In case you don't believe me about "who vs. whom," here's the rule

Attention: if you are looking for information about "who vs. whom" and the ACT, please see my new site at: http://thecriticalreader.com/blog/item/335-who-whom-and-the-act.html. 

I realize that saying that "who vs. whom" is not actually tested on the either the SAT is tantamount to heresy, so in case you don't want to believe me and would feel safer knowing just in case it actually does show up (99.99% unlikely but still theoretically within the realm of possibility), here's the rule:

New: Page for Tutors!

Are you a novice tutor looking for advice on how to prepare someone for SAT and/or ACT Verbal? Or perhaps you're an experienced tutor looking for some tips. In either case, feel free to check out my new page for tutors. And please don't hesitate to offer your feedback.

New SAT Grammar Exercises Posted

Check the Exercises page for the link.

Playing Positive and Negative with Tone Questions (SAT & ACT Reading)

Very often, test-takers get stumped on "tone" or "attitude" questions because they look at each answer choice individually and ponder whether it could fit the passage. In other words, they try to fit the answer to the reading -- always a bad idea.

The process for breaking down tone questions is actually pretty simple: the first thing you always want to determine is whether the author's attitude is positive or negative.

Say, for example, you're dealing with a passage about the California gold rush, and you see the following question:

In lines 47-51, the author's attitude toward the process of "staking claims" could best be characterized as:

(A) skeptical
(B) vitriolic
(C) approving
(D) elated
(E) ambivalent

The first thing you need to do is to figure out whether the author considers "staking claims" a good thing or a bad thing.

If it's a good thing, you can automatically eliminate anything that is either negative or neutral, in this case A, B, and E. If it's a bad thing, you can get rid of C and D.

Notice that we don't care about the actual words at this point, only whether they're good or bad.

Let's say that the author considers "staking claims" a good thing, so we're left with C and D.

In general, extreme answers tend to be wrong (if the tone of the passage were too obvious, you wouldn't have to read closely, and the test would be too easy!), so right away, you know that there's about a 90% chance the answer is C.

But unless you're absolutely certain, go back to the passage and check!

Dealing with Transition Questions (SAT & ACT)

Transition questions tend to be one of the trickier kinds of questions that show up on both the SAT Writing and the ACT English sections. Unlike straight-up grammar questions, they don't present obvious errors that can be easily caught by ear. Instead, they require you to (gasp!) think.

Transitions can be divided into three major categories.

Continuers include and, furthermore, moreover, and in fact, which tell us that an idea is continuing on in the same direction it began

Contradictors include but, yet, although, despite, nevertheless and however, which tell us that the an idea is being contradicted or moved in a different direction

Cause and Effect include so, therefore, and consequently tell us that something is happening as a result of something else

On the SAT, you will be dealing primarily -- but not exclusively -- with and, but, however, and therefore; on the ACT,  you will encounter a much wider variety of transitions, and such questions will appear far more frequently.

The essential technique for making sure you get these questions right is the same on both tests, however: whenever you see a transition underlined, you need to cross it out and objectively examine the relationship between the two clauses in order to determine what kind of transition is required.

Original sentence

People who are happy to be alone are often viewed as as odd or threatening, and research suggests that spending time by oneself is necessary to interacting well with others.

Cross out transition and consider clauses separately 

1) People who are happy to be alone are often viewed as as odd or threatening
2) Research suggests that spending time by oneself is necessary to interacting well with others.

Determine relationship

Contradiction

Plug in correct transition

People who are happy to be alone are often viewed as as odd or threatening, but research suggests that spending time by oneself is necessary to interacting well with others.

New set of SAT Writing Exercises Online

See the exercises page for link.

The Best SAT/ACT Essay Prep Book

If you're looking for help with the essay on either the SAT or ACT, you should seriously consider buying Write the SAT Essay Right by Laura Wilson and Amie Whigham. Don't be fooled by the title; it's great for the ACT as well.

It looks like this:

And you can order it here (it's only available online): http://www.amazon.com/Write-SAT-Essay-Right-Secrets/dp/1934338788

Full disclosure: I have written SAT and ACT Verbal exams for Wilson Daily Prep, the online branch of Laura's firm, WilsonPrep, for the past couple of years, but I am posting this only because I truly think this is the best essay prep book around. I've used it with most of my students, and I've seen some of them go up three points (from a 7 to a 10) in a matter of weeks.

