SAT Grammar Rules

What is a subject?

• the thing performing the action

• not just the word in front of the verb

• if there is an “of” in between two nouns (person, place or thing) the subject is the noun before the of

• the noun before the of in the subject

subject verb agreement

• the subject and verb have to match

• is the subject is plural than the verb has to be plural

• is = singular

• are = plural

• pick what sounds right

Pronoun - antecedent agreement

• similar to spanish (mi amigo y yo = nosotros)

• plural noun = them

• singular = it

Plurals and Possessives

• first decide whether the noun is singular or plural on its own (don’t worry about possession)

• if a noun is plural on its own keep the s, no need for an apostrophe (not showing possession)

• plural nouns showing possession —> s’

What is a modifier?

• a word or phrase that describes something

• ex. a FAST dog

Subject - Modifier Placement

• the modifier (adjective) has to be next to the subject

• makes the sentence clear

Subject - Modifier Agreement example

Spewing greasy black smoke, Tom brought the car to a halt.

modifier= spewing greasy black smoke

subject = car (the car is spewing smoke, not Tom)

• focus on the meaning the sentence is trying to convey and adjust the sentence to best achieve that meaning

independent clause

• a sentence that stands on its own

• needs a subject and a verb

• ex. Tom went to the store

Dependent clauses

• can’t stand alone (doesn’t make sense)

• has to be linked to an independent clause (through punctuation)

What can link two independent clauses?

FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

• comma comes BEFORE the fanboys

• or a semicolon

How do you link an independent with a dependent clause?

• using a conjunction

• ex, although, since, because, when, after

• if the dependent clause is second you don’t need a comma

How do you link a dependent clause with an independent clause?

• just linked by a comma

example

Colon and Dash rules

• used to introduce lists and explanations

• mean the same thing

• the sentence before the colon or dash needs to be a complete sentence

• the following sentence can be complete or a fragment