier to spot the errors in the sentence you’re correcting.
5. Select your answer.
Now that you’ve carefully read the passage and re-read the relevant paragraph, you can choose an answer with confidence. Read each choice carefully, and strike through the ones you can eliminate immediately.
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Wrapping Things Up: 9 ACT® English Tips to Score a 36 on Your Test
Getting a perfect 36 on the ACT® English test will not be easy. It will require motivation, dedication, and a whole lot of practice! However, if you keep your goal in sight and use the and ACT® English strategies and tips discussed above, you’re on your way to a great score.
1. Know the ACT® English rules of grammar and rhetoric.
Familiarize yourself with all the rules and practice often.
2. Avoid redundancy and wordiness.
The most concise answer is usually the best choice.
3. Know the 4 most common question types.
Understanding these types will prepare you for what to expect and how to study.
4. Think carefully before choosing “NO CHANGE.”
It can be tempting to choose this initially, but fully evaluate every option first.
5. Practice, practice practice!
Create a study schedule and take 3-5 ACT® English practice exams before test day.
6. Pinpoint your weaknesses.
Use your practice exams to note which questions you got wrong and which areas you should study most.
7. Make grammar a part of your everyday life.
Read more often and follow some grammar-related social media channels.
8. Pace yourself and leave time to check your answers.
Aim to spend around 30 seconds on each question and thoroughly check your work before submitting your exam.
Just remember: know your grammar, identify your weaknesses and practice them until they turn into strengths, and learn how to take the test efficiently and with confidence. Good luck!