How good is it? Let's just say that I was inspired to write my grammar and exercise books because of a complete lack of high quality non-College Board/ACT-produced prep material, but that I've never even considered writing anything about the essay. Why would I even bother when I can use this book?

Yes, it can be a little bit corny, but it is also staggeringly effective. It has tons of examples of actual essays, along with their scores and score analyses. In addition, it covers everything you need to know about various kinds of essay structures, theses, topic sentences, and stylistic issues. I can't recommend it highly enough.

New: SAT and ACT Writing Exercise Page!

If anyone's looking for SAT and ACT grammar practice, I'm adding a page devoted to exercises and worksheets. I'll be adding exercises slowly over the next couple of weeks and beyond, so please keep checking back for new ones.

Unfortunately, my knowledge of the SAT and ACT Verbal far exceeds my knowledge of computers, and I can't seem to figure out how to embed one of those nifty Flash slideshows into the page. So you'll have to settle for plain old Word document uploads (I tried a number of other formats, and the results were really not pretty, so this'll have to work until I can coerce someone with actual computer experience into setting up something a bit more sophisticated).

In the meantime, however, I dare you to find anything closer to the actual test.

Happy grammar-ing!

Comma + And/But = Period = Semicolon (ACT English)

This is a shortcut that can save you a huge amount of time on the ACT. If more than one of these constructions appear as answer choices, you can automatically eliminate them.

Why? The ACT will never provide more than one correct answer. If two answers say exactly the same thing, then neither can be chosen over than the other, and both must therefore be wrong.

Let me give you an example. Consider the following sentence:

Since they were first domesticated nearly 40,000 years ago, dogs have played an important role in many human societies.

(A) No change
(B) ago dogs
(C) ago. Dogs
(D) ago; dogs

Because a period and a semicolon are the same thing, neither one can be correct, and we can actually eliminate options C and D without even looking at the sentence.

That immediately leaves us with just A and B to check out (the answer, in case you're wondering, is A). No plugging in, no puzzling over whether that semicolon really looks right, just two answers gone.

Faster, right?

How to deal with Passage 1/Passage 2 questions (SAT Critical Reading)

Many test-takers find Passage 1/Passage 2 comparison questions to be among the most difficult on the SAT. Keeping track of multiple arguments and points of view can be challenging, and for this reason it is very much to your advantage to break the process into manageable chunks.

The single most important thing you can with Passage 1/Passage 2 comparisons is to treat them like single passages for as long as possible. That means:

1) Read Passage 1 

2) Write the tone and main point 

3) Answer Passage 1 questions 

Then, when you're done:

1) Read Passage 2 

2) Write the tone, main point, and the relationship to Passage 1

3) Answer Passage 2 questions 

And finally, when you're done with Passage 2, answer the questions that ask about both passages (if they appear before questions asking about only one of the passages, skip them and come back later). Make sure you reiterate the relationship between the two passages before you begin the comparison questions. 

While long Passage 1/Passage will always have questions asking about the two passages individually, short Passage 1/Passage 2 may not. 

The first thing you should do when you encounter short Passage 1/Passage 2 is therefore to skim through the questions and see whether there are any that deal with only one passage. If there are, read that passage first. 

Why checking your work can be a bad idea

When you take a standardized test, you are your own worst enemy.

From what I have observed, many test-takers score lower than they should simply because they second-guess themselves and change right answers to wrong ones. Believing that the answer they chose was too obvious and thus a trap, they talk themselves out of a perfect logical selection and go for something less obvious -- and wrong -- instead. Almost never do I see students change incorrect answers to correct ones when they go back over a section, only the other way around.

So I'm going to propose something a little radical: don't check your work.

Always circle "Not" and "Except"

Very often, test-takers miss "not" and "except"questions (e.g. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in by the author as a technique used by Da Vinci when he painted the "Mona Lisa"?) simply because they don't read them carefully enough. Instead of finding the information missing from the passage, they do exactly the opposite and thereby answer the question incorrectly. Even though these all-important words are capitalized, they're astonishingly easy to overlook. So always circle them, underline them, or do something to draw attention to them so that you won't forget what you're looking for. It's worth spending an extra second or two to make sure you don't unnecessarily lose the points.

How to Recognize and Correct Dangling Modifiers (SAT & ACT Grammar)

Dangling modifiers are guaranteed to show up on both the SAT and ACT. On the former, they're by far the most common error tested on Fixing Sentences (there are usually at least two per section, sometimes three, very occasionally four); on the latter, they usually only appears once or twice per test, but they also have a habit of showing up when you least expect and are therefore easy to overlook.

So what is a dangling modifier, and how do you fix it? Dangling modifiers are best explained through examples, so let's take a look at some:

It's just not a memory test (Or: When you're down to two answers, go back and read)

One of the things that continually amazes me is the following situation: a student is working carefully through a reading question and begins to cross off answers. First one, then another, then a third. And then...nothing. The student continues to stare at the two answer choices. "Is there anything in the passage that clearly points to one of the answers?" I ask. The student scrunches up his or her face in concentration, staring off into space, trying, trying to remember....

At which point I oh-so-politely suggest that perhaps the student might want to consult the passage...because, you know, there's an off chance the answer might be in there. As opposed to being written somewhere on the wall across the room.

To paraphrase Jane Austen, it is a standardized testing strategy universally acknowledged that if you are down to two answer choices, you should guess. (One answer is just as likely to be right as the other, right?) Except that you really shouldn't. As a matter of fact, there are a couple of very specific things you should do instead.

First, you should reiterate your main point (which, ideally, you should have written down as soon as you finished reading the passage). Is there an answer that rephrases it? If there is, chances are it's right.

If that doesn't work, you should go back to the passage and read it very, very carefully, making sure to start a couple of lines above and read to a couple of lines below. With the exception of questions that ask about the passage as whole, the information you need to answer the question will always be located in the immediate vicinity of the lines you've been given. It might not be in the lines themselves, but it'll always be very close by.

In addition, when you do go back and read (instead of, say, waiting for the heavens to open and an angel to descend and inform you of the correct answer), you need to pay particular attention to any important transitions or explanations that appear in the text. Chances are they'll give you the information you need.

Usually when students go back to the passage, they're astonished to discover that the answer was right there all along.

Amazing, isn't it?

New! Complete ACT Punctuation Rules

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've posted complete ACT Punctuation rules (commas, semicolons, colons, dashes, and apostrophes) as a separate page. Just click on the link at the top of this page.

Why the "right" nursery school will not get your child into Harvard

By now, the story of Nicole Imprescia, the mother currently suing York Avenue preschool for $19,000 has made its way around most of the major news outlets. It's the sort of story about an over-the-top  New York City parent hell-bent on getting her offspring into an "elite" kindergarten that the media love to play up, primarily because Imprescia is such a perfect caricature of an uber-neurotic Manhattan parent. Imprescia's conviction that her daughter's presumable failure to ace the ERB will ultimately bar her from the Ivy League is both utterly hilarious and profoundly sad; unfortunately, it's also shared to some degree by quite a few other parents trying to navigate the city's private school admissions maze.

So in case you're currently trying to get your child into a Manhattan pre-school, kindergarten, etc., you may want to consider the following from someone who deals with students on the other end of the process, after they've spent ten or twelve years in the New York City private school system.

Using a comma with names and titles

Most people learn that names and titles (of books, magazines, etc.) should be automatically surrounded by commas, but in fact that's not quite true. In fact, it depends on the circumstances, and having a comma vs. no comma can drastically change the meaning of a sentence.

Finding the Point (SAT Critical Reading)

The single most important strategy you can use to get through SAT Critical Reading is to find the main point of every passage you read. Can this be annoying? Of course. You just want to jump to the questions and get them over with. Unfortunately, if you work this way, there's always a chance that you'll get thrown off by a distractor answer, no matter how good you are and no matter how well you think you'll recognize the right answer when you see it.

The SAT rewards those who work through problems -- Critical Reading as well as Math -- very, very carefully. Most Critical Reading questions ask about the relationship between various details and the author's overall point, and if you don't take 15 seconds and define that point explicitly for yourself, sooner or later you will look right past it when it appears.

But where to find it? 

