Quick Summary
- ACT English fragment questions test whether students can identify incomplete sentences — groups of words that lack a subject, a main verb, or a complete thought. The 8 patterns cover every fragment type the ACT tests.
- Fragment Pattern 1: a dependent clause standing alone (Because the experiment failed, — this needs a main clause). Fragment Pattern 2: a participial phrase with no main clause (Running down the street — fragment). Fragment Pattern 3: a noun with only a relative clause (The study that was published — needs a predicate).
- Fragments are fixed by attaching the fragment to the neighboring sentence with appropriate punctuation, or by adding the missing subject or verb to make it a complete sentence.
Sentence fragments are the single most common error on the ACT English test, and one bad pattern can cost several points. These 8 patterns cover every fragment type the test throws at you, with fixes you can apply in seconds.
ACT English | Test Patterns | Shortcuts for the ACT English Test
If you are preparing for the ACT English sections, you might be wondering how to study effectively and efficiently. You might be overwhelmed by the amount of grammar rules and punctuation rules you need to memorize and apply. You might be looking for some tips and tricks to ace the test without spending hours and hours on practice questions.
Well, you are in luck. In this blog post, I will share with you some of the most important test patterns that you need to know for the ACT English test. These patterns will help you identify and correct the most common errors that appear on the test, especially in the punctuation category.
Punctuation is a big deal on the ACT English test. Out of the 75 questions, about 27 of them will test your knowledge and skills on punctuation. That means that more than a third of your score depends on how well you can use commas, semicolons, periods, fanboys, dashes, and colons.
But don't worry. You don't need to know every single rule and exception for punctuation. You just need to know the three most common mistakes that the ACT likes to test you on.
The most common ACT mistake that appears on the exam is the FRAGMENT. This error constitutes 80 percent of all punctuation based errors.
A fragment is an incomplete sentence. It lacks a main subject or a main verb or both. Sometimes, it also has an extra word or phrase that makes it incomplete.
To avoid fragments, you need to know how to identify the core parts of a sentence: the main subject and predicate (main verb) and the direct object if there is one. You also need to know some common prepositions that can introduce extra words or phrases.
You've read the patterns, but your score isn't moving. Take a free ACT English diagnostic — it shows exactly which fragment types you keep missing, so you can fix what actually matters.
Try 5 Free →Once you know these basics, you can spot the fragments by looking for these patterns:
Fragment Patterns on The ACT:
Note: These rules use a “comma” but any form of punctuation would be unacceptable.
1. Do not separate the subject and verb with a comma | subject + comma + verb = Wrong
2. Do not separate the verb and its direct object with a comma | verb + comma + object = wrong
3. Do not separate the adjective and noun with a comma| adjective + comma + noun = wrong
4. Do not use punctuation before or after a preposition | comma + preposition = wrong
5. Do not use a single comma before “that” | comma + that = wrong
6. “Ing” words are NOT VERBS
7. Infinitive forms (to + verb) are NOT VERBS
8. That, which, who are thieves and steal the verb from the subject.
For more information and practice, check out our fragment based drills test-details/14">HERE and test-details/15">HERE.
See which question types are costing you points
Start with a free mock, free drills, or preview sample questions before using all 45 question banks.
For video explanations and notes, check out our activities test-details/11">HERE, test-details/12">HERE, AND test-details/13">HERE
These are the most common fragment formulas that appear on the ACT. If you see any of them, you can easily fix them by removing the unnecessary punctuation or adding a main subject or verb.
By mastering these patterns, you can improve your score significantly on the ACT English test. You can also save time and energy by focusing on the most frequent errors instead of getting lost in the details.
I hope this blog post was helpful for you. If you want more tips and tricks for the ACT English test, stay tuned for more posts from me.
For real ACT English drills and explanations, check out the link HERE.
For real ACT computer based tests, check out these links here, here, and test/26">here.
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More resources | Each test comes with a report and recommended activities to boost your score:
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test/77" style="">ACT English | Test 7
References and Further Reading
- Official ACT Test PreparationSupports: Out of the 75 questions, about 27 of them will test your knowledge and skills on punctuation.- Official Test Publisher: Official ACT website provides authoritative verification of the test format and question breakdown, directly supporting the claim about 27 punctuation questions out of 75.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a sentence fragment and how do I identify one on the ACT?
A sentence fragment is a group of words that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it is missing a subject, a main verb, or a complete thought. To check: read the group of words and ask "Who is doing what?" If you cannot identify a clear subject doing a clear action and expressing a complete thought, it is a fragment. Subordinating words (because, although, when, which, that) often create fragments when they appear at the start of a standalone clause.
How is fixing fragments on the ACT different from the Digital SAT?
Both tests penalize incomplete sentences, but the ACT English test has longer passages and more context for each sentence — meaning fragment questions on the ACT require understanding how the sentence connects to the surrounding paragraph. The Digital SAT uses shorter, more isolated passages where fragment identification is more straightforward. The 8 fragment patterns covered in this post apply to both tests — the difference is passage length and context complexity.
What are the most common fragment patterns on the ACT English test?
Dependent clause fragments (Because it was raining.), participial phrase fragments (Exhausted from the journey.), and relative clause fragments (The scientist who published the groundbreaking study.) are the three most frequent. All three look like sentences because they are long and grammatically complex, but none has an independent subject-verb pair expressing a complete thought. The fix is always the same: attach the fragment to the neighboring independent clause.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most common fragment patterns on the ACT English test?
The eight patterns are: 1) subject + comma + verb, 2) verb + comma + object, 3) adjective + comma + noun, 4) comma + preposition, 5) comma + that, 6) '-ing' words are not verbs, 7) infinitive forms are not verbs, 8) 'that/which/who' steal the verb from the subject.
How do you fix a fragment on the ACT English test?
Remove the unnecessary punctuation or add a main subject or main verb to complete the sentence.
What percentage of punctuation errors on the ACT are fragments?
Fragments constitute 80 percent of all punctuation-based errors on the ACT English test.
What is a fragment in ACT English?
A fragment is an incomplete sentence that lacks a main subject, a main verb, or both, or has an extra word or phrase that makes it incomplete.
How many punctuation questions are on the ACT English test?
About 27 out of 75 questions on the ACT English test test punctuation knowledge.