A General Rule




On the SAT, words or phrases may be
unnecessarily added to a sentence.
Use the Fewest Words Possible
Typically, the shortest grammatically correct answer
choice that expresses the same information as the
original sentence will be the right answer.
Shorter sentences are more concise and easier to
understand.

Here’s an example sentence with a redundancy
error:
 Every
year, Jane runs the Los Angeles
Marathon annually.
WORD CHOICE
IDIOMS
VERB TENSE
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
PRONOUN USAGE
PASSIVE VOICE
PARALLELISM
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
SAT GRAMMAR
WORD CHOICE
Word Choice

Word choice questions are common on the SAT. A
word will be underlined, and based on the context,
you have to select the best word to complete the
sentence. These questions can be difficult because
they require knowledge of vocabulary. There are
two common types of word choice questions.
Type #1: Homophones

Homophones are words that sound the same but
have different meanings. Here are some examples
of homophones that have appeared on the practice
SATs: fare/fair, cite/sight/site, then/than,
there/their/they're, and its/it’s. You should know
what each of these words means and how it's used.
SAT Example
Type #2: Related Words

The second type of word choice error involves
synonyms or related words. A word will be
underlined and the answer choices will be related
words. However, only one word will be correct given
the context of the sentence.
Type #2: Related Words
Type #2: Related Words


It’s difficult to prepare for these questions
because you don’t know the specific words that
will appear on the SAT. However, using word
choice questions on practice SATs will help you
study.
Also, try to identify the subtle differences in the
meanings of the words in the answer choices to help
select the best word to complete the sentence.
IDIOMS
Idioms



An idiom is an expression in which the words have
developed a special meaning in relation to each
other. This meaning is destroyed if some part of the
related group of words is omitted, or if some word
not commonly a part of the idiom is introduced.
For instance, we are angry with a person…not
angry at him.
We comply with a request, not comply to a request.
Idioms

The list below illustrates the usage of prepositions in
some idiomatic expressions.
agree with a person
agree to a proposal
agree on a plan of action
aim at a target
aim for perfection
part with a thing
differ from something
differ with someone
overrun by a tank
overrun with ants
wait for a person
part from a person
Idioms

Idiom questions can be challenging because they
don't conform to specific rules. You have to rely on
your knowledge of specific phrases and standard
English conventions to answer these questions
correctly.
Idioms

Check out this example sentence with a
prepositional idiom error:
 Incorrect:
After getting suspended, Herbert decided to
focus at improving his behavior.
 Correct: After getting suspended, Herbert decided to
focus on improving his behavior.

There is no rule to learn to help identify this error,
but the correct expression is “focus on.”
Idioms
VERB TENSE
CONSISTENCY OF VERB TENSE
PAST PERFECT TENSE
Consistency of Verb Tense

The general rule regarding verb consistency is
that verbs should remain consistent in tense or
form throughout a sentence. Here’s an example of
a consistency error:
 Last
week, Frank rented a car and drives to Las Vegas.
Consistency of Verb Tense

Also, on the SAT, the verb tenses of surrounding
sentences can provide context clues for the proper
tense to use in a given sentence to maintain
consistency. Here’s another example of a
consistency error:
 Trenton
quiet.
lives in a rural area. He enjoyed the peace and
Consistency of Verb Tense?
Write the corrected sentences in your
notes.
The leprechaun walked to school,
and on the way he drops his pot
o’ gold.
Write the corrected sentences in your
notes.
The concert finally ended, but all
the taxis are busy.
Write the corrected sentences in your
notes.
The rhino has some good points,
but he also had some tough skin.
Write the corrected sentences in your
notes.
The man tries to rescue the
hamster, but he was not
successful.
Past Perfect Tense



The past perfect tense always uses the helping verb
had with the main verb. This tense is used to indicate
a time that precedes another time mentioned in the
sentence.
EX—I had seen the movie before I saw Janet at the
store.
The action of seeing the movie occurred before the
action of seeing Janet. The first action to happen
requires past perfect tense. The last action to
happen requires past tense. Using these two tenses
keeps the time reference clear in written English.
Write the corrected sentences in your
notes.
Until last Friday, we thought we
lost the unicorn.
Write the corrected sentences in
your notes.
By the time Matilda left, Bruce
ate the entire cake.
Write the corrected sentences in
your notes.
David probably saw the error
long before he corrected it.
Write the corrected sentences in
your notes.
After finding her absent, I knew
that she went to the Beyonce
concert with Devlin.
SUBJECT FOLLOWED BY PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
SUBJECT FOLLOWING THE EXPLETIVE THERE
SUBJECT AFTER VERB
COMPOUND SUBJECTS JOINED BY OR OR NOR
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
Subject-Verb Agreement

