SAT Grammer Rules

Independent Clauses

clauses that can stand on their own/complete thought

Dependent Clauses

Clauses that need more information/incomplete thought

Commas connect:

2 independent clauses with FANBOYS - an independent and dependent clause - separating items into a list.

Semicolons:

join independent clauses

Colons:

must come after an independent clause

What do semicolons equal?

semicolons = periods = commas + FANBOYS

When “such as“ phrase is non-essential/ follows independent clause:

common separates independent clause and such as (I love Italian food, such as pizza.)

When “such as“ phrase is essential/ follows dependent clause

Common is not needed (Sports such as boxing and rugby are dangerous.), but can also be placed both before “such as“ and after rugby (sports, such as boxing and rugby, are dangerous.)

Difference between colon and semicolon with lists

Colon introduces lists; semicolon further separates lists (Ex: The expedition had three goals: explore; seize land; and find gold )

semicolon and comma list rules:

Semicolon is used to further separate list to mitigate confusion (I visited Paris, France; London, England; and Rome, Italy)

Subject modifier placement

a modifier (word or phrase to describe a noun) and its subject (noun that’s being described) must be next to one another