A Response to the Infamous "Reality TV" SAT Essay Prompt

For anyone not familiar with the controversy, the full question, which was given to about a third of test-takers on Saturday 3/12, is as follows (from the website of the Washington Post):

“Reality television programs, which feature real people engaged in real activities rather than professional actors performing scripted scenes, are increasingly popular. These shows depict ordinary people competing in everything from singing and dancing to losing weight, or just living their everyday lives. Most people believe that the reality these shows portray is authentic, but they are being misled. How authentic can these shows be when producers design challenges for the participants and then editors alter filmed scenes?

“Do people benefit from forms of entertainment that show so-called reality, or are such forms of entertainment harmful? 

If you just glance at the question, it's pretty easy to understand why people are so outraged. But it's not actually that simple.

Part of the problem is that many people unfamiliar with the SAT are unaware of the difference in importance between the background to the prompt and the prompt itself (in bold). The background is designed to explain the question, to put it in some context; it is not intended to limit the kind of responses that test-takers can provide. In fact, it can be ignored completely with no ill consequences. If the background consists of a quote by a famous physicist, for example, students are not expected to know anything about physics to answer the question. The same holds true here.

Skim the Passage, not the Questions (SAT & ACT Reading)

Just wanted to reiterate the point: while you should always read passages with the goal of obtaining a general sense of the author's main point and tone, you need to read the questions very, very carefully. If even one word of an answer choice is incorrect, the whole answer is automatically incorrect. It doesn't matter how much the rest of the answer works; it's just wrong.

One of the biggest mistakes that test-takers make is to read the answer choices too quickly and thus overlook key words. Don't. This is the place where you have to slow. down. and. read.

Same Idea, Different Words (SAT and ACT Reading)

Here's a good rule of thumb: If the wording in an answer choice is too close to the wording in the passage, the answer is probably wrong. This is a bit more true on the SAT than the ACT, but in general, it applies to both tests.

It's so easy to fall for these answers choices... After all, they're actually right there in the passage. But wait... are they? Normally, these are the answers that fall into the category of "half-right, half-wrong." Knowing that many readers will be unsure of the meaning of a particular phrase, the test-makers will often quote it directly in the answer choice, and relieved, the unsuspecting test-taker will simply pick it without thinking twice. But usually there's a word in the answer that makes it incorrect. For example, if the passage uses the phrase "enigmatic figure" to describe an author, the answer might indicate that the phrase actually refers to a character in one of his novels.

Don't fall for the trick. Your job is to identify the answer that expresses the same general idea discussed in the passage -- but in different words. And the fact that those words are ones that you would probably not choose on your own is entirely irrelevant.

So repeat after me: Same idea, different words! 

How to Read Long SAT Passages Faster (SAT Critical Reading)

If you have timing issues on SAT Critical Reading, you may want to try the following (long passages only):

1. Read the introduction slowly until you figure out the basic point of the passage. Underline it.

2. Read the first and last sentence of each of the body paragraphs; if you can skim through the rest, do; if you're too afraid you'll run out of time, don't bother.

The goal is to establish a mental outline of the argument or idea being presented. 1 Paragraph usually = 1 Idea, and the first (topic) sentence will give you the point of the paragraph, which the remainder of the information in it will most likely support.

3. Read the conclusion slowly and underline the last sentence, which usually restates the main point.

As long as you can keep in mind the important shifts (for example, the places where an author switches from criticizing one idea to proposing her own explanation), you'll have plenty of context when you go back and answer the questions. In fact, working this way can actually make it easier to answer them because you won't be so caught up in the details.

The Writing, Not the Examples, Makes the Essay (SAT & ACT Essay)

A lot of students preparing to take the SAT spend a fair amount of time trying to think up examples that will guarantee them a high score. While it is a very good idea to walk into the test with a handful of examples that fit a wide range of prompts, examples - even stellar ones - will only get you so far. I've seen kids massacre fantastic examples with sloppy, ungrammatical writing. On the other hand an essay that uses Martin Luther King and Hitler, by far the two most overused examples, can score a 12 if it is exceptionally well done.

And yes, if all else fails, you can just make up a story about your grandmother. I did, and I got a 10 -  I missed getting a higher score not because of the example I used but because I had no idea what was expected of me and intentionally avoided trying to sound sophisticated because I didn't think that the College Board would want me to! (Note: don't try to outsmart the test; it'll usually kick your butt.) 

