PSAT Grammar Tips

Tense

Make sure all verbs agree with each other...

e.g. "No matter where they come from or what their cultural values were, virtually all immigrants to the United States find America a nation of great opportunity and freedom." Obviously you would change "were" to "are" in order to agree with the verbs "come" and "find."

Dangling Participles & Misplaced Modifiers

These sentences begin with a long string of words followed by a comma and typically appear like the following question,

"Having no additional funds to spend, the meeting of the budget committee was promptly concluded."

(A) the meeting of the budget committee was promptly concluded

(B) the meeting of the budget committee concluded promptly

(C) the conclusion of the budget meeting was prompt

(D) the budget committee promptly concluded its meeting

(E) the budget committee's meeting was promptly concluded

The question tries to trick you into thinking "meeting" is the subject after the verb, but in reality, "the budget committee " is and thus, (D) is the correct answer. Ask yourself "Is the person, place, or object listed after the comma the true subject of the sentence? It should be.

Faulty Comparisons

Within a sentence, objects/peoples/places can only be compared if they are of the same type. Such as in,

"Unlike flying squirrels, which may leave their young in a tree cavity while foraging, the babies of flying lemurs are usually carried with them.

(A) the babies of flying lemurs are usually carried

(B) the flying lemur's babies are usually carried

(C) the flying lemur is usually carrying its babies

(D) flying lemurs usually carry their babies

(E) flying lemurs' babies are usually carried

The correct answer choice is obviously D, since you cannot compare flying squirrels with the BABIES of flying lemurs. Choice D allows for like things to be compared.

Pronoun Clarity

Pronouns can't always be used in place of nouns, because the pronoun within a sentence may be too ambiguous.

PSAT example:

Internet companies have discovered many advantages in collaborating with them, whether the companies do so directly or indirectly.

"them" has no antecedent, and thus that's where the error resides within this sentence.

Pronoun Agreement

The PSAT loves using subjects like "the high school," "the choir," and "the nation" because students associated these nouns with many people, and therefore think of them as plural. Remember, though: no matter how many hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people live in a country, a university, or a city, each of these subjects is SINGULAR and requires the SINGULAR pronoun, "it!"

Make sure you also keep an eye out for words such as "Either," "Neither," "Each," "Anybody," "No One," "Everyone," "Everybody," "Everything," and "Nothing." Each of these words is always SINGULAR!

PSAT Example:

After months of pressure by the United States, the Russian government has finally agreed to help their poorest citizens by engaging in humanitarian efforts and implementing domestic reform.

"their" would need to be changed to "its"

Pronoun Consistency

Once you begin using a pronoun, all pronouns referring to the same subject, must be consistent with one another.

PSAT example:

If one is to challenge the authority of a teacher, he should first think about the consequences such an action could bring.

The mistake would be "he," which should change to "one" in order to remain consistent with the "one" after "If."

Parallel Structure

Properly written sentences should have a nice, smooth flow. Parallel structure is most often seen in lists. "She was incredibly beautiful, kind, and smart." Because of parallel structure, all items in that list must be adjectives. You could not put, "She was incredibly beautiful, runs, and an architect."

PSAT Example:

An exceptionally talented and versatile author, Denise has been a novelist, playwright, and written many essays.

The mistake would be "written many essays" which would ruin the parallel structure of the list. A more correct sentence insertion would be "writer of essays."

If a sentence lists objects, the items listed must all be nouns, adjectives, or verbs. The sample sentence cannot list two nouns (novelist, playwright), and then suddenly switch to the past tense verb "written many essays" for the third and final item.

Adverbs

Adverb errors are quite simple, but unfortunate(ly) easy to miss. Many students auto-correct them as they read the sentence. Every time you see an adjective such as rapid, serene, frequent, constant, and gradual underlined in an PSAT grammar question test whether it should be an adverb by appending -ly onto the adjective's end. Also watch out for trickier adverb questions that require changing an adverb into an adjective.

PSAT Example:

The jurors, eight men and three women, all between the ages of forty and sixty, listened intent as the prosecutor put forth his closing argument.

The error would be "intent" which should be changed to "intently."

Distracting Phrases

One of the PSAT's favorite little tricks is to insert long phrases between a sentence's subject and verb to distract you from subject-verb agreement. Whenever you come across a long distracting phrase in an PSAT grammar question, cross the phrase off. (First, make sure there's no error in the phrase.) Re-read the newly shortened sentence after crossing off the distracting phrase. Chances are, some element will suddenly seem out of place.

PSAT Example:

A newly formed organization of homeowners and business people have met with the transportation department to voice its concerns about plans for a shopping mall in the community.

The mistake is in "have met" since "organization" is singular, and referenced singularly throughout the rest of the sentence, such as in "its."

Either-Or, Neither-Nor, Between-And

Self-explanatory. "Either" goes with "or;" "Neither" goes with "nor;" and "Between" goes with "and."

There's only one teeny, tiny little trick to remember...

