Read SAT Prep Black Book: The Most Effective SAT Strategies Ever Published Online
Authors: Mike Barrett
A phrase is a group of words that serves a particular function in a sentence. Usually, this function is analogous to a part of speech.
A phrase can include one or more words.
Phrases are referred to by the functions they fulfill within their sentences.
There are “noun phrases,” “verb phrases,” “prepositional phrases,” “adverbial phrases,” et cetera.
Examples:
In the sentence
The cat who lives next door likes my pineapple tree.
o
The cat is a noun phrase.
o
lives next door is a verb phrase.
o
The cat who lives next door is a noun phrase that includes the noun phrase The cat and the verb phrase lives next door
o
likes my pineapple tree is a verb phrase
o
my pineapple tree is a noun phrase.
o
(There are other phrases that could be said to exist in this sentence, but you get the idea.)
Don’t worry if this doesn’t make a lot of sense! The SAT doesn’t actually test your knowledge of phrases, or your ability to pull phrases out of a sentence. We’re only covering these ideas so that when we say, “the noun phrase such-and-such,” you’ll have some idea what we’re talking about.
A clause is a group of words that includes a subject noun phrase, a verb phrase, and, if necessary, an object noun phrase.
Example:
This is a complete clause:
This pizza recipe requires cheese.
o
This pizza recipe is the subject noun phrase.
o
requires is the verb phrase.
o
cheese is the object noun phrase.
A clause can be either “independent” or “dependent.”
A “dependent” clause begins with a conjunction.
An “independent” clause does not begin with a conjunction.
Example:
In the sentence,
You have to sleep more because you study too much.
o
You have to sleep more is an independent clause because it has all the elements of a clause and does not start with a conjunction.
o
because you study too much is a dependent clause because it starts with the conjunction because.
For the mult
iple-choice questions on the SAT Writing Section, every correctly written sentence must contain at least one independent clause.
Independent clauses cannot be separated from each other by a comma.
Examples:
This is a bad sentence on the SAT:
*I have not yet begun to fight, time is on my side.
o
I have not yet begun to fight is an independent clause including the subject pronoun I and the verb-form have begun.
o
time is on my side is an independent clause including the subject noun time and the copular verb-form is.
This is an acceptable sentence on the SAT:
I have not yet begun to fight; time is on my side.
A “conditional” is a statement that uses the conjunction
if
. Properly written conditional sentences avoid using the word
would
in the clause that begins with
if
.
Examples:
This is a bad SAT sentence:
*I would have stopped by your house if I would have known you were home.
o
would have stopped is acceptable because it appears in the clause I would have stopped by, which does not contain the word if.
o
if is the conditional conjunction.
o
would have known is incorrect here because it uses the word would in the same clause where the word if appears.
This sentence is acceptable on the SAT:
I would have stopped by your house if I had known you were home.
o
would have stopped is acceptable because it does not appear in the same clause as the conjunction if.
o
if is the conditional conjunction.
A participle is a special verb-form that can end in
–ing
,
-en
, or
–ed
. They’re often used at the beginning of a sentence.
Example:
In this sentence,
Screaming for help, the mailman ran away from the angry dog.
Screaming
is a participle.
When these participles are used in standard written English, they are always understood to refer to the first noun phrase in the independent clause in the sentence.
Example:
In the sentence above,
Screaming for help
is the participial phrase, beginning with the participle
screaming
(an
–ing
word)
the mailman ran away from the angry dog
is the independent clause (remember that an independent clause has a subject noun phrase and main verb phrase).
We know this participle was used correctly because the word
screaming
describes the word
mailman
, which is what we wanted to do.
Example:
This sentence would be completely INCORRECT on the SAT:
*Screaming for help, the dog chased the mailman down the street.
What’s wrong with that? We still have a participial phrase (
screaming for help
) and an independent clause (
the dog chased the mailman down the street
), but the problem is that the participle in this sentence can’t possibly describe the first noun phrase in the independent clause, which is
the dog
. This sentence is no good because the dog can’t scream. Only the mailman can scream.
Participles show up often in the SAT Writing Section, and they’re frequently used incorrectly, so look out for them!
Now that we’ve talked about the basic underlying grammatical rules you need for the SAT Writing Section, we need to discuss the sorts of things that the SAT considers to be “good” usage. To do this, we’ll talk in terms of the “bad” and “good” patterns that appear on the SAT.
On the SAT Writing Section, ideal sentences are the ones that avoid certain “bad” patterns and make us of certain “good” patterns. The fewer “bad” patterns and the more “good” patterns a sentence has, the more “SAT-ideal” the sentence is.