Subjects and verbs must agree, meaning that you
must use the singular form of a verb with a singular
subject and the plural form of a verb with a plural
subject. Here’s an example:
 Incorrect:
High school students loves learning grammar
rules.
 Correct: High school students love learning grammar
rules.
Subject-Verb Agreement

Common errors occur
 with
a simple subject followed by a prepositional
phrase
 with a subject following the expletive there
 with the subject following the verb
 with a compound subject whose parts are joined by or
or nor
Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-Verb Agreement


Subject followed by prepositional phrase
Common prepositions – of, with, at, on, for, to,
between, beneath, below, above, along, against
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject following a prepositional phrase
One of the boats are sinking.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject following a prepositional phrase
The man with two platypi are
walking down the street.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject following a prepositional phrase
The two girls in the gym is
going to be in my class.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject following a prepositional phrase
The boys in my science class
tries daily to blow things up.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject following a prepositional phrase
One of the pictures of the
centaur are lost.
Subject-Verb Agreement



Deciding whether or not the verb agrees with the
subject is sometimes difficult because of the nature
and placement of the subject.
Incorrect: There is always two men on guard at this
post.
Correct: There are always two men on guard at this
post.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject following the expletive there
There goes the three moose of
the mountain.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject following the expletive there
There were never a harder
decision to make.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject following the expletive there
There was only two pirates at
the door to greet us.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject following the expletive there
There seem to be a strong odor
in the room.
Subject-Verb Agreement

The third type of error deals with the placement of
the subject after the verb.
 Example:
Down the road in a bright red car came the
two girls.


Incorrect: Far away from the rest of the crowd
stands the three men.
Correct: Far away from the rest of the crowd stand
the three men.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject after the verb
Beneath those pictures on the
wall are the artist’s name.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject after the verb
Around the corner from my
house lives the Lord Voledmort.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject after the verb
As high as 20% of SAT
Grammar choices will require
no change
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject after the verb
Under the beds in his room
were the dragon.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Subject after the verb
Without his hat or his coat
stand the detective.
Subject-Verb Agreement


When a compound subject is joined by or or nor, we
look at the part of the subject that sits closest to
the verb to determine singular or plural.
Example: Neither the girl nor the two boys want to
go eat breakfast.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Compound subjects joined by or or nor
Either Jane or Sally (seem,
seems) to be weirder than
usual.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Compound subjects joined by or or nor
The lantern or the street lights
on the road (is, are) shining
brightly.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Compound subjects joined by or or nor
The cyborg on the roof or the
cow in the pasture (was, were)
singing.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Compound subjects joined by or or nor
Either Sam or the girls in the
green car (ask, asks) a lot of
questions.
PRONOUN ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT
PRONOUN AS A COMPOUND ELEMENT
AMBIGUOUS REFERENCE
WHO VS. WHICH
SHIFT IN PERSON
PRONOUN USAGE
Pronoun Antecedent Agreement

A pronoun is a word that substitutes for a noun. The noun
that the pronoun replaces or to which it refers is called the
antecedent. Look at the sentence below.
Mary went home because she was not feeling well.

In the sentence, the pronoun she is a substitute for the noun
Mary. Mary is the antecedent of she. The antecedent of a
pronoun is merely the word to which to pronoun refers.
The pronoun and its antecedent must agree in number
(singular antecedent = singular pronoun; plural = plural)
Pronouns Must Agree With Their
Antecedents in Number

This rule means that a plural pronoun must refer to
a plural noun and a singular pronoun must refer
to a singular noun. Here's an example of a
pronoun number agreement error:
 Kristin

sold their car.
The pronoun “their” is referring to the car of Kristin.
Because Kristin is one person and “their” is a plural
pronoun, this sentence has a pronoun agreement
error. This is the corrected version:
 Kristin
sold her car.
Pronoun Antecedent Agreement…
Incorrect:
Correct:

If someone calls, tell them I left early.
If someone calls, tell him I left early.
The word someone is actually singular. Any pronoun
referring to that word must also be singular. The pronoun
them is plural so it does not agree with the antecedent
someone.

Correct these sentences in your notes.
Pronoun Antecedent Agreement
1.
2.
3.
4.
We wanted each of the men to do their share of the
work.
Everyone should bring their books when they come to
class.
Neither Dorothy nor Janice had washed their face.
Each softball player must put their own clothes in the
locker.
Pronoun as a Compound Element

When pronouns are used as part of a compound element,
students really get confused.
Tom and Sally went to the movies. Tom went to the movies. Sally went to the movies.
Tom and she went to the movies. Tom went to the movies. She went to the movies.
He and Sally went to the movies. He went to the movies. Sally went to the movies.
He and she went to the movies. He went to the movies. She went to the movies.

If you will break the sentence apart and read it twice, once for each
word in the compound element, you will realize the correct answer.
Dad gave Tom and Sally the gifts. Dad gave Tom the gifts. Dad gave Sally the gifts.
Dad gave him and Sally the gifts. Dad gave him the gifts. Dad gave Sally the gifts.
Dad gave Tom and her the gifts. Dad gave Tom the gifts. Dad gave her the gifts.
Dad gave him and her the gifts. Dad gave him the gifts. Dad gave her the gifts.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Pronoun as a Compound Element
1.
2.
3.
4.
Betty went to the store for Susan and (I, me).
You and (he, him) can continue reading later.
Janet and (I, me) read the book.
The manager gave the book to Don and (she, her).
Let’s practice some more together…
Pronoun as a Compound Element
1.
2.
3.
4.
David told Jerry and (I, me) that block printing began
in China.
If Gerry and (she, her) had waited, the park would
have opened.
The movie surprised Darlene and (he, him).
The movie surprised Darlene and (I, me).
Ambiguous Pronoun Reference

The third area of pronoun usage concerns the ambiguous
reference of pronouns. Earlier we saw that all pronouns
must have an antecedent. When that antecedent is not
clear, we have an ambiguous reference problem.
Incorrect:
They say in that magazine that scores
have dropped rapidly.
Correct:
In that magazine, an authority states
that scores have dropped rapidly.
In the incorrect version, the pronoun they is vaguely
referring to someone, but we have no clear picture of
who it is. If the antecedent is not clear, you can’t use the
pronoun.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Ambiguous Pronoun Reference
1.
2.
3.
The manager told her secretary that she must pay the
filing fee.
Bobby bought ice cream for John and his sister.
It surprised me when you came home.
*Who vs. Which


The pronoun who refers to people. Which refers to
things. That’s all there is to it.
Note: animals are considered things in written English.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Who vs. Which
1.
2.
3.
4.
He sat in a chair (who, which) was painted red.
The students (who, which) ride the bus are too noisy.
This is the newspaper (who, which) won the award.
We saw a dog (who, which) looked dangerous.
Shift in person

The last kind of problem regarding pronoun usage is the
problem of shifting person in the sentence.
1st person
I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours
2nd person
3rd person
you, your, yours
he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its, they,
them, their, theirs
The rule in standard written English is that you may not shift
from one person to another within the sentence.
Incorrect:
I think I will be fine, but you have to be
prepared for the unexpected.
Correct:
I think I will be fine, but I have to be
prepared for the unexpected.
Correct these sentences in your notes.
Shift in person
1.
2.
3.
If you intend to go to college, one should try to do
well in high school.
One should be nice to others if you expect kindness in
return.
I tried to fill the order, but one can only do so much.
PASSIVE VOICE
Mrs. Nichols
English II Pre-AP
Passive/Active Voice
In formal, standard written English, the active voice
is preferred to the passive voice.
 Active voice occurs when the subject of the sentence
performs the action.
 Passive voice occurs when the subject receives the
action.
Active voice:
Tom hit the ball.
Passive voice:
The ball was hit by Tom.

