Lesson 3: SAT Reading & Writing - Grammar & Language Conventions
Master essential grammar rules, punctuation, and sentence structure tested on the SAT Reading & Writing section.
Lesson 3: SAT Reading & Writing - Grammar & Language Conventions 📝
Introduction
Welcome to Lesson 3! Now that you understand the SAT structure and evidence-based reading skills, it's time to tackle the grammar and language conventions questions that make up a significant portion of the Reading & Writing section. These questions test your ability to identify and correct errors in Standard English conventions, including sentence structure, punctuation, and word usage.
💡 Good news: Unlike the reading comprehension questions, grammar questions follow predictable patterns. Master the rules, and you'll gain confidence and speed!
In this lesson, we'll cover:
- Subject-verb agreement and verb tense consistency
- Pronoun clarity and agreement
- Punctuation rules (commas, semicolons, colons, dashes)
- Sentence structure and fragments
- Modifier placement and parallelism
🎯 Your Goal: By the end of this lesson, you'll recognize common grammar patterns and apply systematic strategies to eliminate wrong answers quickly.
Core Concept 1: Subject-Verb Agreement 🤝
Subject-verb agreement means the subject and verb must match in number (singular or plural). This sounds simple, but the SAT loves to complicate it!
The Basic Rule
- Singular subjects take singular verbs: The student studies hard.
- Plural subjects take plural verbs: The students study hard.
SAT Tricks to Watch For
1. Prepositional Phrases Between Subject and Verb
The SAT places distracting phrases between the subject and verb:
❌ The collection of rare books are valuable. ✅ The collection of rare books is valuable.
The subject is "collection" (singular), not "books." Cross out prepositional phrases to find the true subject!
2. Inverted Sentence Structure
When the verb comes before the subject:
❌ Among the greatest achievements of ancient Rome was its aqueducts. ✅ Among the greatest achievements of ancient Rome were its aqueducts.
The subject is "aqueducts" (plural), which comes after the verb.
3. Compound Subjects
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Compound Subject Rules │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│ "and" → PLURAL verb │
│ The dog and cat ARE playing. │
│ │
│ "or/nor" → verb matches NEAREST │
│ Neither dogs nor the cat IS here. │
│ Neither the cat nor dogs ARE here. │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘
4. Indefinite Pronouns
Some indefinite pronouns are always singular, even though they seem plural:
+─────────────────+──────────────────+
│ ALWAYS SINGULAR │ ALWAYS PLURAL │
+─────────────────+──────────────────+
│ each │ both │
│ every │ few │
│ everyone │ many │
│ everybody │ several │
│ anyone │ │
│ no one │ │
│ someone │ │
│ either │ │
│ neither │ │
+─────────────────+──────────────────+
✅ Everyone in the three classes is taking the test.
🧠 Mnemonic: Think "ONE" in everyone, someone, anyone = singular!
Verb Tense Consistency ⏰
Verb tenses must be logical and consistent within a passage. The SAT tests whether you can maintain the correct timeline:
❌ Marie Curie discovered radium in 1898 and wins two Nobel Prizes. ✅ Marie Curie discovered radium in 1898 and won two Nobel Prizes.
Both actions happened in the past, so use past tense for both.
Context Clues: Look for time markers:
- currently, now, today → present tense
- yesterday, last year, in 1950 → past tense
- will, plan to, next year → future tense
- has/have + past participle → present perfect (action started in past, relevant now)
Core Concept 2: Pronoun Agreement & Clarity 👤
Pronouns must agree with their antecedents (the nouns they replace) in number, person, and gender. They must also be clear—readers should know exactly what noun the pronoun refers to.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
❌ Each student must bring their calculator. ✅ Each student must bring his or her calculator. ✅ Students must bring their calculators. (Better: use plural throughout)
"Each" is singular, so it needs a singular pronoun. However, using plural throughout is often the most elegant solution.
Vague Pronoun Reference
The most common pronoun error on the SAT is ambiguity:
❌ When the scientists met with the journalists, they explained the breakthrough.
Who explained? Scientists or journalists? Unclear!
