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the sat is \u2153 writing, and a pretty huge chunk of that third relies on knowing sat grammar and punctuation rules. having a solid grasp on the rules of written english, along with plenty of sat grammar practice, is pretty important to acing sat english. keep reading to get our top 50+ sat grammar and punctuation rules, along with a practice quiz and free, downloadable english grammar cheat sheet!<\/p>\n
<\/a> <\/a> generally, students are more willing to study math topics than grammar topics\u2026but that’s a mistake! because there are fewer grammar topics than there are math topics, they carry more weight on average.<\/p>\n and here’s the kicker: if you’re a native english speaker, a lot of that grammar (though not all) is already pretty natural to you. topics like transition words, subject-verb agreement, and tenses may take a keen eye at times, but if you train yourself to watch for them on the test, you’ll be using your innate english knowledge, which you exercise every time you speak. spend time on sat grammar practice, study our downloadable english grammar cheat sheet on your phone or computer, and get ready to seriously bump up your sat writing score.<\/p>\n when it comes to identifying grammar questions on the sat, you’ll want to focus on these types of questions:<\/p>\n of course, this is an excerpt from a longer passage with many other questions\u2014both about sat grammar and vocabulary (although a strong knowledge of sat grammar rules can definitely help you figure out the best vocabulary words in context, too). which brings us to the big question\u2026should you read the whole passage or try to answer the questions without reading it? after all, a lot of the questions are on the sentence level\u2026<\/p>\n but what you’ll find is that even the sentence-level questions rely on a lot of context. the best thing to do is to practice sat grammar and time yourself as much as possible until you can at least skim the passage and then answer the questions. you’ll be glad you did when you see your score!<\/p>\n on test day, you’ll open your booklet to the writing section and see passages with numbered, underlined portions. the underlined sections could be as short as a word or as long as several sentences. you’re then asked to pick the best answer from among four.<\/p>\n you’ve already seen one example, but here are a couple more.<\/p>\n a handful of questions on test day will use the “delete” option\u2014don’t rule it out without good reason! it’s right just as often as the other answer choices are.<\/p>\n what do these sat grammar questions have in common? their format, first of all. they all have the same first answer choice. they all refer to a passage. in addition to grammar, sat writing will also test your understanding of organization and flow, style (like when to use the passive voice), as well as some vocabulary, so you can expect to see a hodgepodge of question types on the official exam.<\/p>\n <\/a> here are our top sat grammar tips to help you prepare for test day and choose the right answer.<\/p>\n <\/a> now that we’ve gone over how the sat english tests grammar and writing rules, along with our top sat grammar tips, let’s dive into the top 50+ sat grammar and punctuation rules you should know for test day.<\/p>\n <\/a> sat grammar rule #1: each sentence needs a noun, a verb, and to express a full thought.<\/strong><\/p>\n which of the following two examples is not<\/em> a sentence?<\/p>\n he was tired.<\/em> only the first one is a sentence. the second is a fragment.<\/p>\n both of these, however, are clauses. a clause is a phrase that contains a subject and a verb<\/strong>. it may or may not be a sentence.<\/p>\n so what’s the point of a clause?<\/p>\n breaking up long sentences<\/a> into clauses helps us to better understand what each part of the sentence is doing. this will also help you be able to tell if you are dealing with an actual sentence, or if you are dealing with a fragment or a run-on. (hint: this is what the sat is really<\/em> testing you on when it mentions clauses.)<\/p>\n subordinate clauses<\/em> because he was tired, charlie decided not to run the race. <\/em><\/p>\n the first clause, “because he was tired,” is not a sentence. we call this a subordinate clause<\/a> because it is not the most important part of the sentence. hence, it is subordinate or secondary to the main part or main clause of the sentence, “charlie decided not to run the race.” in other words, the big idea is that charlie didn’t run the race.<\/p>\n a subordinate clause is also called a dependent clause, because it “depends” on another clause. otherwise, it’s just a sentence fragment. similarly, a clause that is a complete sentence is called an independent clause. it’s independent; it doesn’t need to rely on any other clauses to be a sentence. the sat is not going to test you on the exact terminology, but it will test you on the ability to determine whether a clause is a fragment.