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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
Eliminate prepositional phrases (extra unnecesarry info)
Eliminate interrupters (extra info that tries to deceive)
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
What is the question looking for
Read the choices
Select the one that fits best what is being looked for
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
Read the goal of the question
Read paragraph to identify goal
Skim the figure for key info
Eliminate factually incorrect options
Eliminate options that don’t provide effective evidence