GRAMMAR RULES

11 RULES TO A PERFECT SCORE ON THE WRITING SECTION OF THE SAT

RULE 1: VERB TENSE

CONSISTENCY OF TENSE
The

tense of verbs must remain consistent within the sentence. If the sentence begins in the present tense, it should remain in the present. If it begins in the past tense, it should remain in the past tense.

 Incorrect:

Because she sang so beautifully, she wins the contest.

Correct:

Because she _____ so beautifully, she _____ the contest.

PAST PERFECT TENSE

This

tense is used to indicate a time that precedes another time mentioned in the sentence. The first action to happen requires past perfect tense, which means the helping verb HAD comes before the main verb. The last action to happen requires past tense.

 Until

last Friday, we thought we lost the book.

________ ________

First event: Last action: Rewritten:

 Until

last Friday, we thought we had lost the book.

HISTORICAL PRESENT TENSE

Part

of the sentence may be in the past tense, but another part might be in the present tense if that second part is something that is always true.

 Incorrect:

His research was based on the concept that light traveled faster than sound. His research was based on the concept that light _______ faster than sound.

Correct:

LITERARY PRESENT TENSE

When

discussing literature the accepted convention is to discuss the actions in fiction in terms of present tense.

 Incorrect:

The main character of the story disregarded his fathers wishes.

Correct:

The main character of the story _____ his fathers wishes.

2. Subject-Verb Agreement

Subject followed by a prepositional phrase

When

the subject of the sentence is followed by a prepositional phrase, be sure you do not mistake the object of the preposition for the subject of the sentence.

* A quick word about prepositions

A

prepositional phrase begins with the preposition and ends with the object of the preposition. object of the preposition is the first noun after the preposition.

The

The squirrel ran _____ the fence.

A

few common prepositions:

of for from below since behind with to by above before around at under between along after about on over beneath against beside across

 You

need to eliminate prepositional phrases from a sentence by crossing them out so that they dont get in your way. The subject is never part of the prepositional phrase.

* A quick word about verbs

Singular TIP:

verbs end in s.

If you label a singular subject with an s it helps you remember that the verb must have that s on the end.

* A quick word about subjects

Memorize

the following words they are always singular:

each, either, neither, one, -body, -thing

Practice:

One

of the boats is sinking.

Prepositional phrase: Subject? Singular or plural subject? Verb?

One more practice:

The

boys across the street picks a fight with my little brother every day.

Prepositional phrase? Subject? Singular or plural subject? Verb?

Subject following the expletive THERE

The

word there can NEVER be the subject of the sentence. must eliminate the word there, find the subject and then make sure the subject and verb agree.

You

Practice:
There

is always two men on guard at the

post.

Cross out? Who or what is doing the action in the sentence? Whats the subject? Singular or plural subject? Verb?

Subject after the verb

This

is a difficult sentence construction because you must find the subject in its unusual location. to eliminate prepositional phrases

Remember

to help you.

Tip: I cannot find the subject!

Locate

the verb first and then ask yourself who or what is performing that action.

Practice:
Far

away from the rest of the crowd stands the three men.

Eliminate

what? Whats the verb? Who or what is performing that action? Singular or plural subject? Verb?

Compound subjects joined by or or nor

Look

at the subject that sits closest to the verb and let that subject determine the number.

If

that subject is singular, then the verb must be singular. If that subject is plural, then the verb must be plural.

Practice:
Neither

the girl nor the two boys want to go eat breakfast.

Compound subject? The subject closest to the verb? Singular or plural subject? Verb?

One more practice:

Neither

the two boys nor the girl wants to go eat breakfast.

Compound subject? The subject closest to the verb? Singular or plural subject? Verb?

3. PRONOUN USAGE

Pronoun Antecedent Agreement

When

we use pronouns, we must be sure that they agree with the antecedent.

If

the antecedent is singular, the pronoun must be singular. If the antecedent is plural, the pronoun must be plural.

* A quick word about antecedents

Antecedent:

the noun that the pronoun replaces or to which it refers went home because she was not feeling well.

Mary

Mary is the noun / also the antecedent She is the pronoun that refers back to Mary

Reminder:
The

following pronouns are all considered singular; you must memorize them:

each, either, neither, one, body, thing

Practice:

If

someone calls, tell ____________ I left early.

Pronoun as a compound element

When

pronouns are used as part of a compound element, students really get confused. The solution, however, is quite simple.

HINT:
If

you will break the sentence apart and read it twice, once for each word in the compound element, you will quickly recognize the correct answer.

Practice:

Tom

and (I, me) went to the movies.

Tom went to the movies. _____ went to the movies.

Dad

gave Tom and (I, me) the gifts.

Dad gave Tom the gifts. Dad gave _____ the gifts.

Ambiguous Reference
When

the antecedent is not clear, there is an ambiguous reference to the antecedent. example: They say in that magazine that scores have dropped rapidly.

For

They is vaguely referring to someone, but we have no clear picture of who it is.