PARALLELISM
Mrs. Nichols
English II Pre-AP
Parallelism

Maintaining parallel structure in sentences is about
consistency. If a sentence begins with one
construction and suddenly shifts to another, it is
lacking in parallel structure.
Incorrect:
Correct:
Correct:
He likes hiking, boating, and to run.
He likes hiking, boating, and running.
He likes to hike, to boat, and to run.
Rewrite the sentences, correcting the underlined portions
so that the sentences are parallel.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Tell me his name and where he lives.
He is tall, red-headed, and has freckles.
I decided to go home, to get my gear, and later I
went fishing.
We danced all night, laughed all day, and during
the morning all we did was cry.
COMMAS
SEMICOLONS
COLONS
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Surround Non-Restrictive Clauses
and Appositives With Commas


The SAT tests a number of comma rules, and these
are two that you need to know.
Relative Clauses: Restrictive vs. Non-Restrictive
 Relative
clauses are dependent clauses that describe a
noun and start with a relative pronoun or adverb like
“who,” “that,” “which,” or “where.” The basic rule is
that restrictive clauses shouldn’t be surrounded by
commas and non-restrictive clauses should be.

What’s a Restrictive Clause?
 Restrictive
clauses are necessary to the meaning of the
sentence. You can’t take a restrictive clause out of a
sentence without effectively changing the meaning
of the sentence. Here’s an example:
 Students

who read regularly are prepared for the SAT.
If you remove the clause “who read regularly,” the
meaning of the sentence would be substantially
changed. You’d be left with “Students are prepared
for the SAT.” Because you can’t remove the clause
without changing the meaning of the sentence, this
clause shouldn’t be surrounded by commas.

What’s a Non-Restrictive Clause?
A
non-restrictive clause isn't essential to the meaning
of the sentence. If you got rid of the clause, you'd have
less information, but the overall meaning of the
sentence would remain the same.
 Here's an example sentence with the non-restrictive
clause underlined.
 Joe’s
parents, who constantly call him, are very
overprotective.

The clause “who constantly call him” adds more
information about Joe’s parents, but if it were
removed, the meaning of the sentence would be the
same. There would be less information about Joe’s
parents, but they would still be described as
overprotective. This is what the sentence looks like
after removing the non-restrictive clause:

Joe’s parents are very overprotective

What Is an Appositive?
 An
appositive is a descriptive phrase that doesn't
include a verb. Similar to a non-restrictive clause, an
appositive can be removed without changing the
meaning of the sentence. Here's an example with the
appositive underlined:Val, a Wisconsin native, loves
fried cheese curds.

If we get rid of the appositive, the sentence still has
the same meaning:
 Val
loves fried cheese curds.
Commas Can't Separate Two
Complete Thoughts

A comma splice is when two independent clauses,
or complete thoughts, are separated by a comma,
and comma splices create a grammatical error
known as a run-on sentence. A run-on sentence
occurs when two or more independent clauses aren't
separated by the correct punctuation. Here’s an
example of a comma splice:
 Ken

likes Selena Gomez, she is his favorite singer.
The clauses before and after the comma are
complete thoughts that could stand alone as
sentences.

There are a few ways to correct a comma splice.
You can put a conjunction after the comma:
 Ken

Also, you can put a relative pronoun after the
comma:
 Ken

likes Selena Gomez, and she is his favorite singer.
likes Selena Gomez, who is his favorite singer.
Finally, you can use a semicolon to correctly
separate two complete thoughts:
 Ken
likes Selena Gomez; she is his favorite singer.
Semicolons Separate Two
Complete Thoughts


Semicolons function like periods; they separate
two independent clauses.
On the SAT, you may find a randomly placed
semicolon, or you may need to replace a comma
with a semicolon to fix a comma splice.

Here are example sentences with semicolons used
correctly and incorrectly:
 Incorrect:
Because Teresa wanted to please her family;
she became a doctor.
 Correct: Teresa wanted to please her family; she
became a doctor.

The second sentence is correct because the clauses
on both sides of the semicolon are independent and
could stand alone as sentences.
A Colon Must Come After an
Independent Clause

Colons are usually used to introduce lists or
explanations. The key rule for colons is that they
must come after a complete sentence. If you end
the sentence where the colon is placed, the sentence
should make sense and be a complete thought.
 Incorrect:
Meena enjoys multiple genres of music like:
alternative, rap, heavy metal, and country.
 Correct: Meena enjoys multiple genres of music:
alternative, rap, heavy metal, and country.

The first sentence is incorrect because the part of
the sentence that comes before the colon isn’t a
Modifiers Must Be Next to What
They're Modifying

Modifiers must be next to what they’re
modifying. The most common type of modifier error
on the SAT is a dangling modifier.