SAT / ACT Grammar Masterkey

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".

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. "

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...

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

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.

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.

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:

An adjective clause is a type of a modifier,  which creates some of  the most difficult grammar questions  in the SAT and the ACT. The role of an adjective clause is simple: like any other adjective,  an adjective clause modifies a noun.  The only difference between a basic adjective and adjective clause is that the latter involves a subject and a verb.

Conditional tenses This tense has recently become important again in the SAT (It was not tested for more than 3 years). The word “If” can start a conditional tense, and there are 3 types of conditional tense, each following a unique rule (we will only discuss the ones that are relevant for the test.) Type 1 is used to express a condition that is very likely to happen If I pass the test, I will have a party. If I don’t eat lunch, I get hungry. *we use present tense and future tense for Type 1 Type 2 is used to express a condition that is unlikely or hypothetical. *this tense is very unique and has recently re-emerged in the SAT. In type 2 sentences, WERE is used for both singular and plural subjects. If I were you, I would go home. (I am not you) If he were here, he would tell you to stop. (He is not here) Mixing Tenses Mixing tenses is definitely one of the most difficult concepts in any grammar test as most students are taught ...

Let’s talk about important tenses tested in the SAT. 1. Simple Present a) Simple Present is used to show facts or something (action or event) that happens regularly. I run to school every day. Michael Jackson is one of the greatest musicians. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet portrays the theme of love. b) Simple Present can also be used to express the future. I have a test tomorrow. The library closes at 11 pm. I hope you receive the admission letter from that college. Sometimes, the given paragraph in a verb tense question talks about the future, but no future tense answer choices are given. In this case, look for a simple present tense answer choice and check if it can be used to express the future. This concept is often tested in the SAT. The use of present tense to express future time is often used with the modifier beginning with “when.” When you will hear from him, please let me know. (x) When you hear from him...

To ace the verb tense questions in the SAT and the ACT, we need to have the fundamentals down first. Essentially, there are three basic time-frames: past, present, and future. When we want to express an event that happened in the past, we simply need to write it in the past, using past verbs.  However, what if we want to express another event that happened before the first event in the same sentence? Or what if we need to express another event that began in the past and continues to the present? To do so, we must utilize different verb tenses . There are fundamentally 12 verb tenses in the English language, each tense expressing a different time frame . Lucky for us, the SAT and the ACT don't test students about verb tenses in depth, and there are only a few tenses we have to understand thoroughly.

Missing Verb questions are very easy. Most students "feel" that something is wrong with the sentence instinctively. For example, what is wrong with this sentence?         Jane singing a song. The sentence is currently missing a verb. This is an example of Missing verb question. To fix a missing verb question, all we have to do is add the verb.      Jane is singing a song.      Jane sings a song. Missing verb questions don’t pose a challenge for a majority of students. However, because this concept is really important when we are solving punctuation questions, please review this section thoroughly.

What is wrong with this sentence?       I annually invest a large sum of money in insurance each year. Here, the words used in the sentence are redundant: " annually " and " each year ." This is an example of r edundancy / conciseness questions, which are frequently tested in the SAT and the ACT. “pick the shortest answer choice when you are unsure” This famous advice was formulated precisely because of redundancy / conciseness questions.

While basic comparison questions involve noun comparison like the ones in the previous post, the SAT and the ACT also tests action comparison. This is an example of action comparison error: I ran faster than him. (x) While this is perfectly acceptable in spoken language, it is grammatically incorrect in the SAT. The sentence is not about two people: it is about the action of running. The correct comparison is I ran faster than he ran . In the SAT, this sentence can be taken two steps further. As mentioned earlier, repeating the same word is not recommended. Therefore, this sentence can be and should be written as I ran faster than he did . * do / does for present tense. Action comparison can also be emphasized through the use of inversion: I ran faster than he did .     I ran faster than did he.     Though this sentence sounds awkward, it is grammatically correct and is frequently used by many writers.

Comparison questions test our ability to make logical comparisons.  The idea is simple: compare people to people and things to things.      My score is higher than Mike .   (x)           (thing)            (person) This sentence is making an illogical comparison. A score cannot be higher than a person. There are three ways to fix basic comparison problems: 1.  Using Apostrophe       My score is higher than Mike's score . Remember  that repeated words can be omitted when writing in parallel structure?  Comparison questions make use of the same rules.  We may omit the repeated  words as long as the meaning is clear and the comparison is precise.       My score is higher than Mike's . 2. Using “of” Another way of writing “ England’s King ” is “ the King of England. ” We can use this information to fix a comparison error.     ...

A pronoun must be referring to something clearly. When it doesn't, it is called Ambiguous Pronoun . Example Jane and Michelle decided to go to the party. She wore a beautiful dress. Who does " she" refer to? To fix the ambiguity, we must change the word "she" to a specific name and be more precise. Ambiguous Pronoun questions will almost always involve pronouns such as "this" and "that" in the answer choices , so whenever you see answer choices involving these words, read from the previous sentence to see if there is ambiguity.

This page is really short but important. To hit the perfect score in the SAT and the ACT, understand how these two sentences are different. I saw Jane , walking down the street. vs. I saw Jane walking down the street. Though there are exceptions, when “- ing modifier” is used with a COMMA , it GENERALLY modifies the subject of the sentence. I saw Jane, walking down the street. (I was walking, not Jane) If a comma is not used between the noun and “- ing modifier,” it modifies the word next to it. I saw Jane walking down the street. (Jane was walking, not I)  

Dangling Modifier is one of the most important grammar concepts in the SAT and the ACT. What is wrong with this sentence? Walking along the river, some fish were seen by him. The phrase “ Walking along the river” is a modifier (i.e., participle phrase). Yet, it is placed right beside the subject " fish ," and it sounds like the fish is walking . However, "fish " cannot walk. This error is called Dangling Modifier. To fix this error, we have to change the subject of the sentence and place the modifier as close as possible to the word it modifies. Walking along the river, he saw some fish. Let's take a look at more examples. Example 1 One of the greatest plays of all time, Shakespeare wrote Othello. Shakespeare cannot be one of the greatest plays of all time.          *To correct this, we need to change the subject. One of the greatest plays of all time, Othello was written by Shakespeare. Example 2 Jack found his scienc...

  Parallelism is one of the most common and important concepts tested in the SAT and the ACT. Yet, most of us don’t truly understand the basics of parallelism and take this concept for granted. First, consider parallelism like a mirror. When words are connected by conjunctions (e.g., FANBOYS / either A or B ) or idiomatic phrases (A rather than B), these words should belong to the same part of speech (noun, verb, adjective). For example, if the first word of a list is a noun, the second/third word should also be nouns. He is a husband and a son . noun noun She sings , writes , and dances .     verb   verb        verb He is not only rude but also noisy .     adjective     adjective Second, understand that , when writing in parallel structure, repeated words can be omitted . Example 1 I like to sing and to dance. can be written as I like to sing and...

Pronoun agreement and Noun agreement questions are some of the easiest grammar questions in the SAT and the ACT. However, remember that to hit the perfect score, we have to be flawless. Pronoun Agreement A pronoun must agree in number with the word it is replacing. People must show his/her tickets when they enter the concert. (x) The owners of the ticket are " people ." Since the word " people " is plural, the pronoun must also be plural. “ His/her ” is a singular pronoun. People must show their tickets when they enter the concert. *Notice how we use ‘they/their’ for both people and things. Noun Agreement Nouns must also agree in numbers. Dan and Mike wanted to be a doctor . (x) Dan and Mike cannot become one doctor. The correct answer is plural " doctors ." Dan and Mike wanted to be doctors .