 In

order for the sentence to be correct, we must know clearly the antecedent of that pronoun. the antecedent is not clear, you cant use the pronoun.

If

RED FLAGS:
It

and this are red flags in regards to this rule. you see either of these words in a sentence, you should immediately check for pronoun ambiguity.

If

Practice:

The

manager told her secretary that she must pay the filing fee.

Who is she? The manager? The secretary? Someone else?

One more practice:

It

surprised me when you came home.

Who or what is it?

Who vs. which

The The

pronoun who refers to people. pronoun which refers to things.

Practice:

He

is the boy _____ is the editor of the school newspaper. is a math problem _____ is extremely difficult.

This

Shift in person
First

person uses I Second person uses you Third person uses he / she / it

 The

rule in standard written English is that you may not shift from one person to another within a sentence.

For

example: I think I will be okay, but you have to be prepared for the unexpected. A person has to study hard if you want to do well in school.

Turn to the chart on page 604

Label

Nominative as Subject the two terms are interchangeable.

Add

who to the subject column Add whose to the possessive column Add whom to the objective column

Three important tips:

Tip

1: Subject pronouns follow the verb to

It was I.

be

This is she. Between you and me.

Tip

2: Object pronouns follow prepositions.

Tip

3: Comparing two? Use subject pronouns.

She is better dressed than he.

4. DOUBLE NEGATIVES

double negative is TWO negative expressions applied to the same idea. when you see the contraction nt used in a sentence, immediately check for this rule being broken.

HINT:

Common negative expressions:

No Not Nothing None No

one Never

Hardly Scarcely Nowhere Nobody Neither

Practice:

havent seen nobody I dont want no help. We dont have hardly any. I cant scarcely see.

5. Idioms

 An

idiom is an expression in which the words have developed a special meaning in relation to each other. This meaning is destroyed if some part of the related group of words is omitted or if some word not commonly a part of the idiom is introduced. Most idioms consist of a key word and one or more prepositions.

For example:
We

are angry with a person not angry at him. comply with a request, not comply to a request.

We

So what do you do?

You

will want to take a look at the list of common idiomatic expressions on page 608 of your binders. will need to memorize any of these with which you are not already familiar.

You

Practice:
Her

blue dress is different _________ the red one.

After

hearing the story, Jane was concerned _____ the problem.

 Her

blue dress is different FROM the red one. hearing the story, Jane was concerned WITH the problem.

After

You all give it a try.

Practice

one: Separate the correct forms from the faulty forms. two: Match the correct preposition into the idiomatic expression.

Practice

6. Passive Voice

 Keep

in mind that the writing section of the SAT is evaluating your knowledge of FORMAL, standard English. test creators prefer ACTIVE voice over passive voice.

SAT

Active vs. Passive Voice

Active

voice occurs when the subject of the sentence performs the action. voice occurs when the subject receives the action.

Passive

Example:

Active

voice: Tom hit the ball voice: Tom was hit by the ball.

Passive

A comment about passive voice:

Keep

in mind that passive voice is not wrong, it is simply not the preferred sentence structure of the SAT creators and most English teachers. choice A is in passive voice and choice C is in active voice the answer in active voice will always be considered the right answer.

If

Practice:
Which

is the active voice (and therefore the best) sentence?

A delicious meal was cooked by Mary. Mary cooked a delicious meal. What can you notice about each?

What you should have noticed

Was

= form of the verb to be

(is, am, was, were, be, being, been = forms of the verb to be) It is impossible to create the passive voice unless the writer uses a to be verb.

By

Mary = indication of passive voice

If by so-and-so is used or could naturally be added after the verb, your sentence is in passive voice

Passive or Active Voice?

Jeremy

stood beside the road. The man was told not to utter a sound. The pilot flew the plane. In the moonlight, the couple danced the tango. My car has been driven to Dallas.

7. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

* Misplaced Modifiers
Modifying

phrases should be placed as near as possible to the words they modify. they are not, they often distort intended meaning of the sentence and add unintended humor.

If

Example:
Incorrect:

The boy saw the red car looking out the window.

As written, what is the sentence actually saying? Correct: Looking out the window, the boy saw the red car.

Single word modifiers

Remember

that the placement of a single modifying word changes the meaning of the sentence.

I only saw Janet. Only I saw Janet. I saw only Janet.

Practice:
The

man saw the car swimming in the lake.

My

dad only gave me five dollars for the trip.

Dangling Modifiers
A

dangling modifier is a phrase or clause that does not clearly modify any word in the sentence. kind of error makes the meaning of a sentence absurd.

This

Example:
Solving

the case, one important clue was overlooked.

(Who solved the case? The clue?)

Practice:
Climbing

the tree, a birds nest was found.

Tip:
When

sentences begin with an introductory phrase followed by a comma, you should first look at the word following the comma to see if it is being accurately described by the introductory phrase.

While talking to the officer, the dog ran between his legs. (really, the dog was talking to the officer?)