✅ When the scientists met with the journalists, the scientists explained the breakthrough.
💡 SAT Strategy: If you can't immediately identify what a pronoun refers to, it's probably wrong!
Pronoun Case
+──────────────+──────────────+──────────────+
│ SUBJECT │ OBJECT │ POSSESSIVE │
│ (does) │ (receives) │ (owns) │
+──────────────+──────────────+──────────────+
│ I │ me │ my/mine │
│ you │ you │ your/yours │
│ he/she/it │ him/her/it │ his/her/its │
│ we │ us │ our/ours │
│ they │ them │ their/theirs│
│ who │ whom │ whose │
+──────────────+──────────────+──────────────+
Who vs. Whom Trick: Replace with he/him:
- If "he" works → use "who"
- If "him" works → use "whom"
(Who/Whom) did you call? → I called him. → Whom did you call?
Core Concept 3: Punctuation Power 🎯
The SAT tests four main punctuation marks: commas, semicolons, colons, and dashes. Each has specific rules.
Comma Rules (,)
1. Separating Independent Clauses with a Conjunction
✅ The experiment succeeded*,** and the researchers celebrated.*
Two complete sentences joined by FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) need a comma.
2. After Introductory Elements
✅ After studying for three hours*,** Maria took a break.*
3. Setting Off Non-Essential Information
✅ The Amazon rainforest*,** which produces 20% of Earth's oxygen**,** is threatened.*
Non-essential clauses (can be removed without changing core meaning) go between commas.
⚠️ Essential vs. Non-essential:
- Essential (no commas): Students who study perform better. (specifies which students)
- Non-essential (commas): My sister*,** who lives in Boston**,** is visiting.* (extra info about sister)
4. Items in a Series
✅ We need rulers*,** pencils**,** and calculators.*
The SAT accepts the Oxford comma (before "and").
⚠️ COMMA SPLICE ERROR — Most common mistake!
❌ The test is difficult*,** students should prepare.* (Two complete sentences joined by comma only) ✅ The test is difficult*; students** should prepare.* (semicolon) ✅ The test is difficult*, so students** should prepare.* (comma + conjunction) ✅ The test is difficult*. Students** should prepare.* (period)
Semicolon Rules (;)
Use semicolons to connect two related independent clauses:
✅ The storm caused flooding*;** many roads were closed.*
Both sides must be complete sentences that could stand alone.
❌ The storm caused flooding; and many roads were closed. (Don't use semicolon + conjunction)
Colon Rules (:)
Use colons to introduce lists, explanations, or elaborations:
✅ The scientist needed three things*:** funding, time, and equipment.* ✅ The verdict was clear*:** the defendant was innocent.*
⚠️ What comes before the colon must be a complete sentence!
❌ The ingredients are: flour, sugar, and eggs. ✅ Gather these ingredients: flour, sugar, and eggs.
Dash Rules (—)
Dashes emphasize or set off information (like stronger commas):
✅ Three countries*—France, Germany, and Italy—opposed the measure. ✅ She had one goal—*victory.
💡 Dashes are interchangeable with commas for non-essential info, but dashes add emphasis.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PUNCTUATION QUICK GUIDE │
├────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ JOIN 2 SENTENCES: │
│ • Period (.) │
│ • Semicolon (;) │
│ • Comma + FANBOYS (, and) │
│ │
│ INTRODUCE/EXPLAIN: │
│ • Colon (:) — must follow complete │
│ sentence │
│ │
│ SET OFF INFO: │
│ • Commas (,) — neutral │
│ • Dashes (—) — emphasis │
│ • Parentheses ( ) — de-emphasis │
└────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Core Concept 4: Sentence Structure & Clarity 🏗️
Sentence Fragments
A fragment is an incomplete sentence missing a subject, verb, or complete thought:
❌ Because the weather was bad. (Dependent clause—not complete) ✅ Because the weather was bad, we stayed home. ✅ The weather was bad.
Run-on Sentences
A run-on incorrectly joins independent clauses:
❌ The test is tomorrow I need to study. (No punctuation) ❌ The test is tomorrow, I need to study. (Comma splice)
Modifier Placement 🎯
Modifiers must be placed next to what they modify:
❌ Walking down the street, the tree was beautiful.
