SAT Grammar Rules and Tips

SAT Section 2: Writing and Language

What are the SAT Sections?

1. Reading
2. Writing and Language (aka the SAT grammar section)
3. Math (no calculator)
4. Math (calculator allowed)
5. Writing/Essay ( ⚠️OPTIONAL ⚠️)

Logistics and Content of the Section

• 💼 Careers: These are about major jobs and their descriptions, trends, and problems.
• 👩🏽‍⚖️ History/Social Studies: These deal with matters in social studies, such as history, psychology, geography, economics, law, linguistics, etc. Both this passage and the science passage deal with studies and news in the field.
• 🧪 Science: These deal with matters in fields in science in fields of computer science, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and earth science.
• 📖 Humanities: These deal with the matters in English and the arts.

• 🗯️ Argument: These passages have a clear claim and try to support that claim.
• 🗣️ Narrative: These passages tell a story in the traditional beginning, middle, and end structure. These will be nonfiction, about a real event.
• 👨🏿‍🏫 Informative/Explanatory: These passages try to describe a topic to the reader.

SAT Grammar Question Types

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• Expression Of Ideas 💬
• Standard English Conventions ✒️

Expression of Ideas

Development

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• Answer: The answer is A, because C and D do not make sense in the context of the sentence in question, and the sentence is more of a clarification than a transition, which eliminates B as well.

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• Answer: The excerpt is about the productivity of workers, especially in the sentences surrounding the part in question. The only answer choice that continues this reasoning is B.

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• Answer: The paragraph is about the features of coworking spaces, while the sentence is about starting a coworking business, which does not match the focus, which is C.

1. What is the main claim/purpose of the passage?
2. What is the main claim/purpose of the paragraph section?
3. What is the segment in question trying to say? Does it make sense?
4. How does this fit in the larger picture?

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• Answer: On the graph, it says that the lowest is at 12 degrees Fahrenheit and is only a dip, which matches B.

1. What is this chart saying?
2. Does this answer choice match what the graph shows? If yes, then this may be your correct answer. If there are multiple, then answer this third question:
3. Does the answer choice support what the passage is trying to say?

Organization

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• Answer: The sentence in question belongs before the narrator has come to the facility, but after plans have been made, which is between sentences 2 and 3, option C.

1. What is the excerpt in question trying to say?
2. Why doesn't this fit where it currently is?
3. Where is there a possible gap in information? Does this excerpt fit here?

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• Answer: There is not enough info in the screenshot to give an answer.

1. How are the parts before and after the word in question related?
2. Which word in the following table feels like it fits the best?

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Effective Language Use

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• Answer: When comparing advantages and disadvantages, the word that is most commonly used is outweigh, option D.

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• Answer: For this question, see the shortest one that is grammatically correct because all the choices have the same meaning. The shortest one is D, which is also grammatically correct.

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• Answer: This passage has a formal tone, which corresponds to option C, while the rest of the options are more informal.

Table of Tone Words

Table Courtesy of https://dickesryan.wordpress.com/la/tone/

1. What is this trying to say? What is the style of the text? (informative, judgmental, etc.)
2. Is this the simplest way that it can be expressed?
3. Does this change or deviate from the intended meaning of the text?

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• Answer: D is a run on, while the others are grammatically correct, but A answers it in the most concise way.

Table of Sentence/Phrase Connectors/Separators

SAT Grammar Rules

Sentence Structure

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• Answer: All these verbs are present participle forms ending in -ing without a subject in that "list item," and D continues this pattern.

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• Answer: The tense is supposed to be present and plural for agreement and to match the rest of the sentence, which matches B.

Conventions of Usage

Pronoun Possessives and Commonly Mistaken Words

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• Answer: We want to use the possessive plural pronoun form as we are talking about "snow and ice," which is their, D.

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• Answer: We are talking about the internet, so the correct term is site as in websites, so the correct answer is B.

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• Answer: The things being compared are the types of crops and not the buyers or the act of buying them, which leaves removing the underlined portion, or D, to be the correct answer.

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• Answer: The common expression is that an item "serves as" when we talk about purpose, which is B.

