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Important Transitions for the SAT and the ACT

Below are difficult / unfamiliar transitions (and their definitions) that have appeared as an answer in the SAT and the ACT at least once. *I have omitted obvious transitions such as "however" or "moreover".

Common SAT Word Combo

Word combo questions are very similar to idiom questions: certain words must appear together. However, there is one important difference. While both types don’t have clear explanations on why a certain word is used with another word, word combo questions require parallelism. Below is a list of important word combos, also known as "correlative conjunctions. "

Common SAT and ACT Idiom List

Idiom refers to 1) an expression that people use in everyday conversation or 2) a group of words that has its own meaning. For example, in a movie or a TV show, you will hear a phrase like "break a leg" or "easy does it." In the SAT and the ACT, however, instead of these "expressions," Idiom questions ask students to choose the correct preposition (in, under, over), gerund (-ing), or infinitive (to + verb), that goes along with a given word. For those who are avid readers, these questions come naturally and don't pose much challenge. However, for many students, especially those who speak English as a second language, idiom questions are very difficult because idioms don't follow specific rules like subject-verb agreement or verb tenses. To make matters worse, there are thousands of different idioms in the English language. The best way to study for idiom questions is to simply memorize common idioms, including the ones that have appeared in the SAT...

Important SAT and ACT Diction Words with definitions and tips

Here are some definitions and tips regarding important SAT and ACT Diction words.  *All the definition below are based on “Collins Dictionary”

Commonly Confused Sat and Act Words (Diction Errors)

Below is the list of words that frequently appear in the SAT and the ACT Diction Error questions. *Ones that are in blue are especially important. You may find definitions / tips for them in the next post.

Adjective Clause Advanced 2 (preposition + which/whom)

Among different types of adjective clauses, those that involve " preposition + which " or " preposition + whom " construction are definitely the hardest.  Examples: in which, under which, by which, over which, with whom, of whom Again, I’m going to simplify the concept as much as I can. When approaching these questions, we need to try to see the ORIGINAL sentence and what the adjective clause is modifying.

Adjective Clause Advanced 1 (which vs. where vs. in which vs. whose)

Regarding Adjective Clause, I’m going to simplify the concept as much as I can. Knowing formal grammatical terminologies is not worth our time. For the SAT and the ACT, remember the following ideas: