SAT Grammar Vocabulary Study Sheet

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key grammar terms, definitions, punctuation rules, and sentence structure concepts from the SAT study sheet.

Subject

Who or what the clause is about.

Verb

An action or state of being.

Object

Receives an action or follows a preposition.

Clause

A group containing a subject and a verb.

Independent clause (IC)

A clause that can stand alone.

Dependent clause (DC)

A clause that cannot stand alone.

Phrase

A word group without its own complete subject-verb structure.

Modifier

A word group that describes something.

Antecedent

The noun a pronoun refers to.

Appositive

A noun phrase that renames another noun.

Semicolon

Punctuation used to separate independent clauses without a conjunction, or complicated list items that already contain commas.

Colon

Punctuation used to introduce an example, a list, an explanation, or an identification; requires a complete sentence before it.

FANBOYS

The coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so, used with a comma to join two independent clauses.

Comma splice

An error where two independent clauses are joined with only a comma.

Coordinate adjectives

Adjectives that independently describe a noun and take commas between them.

Cumulative adjectives

Adjectives that build together to describe a noun and usually do not take commas.

Essential information

Information that identifies which person or thing you mean, not enclosed in commas.

Nonessential information

Side details added to a sentence that require matching punctuation around the interruption.

Dangling modifier

An introductory descriptive phrase that fails to logically describe the subject that immediately follows it.

Misplaced modifier

A modifier placed in a sentence such that it modifies an unintended word or creates an unclear description.

Subject-verb agreement

Matching the verb to the actual subject in number, rather than to the nearest noun.

Singular they

An established English usage for a pronoun referring to a single person.

Active voice

Sentence structure in which the subject performs the action.

Passive voice

Sentence structure in which the subject receives the action.

Infinitive

A verb form consisting of 'to' plus the base form of the verb.

Gerund

An -ing verb form used as a noun.

Participle

An -ing verb form used descriptively or with a helping verb.

Parallel structure

A requirement that items with equal jobs in a sentence use matching grammatical forms.

Direct question

A question that directly asks something and ends with a question mark.

Indirect question

A statement that reports a question inside itself without inverted question word order or a question mark.

Concision

Removing unnecessary repetition only when meaning and correctness remain intact.