“Bad” patterns that often appear in errors on the SAT Writing Section. | “Good” patterns that indicate correct usage on the SAT. |
-ing Errors on the SAT Writing Section often involve | Use of an |
-ed Errors on the SAT Writing Section often involve | Use of an |
pronouns Errors on the SAT Writing Section often involve the use of pronouns when they aren’t needed or when they don’t refer to any particular noun. | Pronouns that agree with their main nouns in number are okay. It’s also okay to use either |
non-parallelism Errors on the SAT often involve the use of conjunctions when the ideas joined by the conjunction are not in the same form. | Words and phrases joined by conjunctions should use parallel structures. |
incorrect verb-forms Conjugating verbs incorrectly is an error on the SAT. | All verb use must be consistent with normal, standard usage. |
non-agreement Using a pronoun that doesn’t agree in number with its noun, or a verb that doesn’t agree in number with its noun or pronoun, is an error on the SAT. | All pronouns in a correctly written sentence must agree in number with their main nouns, and all verbs with their nouns or pronouns. |
“Bad” patterns that often appear in errors on the SAT Writing Section. | “Good” patterns that indicate correct usage on the SAT. |
adjectives versus adverbs On the SAT, using an adjective to describe anything besides a noun is an error. | All adjectives in a correctly written sentence are used to describe nouns. Words that describe anything else appear as adverbs. |
as On the SAT, the word | The word |
verb tense On the SAT, incorrect sentences often have verbs in multiple tenses. | Correctly written sentences on the SAT either place all verb phrases in the same tense or properly signify a tense shift with a time expression like |
commas separating complete clauses Incorrectly written sentences on the SAT often use EITHER a comma OR a conjunction to separate two complete clauses. | Correctly written sentences on the SAT either separate complete clauses with a semicolon or dash, or add a conjunction like |
to be, to become When the verb | Correctly written SAT sentences make the noun phrases on either side of |
removing Incorrectly written SAT sentences often include the verb | Correctly written SAT sentences use the verb |
removing Incorrectly written SAT sentences sometimes use | Correctly written SAT sentences use articles to modify noun phrases only when they’re needed. |
“Bad” patterns that often appear in errors on the SAT Writing Section. | “Good” patterns that indicate correct usage on the SAT. |
parallelism with Incorrectly written SAT sentences might use comparisons with | Correctly written SAT sentences use comparisons with |
either/or Incorrectly written SAT sentences occasionally use | When correctly written SAT sentences use the word |
idioms—prepositions Incorrectly written SAT sentences sometimes misuse the prepositions in common idioms. | Correctly written SAT sentences use the normal prepositions in everyday idioms. |
proper pronoun usage (he/him) Incorrectly written SAT sentences might use subject pronouns where object pronouns should appear. | Correctly written SAT sentences use object pronouns as the objects of verbs and prepositions. |
conjunctions at beginning of sentence Incorrectly written SAT sentences often begin with conjunctions even though there are no independent clauses in the sentence. | Correctly written SAT sentences only begin with conjunctions when they include independent clauses later in the sentence. In other words, it’s possible for a sentence to be grammatically acceptable on the SAT even if it begins with the word “because,” as long as the sentence also contains an independent clause. |
if Incorrect SAT sentences use | Correctly written SAT sentences use |
removing Incorrectly written SAT sentences use | Correctly written SAT sentences avoid |
relative pronouns—personal with people Incorrect SAT sentences use impersonal pronouns to take the place of personal nouns. | Correctly written SAT sentences use personal pronouns to replace personal nouns. |
comparatives Incorrectly written SAT sentences use both | Correctly written SAT sentences use either |
avoiding conjunctions Incorrectly written SAT sentences might use conjunctions where they aren’t necessary. | Correctly written SAT sentences only use conjunctions when necessary, and use them to link ideas appropriately. |
phrases in place of “and” Incorrectly written SAT sentences might use phrases like “in addition to” or “as well as” instead of “and.” | Correctly written SAT sentences only use the word “and” itself wherever “and” is appropriate. They don’t just phrases like “in addition to” or “as well as” instead of “and.” |
“it” and “they” Incorrectly written SAT sentences might use the pronouns “it” and “they” without a clearly specified noun elsewhere in the sentence that matches the pronoun in number. | Correctly written SAT sentences only use the pronoun “it” when it refers to a singular noun elsewhere in the sentence, and they only use the word “they” when it refers to a plural noun elsewhere in the sentence. |
Ideal paragraphs on the SAT are paragraphs that contain as few concepts as possible.
When adding a sentence to a paragraph in the Improving Paragraphs portion of the SAT Writing Section, add the sentence that contains the fewest concepts that are not already in the paragraph.
When removing sentences from paragraphs in the Improving Paragraphs portion of the SAT Writing Section, remove sentences that introduce concepts that do not appear elsewhere in the paragraph.