While the ACT doesn’t ask questions directly about vocabulary, they will test your vocabulary in about three ways: by asking you about the author’s word choice, asking you to infer what a word means from its context, or asking you what word best fits in a sentence. We’ll explain each of these question types in detail below, with examples to help you understand how they are presented on the test.
Memorizing vocabulary lists is not the best strategy for the English or Reading sections. However, there are tons of commonly confused words that the ACT will test you on (or expect you to know how to properly use). So to help you clear up any words you may be mixing up (affect vs. effect, anyone?), we created this big list of Commonly Confused Words to Know for the ACT!
If you’re trying to boost your ACT score, the English section is the easiest to tackle. Here’s why: there is only a handful of technical grammar content covered and there are really only a handful of rhetorical skills covered.
Learn the sentence formulas you’ll need to be on your way to a great score on the English section of the ACT test (plus, a study guide):
Our reading recommendations to help you study for the test and stay entertained at the same time.