Parts of Speech and Punctuation for ACT English flashcards

Question 1

What kind of noun is Chicago, and how is it written?

Accepted Answer

A proper noun, which is capitalized.

Question 2

What does a pronoun do?

Accepted Answer

It takes the place of a noun in a sentence.

Question 3

What are the object forms of the subject pronouns I, we, he, and they?

Accepted Answer

Me, us, him, and them.

Question 4

Which case is the pronoun whom?

Accepted Answer

The objective case. Who is the subjective form and whose is the possessive form.

Question 5

Which article is definite and which are indefinite?

Accepted Answer

The is the definite article. A and an are the indefinite articles.

Question 6

What decides whether you write a or an?

Accepted Answer

The sound that begins the next word, not its first letter.

Question 7

What does an adjective do?

Accepted Answer

It modifies, or describes, a noun or pronoun.

Question 8

Which questions do adjectives answer?

Accepted Answer

Which one? What kind of? How many?

Question 9

In Brian seems sad, what does the adjective sad describe?

Accepted Answer

The noun Brian, not the verb seems. Adjectives can follow verbs such as be, feel, seem, and look.

Question 10

What do adverbs modify?

Accepted Answer

Verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Question 11

What does a verb denote?

Accepted Answer

An action or a state of being.

Question 12

What do prepositions do?

Accepted Answer

They work with a noun or pronoun to form phrases that show spatial, temporal, or directional meaning.

Question 13

Where does a prepositional phrase begin and end?

Accepted Answer

It begins with the preposition and ends with the object of that preposition.

Question 14

What are the seven coordinating conjunctions?

Accepted Answer

And, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet.

Question 15

What do subordinating conjunctions help a writer build?

Accepted Answer

Complex sentences, made of an independent clause and a dependent clause.

Question 16

What are conjunctive adverbs?

Accepted Answer

Adverbs that join independent clauses, such as however, moreover, therefore, consequently, otherwise, nevertheless, and thus.

Question 17

What punctuation mark separates three or more words, phrases, or clauses in a series?

Accepted Answer

A comma.

Question 18

What goes before the coordinating conjunction that joins two independent clauses?

Accepted Answer

A comma: The game was over, but the crowd refused to leave.

Question 19

What follows an introductory dependent clause?

Accepted Answer

A comma: Because her alarm clock was broken, she was late for class.

Question 20

Is a comma usually needed before a dependent clause that follows the main clause?

Accepted Answer

No: The cat scratched at the door while I was eating. A comma is used only for extreme contrast.

Question 21

How are nonessential words, phrases, and clauses punctuated?

Accepted Answer

They are set off with a comma before and after.

Question 22

Are essential elements set off with commas?

Accepted Answer

No: The woman who interviewed you is my sister.

Question 23

Is a that clause that follows a noun essential or nonessential?

Accepted Answer

Always essential, so it takes no commas.

Question 24

Should a comma separate a subject from its verb?

Accepted Answer

No. Do not write The most important attribute of a ball player, is quick reflexes.

Question 25

Should a comma separate the two verbs of a compound predicate?

Accepted Answer

No: I turned the corner and ran smack into a patrol car.

Question 26

What are coordinate adjectives, and how are they punctuated?

Accepted Answer

Equal adjectives that describe the same noun. Separate them with a comma: a difficult, stubborn child.

Question 27

What punctuation shifts from the main sentence to a quotation?

Accepted Answer

A comma: John said without emotion, “I'll see you tomorrow.”

Question 28

What is a comma splice?

Accepted Answer

Two independent clauses joined with only a comma.

Question 29

How can a comma splice be fixed?

Accepted Answer

Use a period, a semicolon, a comma plus a coordinating conjunction, or add a dependent marker word.

Question 30

What is a fused sentence, also called a run-on?

Accepted Answer

Two independent clauses with no punctuation or connecting word between them.

Question 31

What is an independent clause?

Accepted Answer

A group of words with a subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought. It is a sentence.

Question 32

What is a dependent clause?

Accepted Answer

A group of words with a subject and a verb that does not express a complete thought, so it cannot be a sentence.

Question 33

What is a dependent marker word?

Accepted Answer

A word added at the start of an independent clause that makes it dependent, such as because, although, or when.

Question 34

What is a sentence fragment?

Accepted Answer

A dependent clause or other incomplete thought written as if it were a complete sentence.

Question 35

Which semicolon use sets off items in a series that already contain commas?

Accepted Answer

It separates the items of the series: Athens, Greece; Sydney, Australia.

Question 36

What must come before a colon that introduces a list, quotation, or appositive?

Accepted Answer

An independent clause (a complete sentence).

Question 37

How do you form the possessive of a plural noun that ends in s?

Accepted Answer

Add only an apostrophe after the s: two cats' toys.

Question 38

How do you form the possessive of a plural noun that does not end in s?

Accepted Answer

Add 's: the children's game.

Question 39

Where does the 's go to show joint possession?

Accepted Answer

On the last noun only: Todd and Anne's apartment.

Question 40

What does the apostrophe in a contraction show?

Accepted Answer

Where one or more letters have been omitted, as in don't for do not.

Question 41

Do ordinary noun plurals take an apostrophe?

Accepted Answer

No. Do not use apostrophes for noun plurals.

Question 42

Do possessive pronouns such as his, hers, and ours take an apostrophe?

Accepted Answer

No. They already show possession.

Question 43

What is the difference between its and it's?

Accepted Answer

Its is possessive. It's is a contraction of it is or it has.

Question 44

What is the difference between whose and who's?

Accepted Answer

Whose is possessive: Whose dog is this? Who's is a contraction of who is.

Question 45

How can you test whether a phrase needs a possessive apostrophe?

Accepted Answer

Turn it into an of the phrase: the boy's hat is the hat of the boy.

Question 46

What do dashes do?

Accepted Answer

They set off or emphasize the content within the dashes or following them, with more emphasis than parentheses.

Parts of Speech and Punctuation for ACT English flashcards

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Parts of Speech and Punctuation for ACT English flashcards

The cards

How this deck was checked

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