ACT Preparation / Unit 4 ACT 0316 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Register Fits the Audience
Captions available
The idea
Word choice should fit the audience and purpose. Slang is generally too casual for academic writing, and technical expressions can shut out general readers.
In practice
"The results were super sketchy" suits a text to a friend; "The results were unreliable" suits a report.
Where people slip
Standard American English is one dialect among many; ACT English holds its passages to standard written English.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
- Nothing. This is a starting point.
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