I realize that people often say that writing a good SAT essay is completely different from writing a good English class essay. That is true in terms of organization - good SAT essays come in many forms, not just the standard five-paragraphs - but pretty much everything else still holds. You need to explain yourself fully, have logical connections between your ideas, have a clear introduction and conclusion, and follow standard English usage. It doesn't need to be brilliant, but it should be solid. Aside from that, there's no magic formula.

If you've already mastered these things and are good at thinking on your feet and writing quickly, it's a waste of time to prepare beyond having a few pre-set examples. If you're still struggling with the basics, you can spend time thinking up examples, but they shouldn't be your main concern. The best examples in the world won't get you a 12 if the writing and structure aren't quite there. And if there are serious issues, it's unlikely that you'll top an 8.

It's vs. Its (ACT English)

This is a rule that's pretty much guaranteed to show up on every test, and knowing it can get you an easy point, maybe two.

It's = It is 

Correct: It's very rainy outside today, but it might be sunnier tomorrow.

Incorrect: Its very rainy outside today, but it might be sunnier tomorrow.


Its = Possessive form of "It" 

Correct: The book has lost its cover.

Incorrect: The book has lost it's cover

So to sum up, whenever you see both "It's" and "Its" show up as answer choices, simply ask yourself if you could say "It is" instead. If you can, you need "It's;" if you can't, you need "Its"

Note why this is tricky: normally, words with apostrophes are possessive (e.g. the boy's hat = the hat that belongs to the boy); here it's with the word without the apostrophe that's possessive.

Its' does not exist. Anytime it appears, it can be automatically eliminated. There are no exceptions to this rule. 

Warning: Don't Trust College Board Online Writing

Last year, I was asked to tutor a student who was studying for the SAT with the College Board's online program, and I naively agreed to go through some sections with him. I assumed that since the program had been developed by the College Board, the tests had to be accurate. Right?

But a funny thing happened when I started to work through the questions with him. I wasn't sure of some of the answers. Now let me provide some background: I've been writing SAT Writing tests for various companies for almost as long as the Writing section has been part of the SAT I. There's pretty much nothing I don't know about how the College Board structures its actual tests. And one thing I know is that the right answer, while someone frustratingly awkward, is never  arbitrary (ok, one or two answers have made me raise my eyebrows, but those were exceptions). There's always a good reason it's the right answer. But some of these answers were totally arbitrary. I was floored. I made him ditch the online program -- for the Writing, at least -- got my College Board book, and started running him through the actual rules of the test.

10 Top SAT Words

I'm not going to go so far as to say that are the top 10 words, but they're definitely at the top of the list of College Board Favorites

Sycophant - Suck-up

Obsequious - Servile, used to describe a sycophant

Pedantic - Very knowledgeable but really, really boring (think of the most boring teacher you've ever had... you know, that one)

Grammar Rules NOT Tested on the SAT (SAT Writing)

I'm hoping to save you some time with this post:

Who vs. Whom (who is switched only with which)

"Neither...nor" with subject-verb agreement using plural nouns (e.g. "Neither book nor the pencil is on the table" is tested; "Neither book nor the pencils are on the table" is not)

Among vs. Between

No Commas with Compound Subjects and Objects (ACT English)

This is one of the most common errors involving commas on the ACT, and it's one that's very easy to identify and fix.

Compound Subject = Subject made up of nouns linked by and.
Compound Object = Object made up of nouns linked by and.

A comma is never necessary between the nouns of a compound subject or object.

Compound Subject Errors

Correct: The cover and the binding of the old book are beginning to disintegrate.

Incorrect: The cover, and the binding of the old book are beginning to disintegrate.

Compound Object Errors

Correct: While cleaning my room, I picked up numerous books and magazines that had been lying on the floor.

Incorrect: While cleaning my room, I picked up numerous books, and magazines that had been lying on the floor.

How to Use a Colon (ACT English)

At least one question testing colons is pretty much guaranteed to show up on every ACT. Although people get a little nervous around them sometimes, colons are really quite simple. There are only two major things you need to know:

1) Use a colon before a list or an explanation 

List: I like to play many sports: soccer, baseball, and basketball

Explanation: This is what happened: I talked to my teacher about the test, and she said to come see her after class tomorrow. 

