Writing SAT Exam

Subject verb agreement

Subject and verb must agree with the verb in number - singular verbs = singular subjects / plural verbs = plural subjects

Steps to identify the subject in a sentence

1. Eliminate prepositional phrases (extra unnecesarry info)

2. Eliminate interrupters (extra info that tries to deceive)

3. Invert the sentence if needed, verb comes before subject

Rules for indentifying singular and plural subjects

• Compound subjects: when connected with “and” the subject is plural, requiring the verbs to also be plural

• Tricky singulars: words that sound plural or are misunderstood as plural words

Examples of tricky singulars

• Neither

• Either

• Everyone

• Someone

• Somebody

• Anybody

• Anything

• Each

• Anyone

• No one

• Everything

• Little

• Much

Gerund

• When a verb that ends in -ING acts as a noun

• Gerunds can act as subjects; the verb should be conjugated as a singular

Collective nouns

• Singular nouns that refer to groups of people or things

• Collective nouns should always conjugate verbs as singular

Simple tense

Discussing something that happened yesterday, now, or will happen tomorrow

Progressive tense

Something was/is/will be happening over a duration of time or while something else is hapenning

Perfect tense

Describes actions taking place over a period of time in relation to other occurences

Present perfect

When an activity is recently completed or when an activity started in the past but is ongoing

Past perfect

Activities that happeneed before a specific time/actionin the past

Use of “would”

Will be used in sentences of the past tense:

• Talk about past habits

• Talk about the future in the past

• Hypotheticals

Pointers for verbs & tenses questions

• Look for contextual clues

• Look at surrounding verbs’ tense

Modifier

A word or phrase that describes or ellaborated on a sentence or part of a sentence

Types of modifier errors

• Misplaced

• Dangling

Misplaced modifier

Modifiers that are separated from the words/phrases they are meant to modify

Dangling modifier

The modifier dangles as whatever it is supposed to modify is missing or ambigous, a comma separates this clause from the rest of the sentence

Parallel lists

When composing a series or verbs do not mix forms, not combining an infivitive (begins with TO-) with a gerund (ends in -ING)

Faulty comparisons

The comparison is not complete or the items that are being compard are in different categories

Error of double comparative / double superlative

A comparative ending in -ER or a superlative ending in -EST is used with words like more, most, less or least

Use of ‘that of’ and ‘those of’

• ‘That of’ = singular comparison

• ‘Those of’ = plural comparisons

Pronoun

Word that refers to a noun and can replace it

Types of pronouns

• Demonstrative

• Indefinite

• Emphatic

• Interrogative

• Personal

• Possessive

• Relative

Agreement in number

A pronoun must match its atecedents in number (if the antecedent is plural/singular the pronoun is plural/singular)

Agreement in gender

A pronoun must match the antecedent in gender

Common mistakes

• Antecedents with conjunctions: when singular antecedents are joined by ‘and’ use plural pronouns

• Common gender singular antecedent: when the gender of a singular noun is unknown, use ‘she/he’

• Missing or ambiguous antecedent: when the noun that a pronoun refers to is missing or unclear, it is necessary to include the specific name of the person, place, or thing that the pronoun refers to

Plural vs Possessive general rule

Add an ‘s’ to the singular noun form (ex: house —> houses)

Plural vs Possessive exceptions to the general rule

For a singular noun ending in s, x, ch, sh, or z add ‘es’ to form the plural (ex: virus —> viruses)

Forming possessives singular nouns

Add apostrophe + -s (ex: James’s)

Forming possessives plural nouns

Add an apostrophe after the -s or -es (ex: attorneys’)

Forming possessives plural nouns that don’t end in -s

Add an apostrophe + -s (ex: children’s)

Sentence

Contains a subject, verb and a complete thought or meaning

Sentence fragment

Part of a sentence that falls short of true setence hood because it is missing one of three critical components

Parts of sentences

• Clauses (independent and dependent)

• Phrases

Independent clause

Clause that can stand independently as a complete sentence (makes sense on its own)

Dependent clause

Clause that can’t stand on its own because it doesn’t form a complete or main idea

Phrases

Group of words that works together in a sentence but does not contain a subject, verb or complete idea

Types of phrases seen on the SAT

• Prepositional

• Participal

• Pronouns VS Subjects

• Group pronouns

• Pronouns (of them) = sentence

• Pronouns + of whom or of which = fragment

• Conjunctions

Prepositional phrase

Phrase that begin with a preposition, this phrase can be placed in the beggining, middle or end of a sentence based on its function