When you have a singular and a plural comparison, "Neither the tabloids nor my mother" the subject CLOSEST to the verb, determines its tense, so that sentence becomes "Neither the tabloids, nor my mother HAS broken my spirits."

PSAT Example:

Neither the Captain nor the sailors thinks the fleet of ships is capable of crossing the Atlantic.

"thinks" would be changed to "think" in order to agree with "sailors."

Logical Agreement

Essentially a "singular vs. plural" rule. For instance, you would never say "Many students want to become an astronaut," you would say, "Many students want to become astronauts."

PSAT Example:

Nursing and physical therapy are (an example of health-care fields that) have shortages in staffing.

(A) are an example of health-care fields that

(B) are examples where health-care fields

(C) are examples of health-care fields that

(D) exemplifies a health-care field that

(E) exemplify health care fields where they

The correct answer would be (C).

"Me Want Cake" Rule

Remember when you see a phrase such as "the audience applauded Alex and I," take out the "Alex and" and re-read the sentence. Does "the audience applauded I" sound correct? Also, please remember:

When you come across a phrase such "Between my coach and I" or "Between you and I" the "I" should always be "me." ("Between you and me" or "Between my awesome tutor and me")

PSAT Example:

Impressed with our performances as the play's lead characters, the audience applauded Alex and I as we came out to take a bow.

Obviously, "Alex and I" should be changed to "Alex and me."

More v. Most

You cannot use the word "most" with adjectives that end in "-st." Same with the word "more," you cannot use it with adjectives that end in "-er." "More" or "-er" are used to compare TWO items in a sentence. "Most" or "-st" are used for more than two items in a sentence.

Double Negatives

Generally, you want to avoid double negatives, such as "can't not swim." However, in English, certain phrases such as "not unlike" or "not incorrect" are acceptable, since they express understatement.

Nifty little trick to remember which double negatives are okay? "Not incorrect is not incorrect."

The Yoda Rule

The PSAT writers love mimicking Yoda by using inverted sentence structures--sentence that place the subject AFTER the verb. This makes subject-verb agreement harder to spot. Try rearranging the sentence to check for grammar errors.

PSAT Example:

Available through the school's guidance office is a list of scholarship programs and a directory of colleges that provide financial aid.

The error would be in "is" which is a singular verb, while "scholarship programs and directory of colleges" is plural.

Comma Splices and Sentence Fragments

Make sure the subject has a verb!

PSAT Example:

(Clara Barton, an American nurse, whose influence as a reformer) in the field of health care almost equals Florence Nightingale.

(A) Clara Barton, an American Nurse, whose influence as a reformer

(B) Clara Barton, who was an American nurse and whose influence as a reformer

(C) An American with influence as a nursing reformer, Clara Barton

(D) Clara Barton was an American nurse whose influence as a reformer

(E) An American, Clara Barton, who was a nursing reformer and whose influence

If a small pause is needed between clauses, or if a sentence is listing objects, use a comma to separate the clauses or objects. However, never use commas to separate thoughts that can stand by themselves; use semi-colons, instead. If a sentence features two independent but closely related clauses, you can separate them with either a comma and a conjunction or a semicolon.

PSAT Example:

The Pony Express was an ingenious system for carrying mail, it existed only briefly, however, before the telegraph system made it obsolete.

(A) mail, it existed only briefly, however,

(B) mail, for it was in existence only briefly, however,

(C) mail, but was existing only briefly

(D) mail, having existed only briefly

(E) mail; it existed only briefly, however

The correct answer would be (E).

Avoid The Word "Being" & The Phrases "Being As" And "Being That"

The word being is ONLY correct when the action is going on right now, as in, "Today she is being obstinate."

The Words "This" And "That" Must Be Followed By Nouns & Should Never End Sentences

Right Use of "This/That": "This tree"

Wrong Use of "This/That": "This is how"

Avoid ending sentences with phrases like, "because of that." The words "this" and "that" should never end sentences.

Avoid "Is How" / "Is Why" / "Is When" / "Is Because" / "Is the Reason Why"

This is slang, and therefore, to the folks who grade your PSAT, this is wrong.

The PSAT LOVES The Words "Because" & "Although"

If the two clauses in a sentence are related by cause and effect, use the word "because." If the two clauses are contrasting, use the word "although."

Passive Voice Should be Avoided

Always strive to pick answer choices that are "active voice," i.e. the subject verbs in active voice, and the subject is verbed in passive voice.

Active: He ran 3 miles.

Passive: The mile was ran by him.

Just As...So / Not Only...But Also / At Once...And / No Sooner...Than

These words ALWAYS go together, and rarely (pretty much, NEVER) work alone.

The Words "Reason" & "Because Can't Appear Within the Same Sentence

Also, avoid the phrase "Because of ____ing."

"The reason" should be followed later in the sentence by "that."

Avoid Answers That Are Redundant Or Repetitive

Self-explanatory.