This says the tree was walking!
✅ Walking down the street, I saw a beautiful tree.
🧠 Tip: Whatever comes immediately after the comma is what's being described!
Dangling Modifier: No clear word being modified Misplaced Modifier: Too far from the word it modifies
Parallelism ⚖️
Parallel structure means items in a list must have the same grammatical form:
❌ She enjoys reading, to write, and painting. ✅ She enjoys reading, writing, and painting. (all gerunds) ✅ She likes to read, to write, and to paint. (all infinitives)
This applies to:
- Lists
- Comparisons (not only... but also)
- Correlative conjunctions (either... or, neither... nor)
PARALLELISM PATTERNS
❌ NOT PARALLEL:
• swimming, to run, bikes
• quickly and with care
• he is smart and works hard
✅ PARALLEL:
• swimming, running, biking
• quickly and carefully
• he is smart and hardworking
Conciseness & Redundancy ✂️
The SAT values concise writing. Eliminate wordiness:
❌ due to the fact that → ✅ because ❌ in spite of the fact that → ✅ although ❌ at this point in time → ✅ now ❌ completely eliminate → ✅ eliminate (already means completely remove) ❌ advance forward → ✅ advance (redundant)
💡 SAT Tip: When choosing between answers, shorter is usually better—IF it preserves the meaning!
Examples with Detailed Explanations 📚
Example 1: Subject-Verb Agreement
Question: The discovery of several ancient manuscripts in the desert caves has/have revolutionized our understanding of early civilizations.
Analysis:
- Identify the subject: "discovery" (singular)
- Ignore the prepositional phrases: "of several ancient manuscripts" and "in the desert caves"
- The subject is "discovery," not "manuscripts" or "caves"
- Singular subject needs singular verb
Answer: has
💡 Strategy: Cross out everything between the subject and verb. What remains should make grammatical sense.
Example 2: Punctuation
Question: Which is correctly punctuated?
- The researchers made a breakthrough, they published their findings immediately.
- The researchers made a breakthrough; and they published their findings immediately.
- The researchers made a breakthrough: they published their findings immediately.
- The researchers made a breakthrough; they published their findings immediately.
- The researchers made a breakthrough they published their findings immediately.
Analysis:
- A: Comma splice (two independent clauses joined by comma only) ❌
- B: Don't use semicolon with conjunction ❌
- C: Colon works, but semicolon is better for two equal independent clauses ⚠️
- D: Semicolon correctly joins two related independent clauses ✅
- E: Run-on sentence ❌
Answer: D
Both clauses are complete sentences and closely related. A semicolon is perfect here.
Example 3: Modifier Placement
Question: Hoping to improve their scores, the practice tests were taken by students every weekend.
What's wrong, and how do you fix it?
Analysis: The sentence says "the practice tests" were hoping to improve scores! The modifier "Hoping to improve their scores" should describe the students.
Corrected: Hoping to improve their scores, students took practice tests every weekend.
OR: Students, hoping to improve their scores, took practice tests every weekend.
💡 Rule: The word immediately after the comma must be what the introductory phrase describes.
Example 4: Parallelism
Question: The benefits of the new policy include reducing costs, improved efficiency, and it saves time.
Analysis: The three items aren't parallel:
- "reducing costs" (gerund phrase)
- "improved efficiency" (past participle phrase)
- "it saves time" (independent clause)
Corrected: The benefits of the new policy include reducing costs, improving efficiency, and saving time.
All three are now gerund phrases (verb + -ing).
Alternative: The benefits of the new policy include reduced costs, improved efficiency, and saved time. (all past participles)
Common Mistakes to Avoid ⚠️
1. Relying on "What Sounds Right"
Your ear can deceive you! Many common speech patterns are grammatically incorrect:
- ❌ "Me and my friend went..." (spoken often, but wrong)
- ✅ "My friend and I went..."
Strategy: Apply the rules systematically, not instinct.