Participal phrases

Phrase that begins with a participle (present participke -ing form of verb or past participle -ed or ‘n’ form of verb

THEY ARE PLACED IN BETWEEN COMMAS

Pronouns as subjects

Pronouns are used in the place of a noun and can act as the subject of a sentence

Group pronouns

Group pronouns (ex: some, several, few, many, etc) can be used to begin sentences by creating an independent or a dependent clause

Pronouns (of them) = sentence

The pronoun replaces the noun and acts as a subject when it is followed by the phrase '“of them”

Types of conjunctions

• Coordinating

• Subordinating

Coordinating conjunctions

Complete sentence cannot begin with a ‘FANBOYS’

• For

• And

• Nor

• But

• Or

• Yet

• So

Subordinating conjunction

Cannot stand on its own as a complete sentence hence it is considered dependent

IF AN INDEPENDENT CLAUSE IS ADDED TO THE DEPENDENT CLAUSE IT IS ACCEPTABLE TO A BEGIN A SETENCE WITH A SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION

Ways in which two complete sentences or independent clauses can be joined

• Period

• Semicolon

• Comma + FANBOY

Strong transitions

When one of the following words is seen, a comma or a semi-colon needs to be used

• However

• Therefore

• Thus

• Consequently

• Moreover

• Nevertheless

Comma + FANBOY

Can join two independent clauses

THE FANBOY CAN’T BE USED AFTER A SEMICOLON OR PERIOD

Turning independent clauses into dependent

To join two independent clauses by turning one of the independent clauses into a dependent one

IF THE DEPENDENT CLAUSE IS AT THE BEGINNING IT WILL TAKE A COMMA AFTERWARDS

Joining sentences with phrases

Two independent clauses can be joined by turning one of them into a phrase

Errors seen:

• Comma splice: when two independent clauses are incorrectly connected by a comma alone

• Run-on: two or more independent clauses are joined together without punctuation or without a comma before the FANBOYS

Uses for commas

• Separate items on a list (Oxford comma)

• Complex lists: lists that contain internal commas or long items, semicolon is used to separate the elements

• Separate adjectives whose order can be reversed: when order of the adjectives is unimportant a comma is put between the two

• After a close parenthesis: commas should not be used before parenthesis

• After introductory words or phrases

Commas should not be used before

• Before or after prepositions: exception when a preposition is used to begin a non-essential clause

• Between adjectives and nouns

• Before of after “that”

• Between subjects and verbs

• Between compound nouns, verbs and adjectives that are joined by the word “and”

• Before or after “self” words (ex: himself)

When are colons used

• Introduce a list

• Give an explanation

• Introduce a noun or a noun phrase

Colon for independent clauses

When the second sentence summarizes, clarifies or explains the previous sentence you use a colon to separate the two sentences

When is a dash used

• Introduce a list

• Give an explanation

• Introduce a noun or a noun phrase

Non-essential clauses: 2 dashes = 2 commas

Pair of dashes can substitute a pair of commas to separate non-essential clauses or phrases

Dash for a deliberate pause

Dash is used to interrupt a sentence or to create a dramatic pause

Dont use a colon or a dash after the words

• Are

• Such

• As

• Like

• Including

Essential clauses

Clauses that provide important meaning to the sentence and are essential to the meaning

Non-essential clauses

Clauses that include information that is not important to the meaning, they are always surrounded by commas

“That” clauses

Essential

“Which” clauses

Non-essential

“Who” clauses

Depends

Commas with names and titles

• Name before title/ description = non-essential

• Title/description before name = could be essential or non-essential (when there is only one= non-essential / when it is one of many= essential)

Types of transition words

• Continuers (agreement, addition, similarity)

• Contradicters (opposition, limitation, contradiction)

• Cause and effect (effect, consequence, result)

Double transitions

To show connection between two sentences or clauses only ONE transition should be used

Structure of the rethorical synthesis question

• Introduction

• Series of bulleted facts

• Question prompt stating a clear goal

• Four choices

Approach for rethorical synthesis question

1. What is the question looking for

2. Read the choices

3. Select the one that fits best what is being looked for

4. Read the bulleted notes if unsure of which is the answer

Components of a command of evidence question

• A figure

• A prompt text

• A question

Approach to solve command evidence questions

1. Read the goal of the question

2. Read paragraph to identify goal

3. Skim the figure for key info

4. Eliminate factually incorrect options

5. Eliminate options that don’t provide effective evidence