2) A colon must be preceded by a full, stand-alone sentence

Correct: I like to eat the following foods: ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, and potato chips.

Incorrect: I like: ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, and potato chips.

That's it. No, really. 

Indirect Speech = No Comma (ACT English)

This is definitely one of the subtler rules that the ACT likes to throw at you, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty straightforward.

The concept of direct vs. indirect speech is easier to demonstrate than to describe, so here are some examples (note that indirect speech, despite its name, doesn't necessarily involve speech)

Direct: My little brother said, "I want to watch television"
Indirect: My little brother said (that) he wanted to watch television

Direct: I thought: my friend might want to come over
Indirect: I thought (that) my friend might want to come over.

You get the picture.

Here's how the ACT likes to mess things up: you can see above that the indirect version can be written either with the word that ("I thought that my friend might want to come over") or without it ("I thought my friend might want to come over"). Either way, you don't need a comma anywhere, but the ACT likes to stick one in. It's tricky because it sounds like you could pause there, but you don't need to.

Typical ACT Error: My father said, we could order pizza for dinner.

Correct: My father said we could order pizza for dinner.

A Plug for The Elements of Style (SAT & ACT Writing)

Most of my students are astounded to learn that as a high school freshman I was required to memorize Strunk and White's legendary grammar guide, The Elements of Style. After all, that was the sort of thing students had to do in 1965, not 1995.

I was, however, lucky enough to have a teacher who had been teaching since 1965, and frankly, memorizing the "little book,"as William Strunk referred to it, was one of the most useful things I ever did. The Elements of Style covers most of the grammar found on the SAT Writing section, and it's an invaluable tool for learning to write clearly and rigorously. I had no idea that the book would help me so much in the standardized testing process; no one ever mentioned it, and at that point, I was far more concerned with surviving ninth-grade English (which was, hands down, the most difficult class I ever took).

But that brings me to a point that is all too easily forgotten: sometimes the best way to prep for a test is not to spend all your time prepping for a test, and some of the best test-prep material is not found in test-prep books. If you're a junior and you have two weeks -- or two days -- to cram for the SAT, that's  a different story, but if you're just starting to the process, try to approach it a little differently. Having the capacity to express yourself in a clear, logical, and persuasive manner is important in and of itself, not just because it's something that's tested on the SAT.

Thanks, Mr. V.

And if you want to buy The Elements of Style:

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=%22the+elements+of+style%22&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=3401206601&ref=pd_sl_37o1zgh7kb_e

Don't just read the lines you're given (SAT & ACT Reading)

SAT and ACT Reading Tip: Whenever a question gives you a set of line numbers to refer to, always start a few lines above and read to a few lines below to establish context.

One of the most common errors that test-takers make on both the SAT Critical and ACT Reading Comprehension is to read only the lines referred to in the questions. After all, why would you be asked to read those particular lines of the answer wasn't actually there? Here's the problem, though: sometimes it isn't.

Remember, a lot of the time you're being asked to identify the role a particular set of lines plays within a larger argument, and frequently that role isn't apparent from reading the lines themselves. It's apparent from what comes before...occasionally after.

In general, if the lines in question are relatively close to the beginning of a paragraph, you want to start from the beginning of paragraph. Think of it this way: the role of most information in a paragraph is to support the point made in the topic sentence, so if you go straight to the topic sentence, you'll automatically get the point of the rest of the information. And chances are you'll save a whole lot of time.

The 11 Synonyms for Unoriginal

Don't ask me why, but the SAT absolutely loves these words. There are of course no guarantees, but there's a pretty good chance that one of them will show up on any given test. While some of them have slightly different connotations, they can all refer to something unimaginative and/or lacking in substance.

Pedestrian
Prosaic
Mundane
Hackneyed
Cliche
Banal
Trite
Vapid
Vacuous
Insipid
Quotidian

Nouns Are (Almost) Never Wrong (SAT Writing)

Nouns that are underlined on the Error-ID section are almost never wrong and can usually be eliminated automatically.

