ACT English — connectors inside the sentence, and tone

Transition questions on the ACT English section are not limited to the word at the start of a sentence. Just as often the logical link sits in the middle: a clause that begins with "although" or "whereas," "unless" or "so that," "until" or "as long as." Each of these words claims a relationship between two ideas, contrast, concession, exception, purpose or time, and the question is whether the claim is true of the sentence.

The first nine of this material's twelve original sentences train those in-sentence connectors. They cover concession ("although," "even though"), contrast between two subjects ("whereas"), result ("so" rather than "but"), exception ("unless"), purpose ("so that"), time ("not ... until"), condition ("as long as"), and one grammatical point that decides a connector question on its own: "despite" takes a noun phrase, while "although" needs a full clause. Two of the sentences are already correct and NO CHANGE is the answer.

The last three are tone questions, and each sets a different trap. In a lighthearted family memoir, the wrong choices are stiff and bureaucratic; in a formal report on a medical study, they are slang; in a serious account of a flood, they are flippant. The task is the same each time: read the register of the rest of the text and choose the words written in it.

The explanations name the relationship the sentence needs before looking at the options, then show what each wrong connector would claim instead. On the real test the sentences sit inside longer passages with a portion underlined; here each question prints its own sentence with the portion in square brackets, and NO CHANGE is one of the four choices, as it is on the test.

The flashcards give each connector with its relationship and a model sentence, and the method for tone questions.

The material offers a multiple-choice quiz and a deck of flashcards. Connectors belong to Production of Writing and tone to Knowledge of Language, two of the three reporting categories of the English section. Zestly is an independent study tool; this practice material is not produced, affiliated with or endorsed by ACT, Inc., which owns the ACT.

• Identify the logical relationship between two clauses before choosing a connector
• Use although, even though and whereas for concession and contrast
• Use unless, as long as, so that and until for exception, condition, purpose and time
• Use despite with a noun phrase and although with a clause
• Keep word choice consistent with a text's formal, casual or serious tone

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the reporting categories in ACT's public description of the English section of the enhanced ACT (Production of Writing; Knowledge of Language). Every sentence, essay, option and explanation is original; nothing is reproduced from any ACT publication or released test.