⁉Conventions of Punctuation

End of Sentence Punctuation

Within-Sentence Punctuation

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• Answer: This is splitting up a main clause and a parenthetical/supporting phrase so we need a comma after equipment; however, when introducing a list with "such as," we do not use punctuation after it, thus A is correct.

• Examples of possessive pronouns: your, their, its
• Examples of pronoun contractions: you're, they're, it's
• Examples of possessive nouns: house's, ball's, star's
• Examples of plural nouns: houses, balls, stars

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• Answer: The only punctuation we need is a comma before and, option C.

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• Answer: The part from "an" to "State" is a nonrestrictive element, so we separate them with the same punctuation, in this case, commas, which is option C.

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• Answer: There is no punctuation needed between suggests and that, so D is the correct answer.

General Strategy

1. Read it Loudly (in Your Head, of Course)

2. Mark and Annotate!

3. Use Process of Elimination

SAT Grammar Practice

1. Imagine a computer in 1. subzero temperatures, being controlled primarily by lasers. That's what researchers at the McMahon Lab at Cornell are studying. Quantum information science is a fascinating new area of computer science with so many possible areas of exploration.
2. At the McMahon Lab, there are many areas of research, ranging from finding more effective ways to make these computers 2. to finding applications. These applications include finding solutions to complex math problems that are currently unsolvable. 3. Unsolvable math problems are a big pain for students studying math. Unlocking answers to these different areas would mean much more efficient computing and a change in our way of life as current information security systems are now 4. trash.
3. Outside of the McMahon Lab, other companies are also trying to harness the power of quantum computing as well, IBM Google, Intel and Rigetti. Quantum computers have 5. increased over 2 times in power in 2019 compared to the first ones in 1998. The main goal of these companies is to search for 6. quantum supremacy — where a quantum computer can do a task impossible by current computers, creating a race between these companies to be a first.
4. In this lab, undergraduate students also have the opportunity to learned 7. allot about how quantum computers work, with each student being able to join their own group. They will be working with current graduate students who will teach the necessary physics and computing skills needed for this research. 8. These students will gain skills which will be transferable to jobs and also graduate school through this research. 9.
5. After quantum supremacy, the next step is to improve these devices. Quantum computers are currently very costly because of the specialized conditions that they have to be stored in, including being in temperatures near absolute zero. Moreover, 10. their materials are rarely found and must be fabricated by a high cost. This is a job done by physicists and material science engineers who are harnessing the power of different alloys and materials using their known properties.
6. 11. With all these people in different roles, so many important discoveries can be made in different areas with some working to improve present quantum computing technologies and others working on future alternatives. With all their work, who knows? Perhaps, you could be one of the first to have the first quantum computers for everyday people in five to ten years!

Solutions and Strategies

1. B—This is a within-sentence punctuation and unnecessary punctuation question. Here we do not need the comma as it breaks the flow of the passage.
2. D—This is a syntax question. Choice A creates a comma splice, while choices B and C are redundant and wordy, leaving choice D as the correct answer.
3. D—This is a focus question. The sentence should be removed because the focus of the paragraph is on applications and benefits of the research. The sentence is unrelated to this focus.
4. D—This is a style and tone question. The tone in this passage is a more serious, informational tone, while the other three choices are more informal.
5. C—This is a quantitative information question. In 1998, the number of qubits was only 2, while in 2019, it was 128, which is a 64-fold increase, which is over 60 times.
6. B—This is a nonrestrictive and parenthetical elements question. For A and C, the starting and ending punctuation are inconsistent, while D creates a run-on.
7. D—This is a frequently confused words question with the words in question being "allot" and "a lot." The word we want to use here is for a large quantity, which corresponds to the latter.
8. B—This is a pronoun clarity question where the correct subject are the undergraduate students. The other choices are vague or misidentifies the subject.
9. A—This is a logical sequence question. The paragraph in question continues to talk about the research group and placing it where it currently is will break the flow and cause confusion.
10. A—This is a possessive determiners question where the determiners in question are "they're, their, and there." We want to show possession, so their is the correct term.
11. C—This is an introductions, conclusions, and transitions questions. Here, there needs to be a transition in order for the passage to flow properly. B and D have a compare-and-contrast purpose, which is improper to introduce the conclusion. Thus, C is the remaining and correct answer.

TL;DR