There are only two errors that violate this rule, and it is exceedingly rare for either to appear more than once per section:

1) Noun Agreement

Inspired by their uncle, a prize-winner physicist, John and Alexa are studying to become a scientist (scientists).

2) Faulty Comparison

Though they were frequently performed in the eighteenth century, the operas of Antonio Salieri, unlike Mozart (unlike those of Mozart), are largely unknown to contemporary audiences.

In the absence of one of these errors, you can assume that any underlined noun is correct.

Cross out the entire answer (SAT & ACT)

This is one of those tiny tips that can make a big difference.

Whenever you eliminate an answer, draw a line through the whole thing -- don't just cross out the letter, and don't just put an "x" next to it. Otherwise, it's very easy for your eye to get distracted. You end up going back and looking at answers that you've already gotten rid of. You think you've eliminated them, but (subconsciously) you haven't done so completely, and consequently there's a much higher likelihood that sooner or later you'll accidentally fill in a wrong answer.

There's also a psychological aspect. While working through a question, I find it a relief to be able to eliminate an answer thoroughly. Out of sight, of mind -- it's just one less thing to deal with. It shows you in a very concrete way that you're making progress, and that tends to boost your motivation. Besides, it can be very satisfying to cross something out so completely -- it's like saying, "Take that, you stupid test!"

Recognizing Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases (SAT & ACT)

Prepositions are Location and Time words.

They tell us where things are and when they happen(ed).

Common Prepositions: To, From, For, At, Beside, With, Without, Of, Between, In, Out, On, On top of, Under, Over, Above, Below, Beneath, Through, Before, After, During

A prepositional phrase is a phrase that starts with a preposition (shocking, I know!). For the purposes of the SAT and ACT, prepositional phrases consist primarily of prepositions, nouns/pronouns, and adjectives. They do not contain verbs.

Prepositional Phrases:

-At my house
-During the movie
-Between you and me
-To my older sister


If you're not sure whether a word is a preposition, see if you can use it with a phrase at the end of of a sentence. For example, you can say, "My friend and I went to the movie" because to is a preposition, but you cannot cannot say, "My friend and I went when the movie" because when is not a preposition.


In addition, one of the most frequent questions students ask me is how they can figure out where prepositional phrases begin and end. The answer: a prepositional phrase begins at the preposition and ends right before the verb (if there is one).


In the following sentences, the prepositional phrases are underlined. Note that a sentence can easily contain multiple prepositional phrases back to back, and that a prepositional phrase can occur anywhere in a sentence.


-The stack of books is sitting on the kitchen table.

-One of the stories on the front page of the newspaper discusses the upcoming elections in great detail.

-The train is crowded with people on their way home from school and work.

-Sitting on the table are a peach and an apple.


Prepositional phrases are frequently inserted between subjects and verbs on both the SAT and the ACT in order distract from disagreements, so whenever you don't immediately see an error in a sentence, it's a good idea to cross out all the prepositional phrases. 

Shorter is Better (SAT & ACT)

Since this rule applies somewhat differently to the SAT and ACT, I'm going to discuss each test separately.

SAT (Fixing Sentences): Always check answers in order of length, starting with the shortest one. In general, the correct answer will be the shortest answer that is grammatically correct. While the right answer won't always be the shortest option (although it often will be), it's highly unlikely to be one of the longer options - at least until the last few questions of the section, where all bets are off in terms of length.

Why? Because short, clear constructions are usually more effective than long, awkward ones, whether you're dealing with the SAT or not.

ACT: When you are given a phrase rewritten several ways, all of which are grammatically correct, the shortest one will virtually always be right. This rule applies only to general non-grammar question, NOT ones that require you to give a sentence a particular focus (e.g." Which of the following most effectively emphasizes the author's surprise at discovering a frog in her living room?")

Why? The longer options are generally either redundant or contain irrelevant information.

Incorrect: I decided to ask my mother the question, which required an answer.

Correct: I decided to ask my mother.

The only thing that one can ask is a question; and a question, by definition, requires an answer, so the inclusion of this information is unnecessary.

While I wouldn't ever advocate choosing an answer without reading it first, this rule is pretty foolproof. If you're pressed for time, just go for the shortest one, and you'll usually be right.