8. Parallelism

 Parallelism If

is about consistency.

a sentence begins with one construction and suddenly shifts to another, it is lacking in parallel structure. These shifts may occur in the person, number, voice or tense of the verb, or in the kind of verbal phrase, or in the type of modifier used.

Example:
He

likes hiking, boating, and to run.

He likes hiking, boating, and running. He likes to hike, to boat, and to run.

Practice:
Tell

me his name and where he lives.

saw how he held the bat, how he hit the ball, and then he ran to first base.

Compared and contrasted ideas:

Dancing

no longer interests me as much as to go skiing.

Dancing no longer interests me as much as skiing.

The

woman was praised more for her beauty than for the way she behaved.
The woman was praised more for her beauty than for her behavior.

9. Sentence Structure

Fragments
A

fragment is a part of a sentence that does not express a complete thought. you see fragments on the SAT, they will be in the test format for revising sentences.

When

Run-on Sentences
A

run-on sentence is actually two separate sentences that fail to be separated by the proper punctuation.

Comma Splice: the fancy run-on

A

run-on can be created by putting a comma between the two sentences. is a common error that SAT knows many people believe a good fix to a run-on. Dont fall for their attempt to get you. Know that comma splices are still run-ons and are always wrong.

This

Correcting run-on sentences:

A

period can be added to the end of the first complete thought, and the first letter of the second complete thought will need to be capitalized. A semicolon can be added between the two thoughts.

Correcting continued
A

comma plus a FANBOYS can be placed between the two complete thoughts.

Note: make sure an appropriate FANBOYS is used as SAT likes to trick you here as well and indicates addition but indicates contrast or indicates choice therefore indicates result

Correcting continued
A

semicolon conjunctive adverb comma between the two complete thoughts.

For example:
I

tried to finish the exam before the bell; however, I couldnt do it. consequently, moreover, therefore, nevertheless, otherwise, for example, that is, furthermore

Some common conjunctive adverbs include:

however,

A note about conjunctive adverbs

If

you are attempting to separate two complete thoughts using a conjunctive adverb remember that using a comma before the conjunctive adverb (instead of the required semicolon) results in a run-on sentence.

Practice:
I

saw the man in the store he was very handsome. I saw the man in the store, he was very handsome. I saw the man in the store. He was very handsome. I saw the man in the store; he was very handsome.

Practice continued:
I

saw the man in the store, and he was very handsome. I saw the man in the store, but he was very handsome. I saw the man in the store; moreover, he was very handsome. I saw the man in the store, therefore, he was very handsome.

10. Coordination and Subordination

Coordination
Has

to do with joining ideas of equal rank in sentences. Generally we use the coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) The problem we face with coordination is making sure that the relationship between the two ideas is accurately expressed.

Practice:
Food

is adequate in the summer_________ in the winter a good supply is not available.

Which of the following would fit in the blank?

A.

, and B. , but C. ; however, D. ; therefore,

Unequal Ideas?
If

two unequal ideas are joined as though they should have equal emphasis, we have a problem with coordination.

Example:
John Blair is a native of Texas, and he was the guest speaker for the meeting.

These two ideas are not really related and are certainly not of equal importance. They should not be joined with a conjunction that suggests that they are equal. One way to correct this problem is through subordination.

Subordination
We

take the sentence of lesser importance and make it into a subordinate clause. clauses begin with a subordinate conjunction (after, as, before, since, until, when, while, because, although, if, unless)

Subordinate

 Relative

pronouns (who, whose, whom, which, that) may also begin subordinate clauses. The problem could also be corrected by making the clause of lesser importance into an appositive.

For example:

With a subordinate clause:

John Blair, who is a native of Texas, was the guest speaker for the meeting.

Use an appositive

John Blair, a native of Texas, was the guest speaker for the meeting.

Practice:
Sue

cannot pay her credit card bill, and she still charges her merchandise to her account.

Although Sue cannot pay her credit card bill, she still charges merchandise to her account. ** pages 632 633 for more practice

11. Punctuating with Colons

 Most

likely you are familiar with colons being used to introduce lists; however, there are a couple of more sophisticated uses with which you need to be familiar.

colon is appropriate to use for separating two sentences when the second sentence is an explanation of the first.

Tip:
An

easy way to recognize whether or not a colon is appropriate in this kind of construction is to ask the question WHY? between the two sentences. If the second sentence answers that question, then it is an explanation of the first sentence.

For example:
I

was unhappy to hear that you had left town so early. Why?

(Because)

I was hoping we would be able to spend more time together.

So..

was unhappy to hear that you had left town early: I was hoping we would be able to spend more time together.

Practice:
The

young boy was excited about visiting his grandmother: she had promised to take him to the amusement park. reasons for his success are obvious: he is intelligent, personable, and responsible.

The

Long, formal statement or quotation

Another

appropriate time to use a colon is before a long, formal statement or quotation. In this situation you should note that quotation marks are NOT required.

For example:
The

famous words of Patrick Henry are relevant even today: Is life so dear, or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others make take; but, as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Congratulations!
You

have now been introduced to all 11 grammar rules.