2. Ignoring Sentence Boundaries
Many errors occur at the junction between clauses:
- Comma splices
- Run-ons
- Fragments
Strategy: Identify where one thought ends and another begins. Can each stand alone? If yes, they need proper punctuation or connection.
3. Overlooking Prepositional Phrases
Phrases between subject and verb distract you from agreement errors.
Strategy: Physically cross out prepositional phrases when checking subject-verb agreement.
4. Confusing Commas and Semicolons
- Commas need a conjunction to join independent clauses
- Semicolons work alone but only for independent clauses
Strategy: Test both sides—can they stand as complete sentences? Then semicolon or period works.
5. Missing Parallelism in Lists
When you see a list (especially with commas or "and"), check that all items match in form.
Strategy: Write out the pattern: "verb-ing, verb-ing, verb-ing" or "to + verb, to + verb, to + verb."
6. Forgetting Colon Requirements
What comes before a colon MUST be a complete sentence.
Strategy: Cover up everything after the colon. What remains should be a complete thought.
Key Takeaways 🎯
Master These Rules:
- Subject-Verb Agreement: Cross out prepositional phrases; match subject and verb in number
- Comma Splices: Can't join independent clauses with comma alone—need conjunction, semicolon, or period
- Pronouns: Must clearly refer to one specific noun and agree in number
- Modifiers: Place next to what they describe
- Parallelism: Items in lists must have matching grammatical structure
- Semicolons: Join two independent clauses without conjunctions
- Colons: Introduce lists/explanations; must follow complete sentence
Test-Taking Strategies:
✅ Process of Elimination: Often easier to spot wrong answers than right ones ✅ Check Shortest Answer First: If it preserves meaning, it's often correct ✅ Read the Full Sentence: Context matters for tense, tone, and logic ✅ Trust the Rules, Not Your Ear: Colloquial speech often breaks grammar rules ✅ Look for Patterns: The SAT repeats the same error types
🧠 Remember: Grammar questions are the most learnable part of the SAT. Unlike reading comprehension, there's always a definitive right answer based on rules!
Quick Reference Card 📋
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ SAT GRAMMAR QUICK REFERENCE CARD ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT ║
║ • Cross out prepositional phrases ║
║ • Indefinite pronouns (everyone) = SINGULAR ║
║ • "Or/nor" → verb matches nearest noun ║
║ ║
║ PRONOUNS ║
║ • Must clearly refer to ONE noun ║
║ • Must agree in number with antecedent ║
║ • Who (subject) / Whom (object) ║
║ ║
║ JOIN 2 INDEPENDENT CLAUSES: ║
║ • Period ║
║ • Semicolon (no conjunction) ║
║ • Comma + FANBOYS ║
║ ║
║ COMMAS: ║
║ • After introductory elements ║
║ • Non-essential info ║
║ • Items in series ║
║ • Before FANBOYS between clauses ║
║ ║
║ COLONS: ║
║ • Introduce list/explanation ║
║ • MUST follow complete sentence ║
║ ║
║ MODIFIERS: ║
║ • Place next to what they describe ║
║ • Word after comma = what's described ║
║ ║
║ PARALLELISM: ║
║ • Items in list = same grammatical form ║
║ • Check: verb-ing, verb-ing, verb-ing ║
║ ║
║ COMMON ERRORS: ║
║ • Comma splice ║
║ • Run-on sentence ║
║ • Fragment ║
║ • Misplaced modifier ║
║ • Redundancy ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
🤔 Did You Know?
The semicolon was invented by an Italian printer named Aldus Manutius in 1494! He wanted a punctuation mark that was "between" a comma and a period—perfect for related but independent thoughts. It's been confusing students ever since! 😄
📚 Further Study
Khan Academy SAT Grammar Practice - https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat - Free, comprehensive grammar exercises with immediate feedback
Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) - https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/index.html - Detailed grammar rules with examples for every punctuation mark and convention
College Board Official SAT Practice - https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice - Official practice questions from the test maker itself
Next Steps: Practice these grammar rules with real SAT questions! In Lesson 4, we'll tackle the Math section, starting with Heart of Algebra concepts. Keep building your skills! 💪📖