<\/p>\n subordinating conjunctions<\/em> unless you finish all of your broccoli, you can’t have any ice cream.<\/em><\/p>\n sarah was a star athlete, whereas her sister, maggie, would rather not get up off the couch.<\/em> = contrast<\/p>\n <\/p>\n among the following examples, see if you can figure out which are sentences and which are fragments.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n sat grammar rule #2: don’t combine whole sentences with a comma.<\/strong><\/p>\n if you can put a period between two pieces of a sentence without making a fragment, then they can’t be put together without some kind of grammatical glue. using a comma in place of a period is called a “comma splice,” and it’s one of the most common writing errors that high schoolers make. (so be sure to keep these sat grammar rules in mind!)<\/p>\n i can’t hear you. can you please use the megaphone?<\/em><\/p>\n i can’t hear you, can you please use the megaphone?<\/em><\/p>\n the sat loves to give you complex sentences to pick apart. a well-constructed sentence is made of one independent clause and one dependent clause. a run-on sentence is when there are too many independent clauses. there are four main ways to remedy a run-on.<\/p>\n sat grammar rule #3:”and” alone is not enough<\/strong> i can’t hear you, so can you please use the megaphone?<\/em><\/p>\n i can’t hear you and can you please use the megaphone?<\/em><\/p>\n of course, all of those words also have other jobs. “and,” “but,” and “or” can just combine lists of nouns, verbs, or adjectives, and then they don’t need commas.<\/p>\n i bought glow-in-the-dark sunscreen and went to the beach last night.<\/em><\/p>\n i bought glow-in-the-dark sunscreen and i went to the beach last night.<\/em><\/p>\n because there’s no “i” in the second half of that corrected sentence, the “and” is just combining “bought” and “went” into a short list, and that’s okay.<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\ntable of contents<\/h2>\n
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\n <\/p>\nhow the sat tests english grammar and writing rules<\/h2>\n
![\"sat](\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-05-at-4.06.34-pm-600x106.png\")
<\/p>\nexamples of sat grammar in the writing section<\/h3>\n
![\"example](\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/files\/2018\/07\/screen-shot-2018-07-05-at-4.07.13-pm.png\")
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\n <\/p>\nsat grammar tips for success<\/h2>\n
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tips for how to choose the correct answer<\/h3>\n
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\n <\/p>\n50+ sat grammar and punctuation rules<\/h2>\n
\n <\/p>\nsentence structure rules<\/h3>\n
fragments<\/h4>\n
\nbecause he was tired. <\/em><\/p>\n
\nnow let’s take a look at a sentence that is made up of two clauses:<\/p>\n
\nif i take a simple sentence like “he studied” and add a subordinating conjunction in front of it, what was a sentence is no longer a sentence; it is now a subordinate clause. subordinating conjunctions include because, although, even though, since, nevertheless, whereas, while<\/em>. there are more, but a good shortcut to identifying whether a word is a subordinating conjunction is to ask yourself the following: does it provide a reason, contrast, or condition for the main clause?<\/p>\n\n
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sat grammar practice exercise<\/h4>\n
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\nthe first part is a dependent clause (notice that subordinating conjunction “though”). the second part is a phrase, an orphan in search of a verb and a subject. put that together with the dependent clause and you get a fragment.<\/li>\n
\nthe first part technically isn’t a clause but a modifying phrase (more on these later). but since the second part (the clause after the comma) has a noun subject and a verb, and no subordinating conjunction, it is a sentence. put that together with the first phrase and you get a complete sentence.<\/li>\n
\nthe set up here looks very similar to #2. notice, however, that the second clause doesn’t have an actual verb. it has the participle “knowing,” making the second clause gibberish. therefore, #3 is not a sentence. had “knowing” been “knew,” #3 would be a totally valid sentence.<\/li>\n
\nfirst off, you can start a sentence with “because,” as long as you have a comma at the end of the first clause and the second clause is an independent clause. since, “he passed” has a noun subject (“he”) and a verb (the past tense of pass), #4 is a sentence.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\nrun-on sentences<\/h4>\n
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\nalthough using a comma and “and” together to join sentences is correct, “and” alone doesn’t finish the job. instead, it leaves you with the same problem that using a comma alone created: a run-on sentence. the same is true for “but,” “or,” and “so”\u2014all of them need commas to combine sentences.<\/p>\n\n
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