Faulty comparisons, last three Error-ID questions, especially #27 (SAT)

One of the astonishing things about the SAT Writing section is how utterly and completely predictable it is. Not only does the it include the same errors over and over again, but it also tends to put the same errors in the same places.

Take the infamous faulty comparison, in which a person is incorrectly compared to a thing, and which usually goes something like this:

Incorrect: Though widely read in the eighteenth century, Samuel Richardson's writings are far less popular among modern readers than Jonathan Swift.

Correct: Though widely read in the eighteenth century, Samuel Richardson's writings are far less popular among modern readers than those of Jonathan Swift.

Plenty of guides will tell you that this is one of the most common errors. It is. But what they won't tell you is that when it appears, it virtually always shows up as question #27, 28, or 29 of the first writing section, AND that of those three, it's most likely to be #27. Likewise, when faulty comparisons show up in Fixing Sentences, they're most likely to occur in the last few questions, although their placement isn't as highly regular on that section as it is on Error-IDs. 

Now this doesn't mean that faulty comparisons won't show up other places. They can and they have. But usually they don't.

Don't use too many big words in your essay (SAT & ACT Essay)

Many students try to pack their essays with ten-dollar "SAT words" because they think that using those words will make their writing sound sophisticated. Unfortunately, that technique usually backfires and usually makes their writing sound stuffy and overblown instead. A couple of well-placed words such as plethora, taciturn, or tenacious? Sure, that works. But not everywhere, and not all the time. You want to be simple and clear without being simplistic. And writing a relatively long essay (say two pages) doesn't necessitate long and wordy sentences.

Compare the following two sentences:

Version #1: In this contemporary society that we have at the present time, the problem of racism is unfortunately not an anachronism and appears to be an inexorable conundrum.

Version #2: Racism remains a significant issue today.

Note that even though the second version is much shorter and clearer, it doesn't sound dumbed down.  Using modifiers such as "substantially" and "significantly" (rather than "a lot" or "very") can go a long way toward giving your writing a more sophisticated flavor without making it weighty or awkward.

Comma Splices and How to Fix Them (SAT & ACT)

 Comma Splice = Two Sentences Separated by a Comma

The comma splice is one of the most frequently tested errors on both the SAT (Fixing Sentences only) and the ACT. Comma splices trump all other stylistic issues, which means that no matter how good a sentence sounds otherwise, it cannot be correct if it contains one.

Comma Splice: Many products claim to reduce cold symptoms, not all of them are effective.

Fixing Comma Splices

The three most common ways to fix comma splices are as follows:

1) Add a coordinating conjunction after the comma
      
Coordinating Conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

Correct: Many products claim to reduce cold symptoms, but not all of them are effective.


2) Replace the comma with a semicolon only OR a semicolon + however/therefore

Correct: Many products claim to reduce cold symptoms; not all of them are effective.

Correct: Many products claim to reduce cold symptoms; however, not all of them are effective.


3) Replace the comma with a period (ACT only)

Correct: Many products claim to reduce cold symptoms. Not all of them are effective.


ACT English hint: whenever you see answer choices that include a semicolon, a period, and a comma + and/but, you can automatically eliminate all of those options. They are exactly equivalent to one another, and the ACT will never make you choose between two equally correct answers.

First the passage, then the questions (SAT & ACT Reading)

One of the first things my new students usually ask is whether they should read the passage or the questions first. My response: always, always the passage first.

Here's why: the vast majority of reading questions on both the SAT and the ACT are highly context-based. That is, you need to have a sense of the general argument or idea being presented in order to understand how a particular detail or piece of information fits into the larger picture. It's really difficult to see how ideas relate when you only have part of the story.

The second question I usually get, though, is: Won't I run out time if I spend all my time reading before I even look at the questions?

To put it bluntly, no, you won't. At least not if you approach the passage with the goal of understanding its overall argument rather than every little detail. It might feel as if you're taking more time upfront, but that extra time will pay off in other ways. If, on the other hand, you just jump right to the questions, you'll have to spend most of your time figuring out the significance or the function of the piece of information being asked about. You'll have to hunt through the passage without any framework already in place, and you may overlook key areas that indicate a piece of information is contradicting or challenging an argument rather than supporting it. If you're already read the passage, you're a lot more likely to either remember  on your own why the information was important or recognize the reason off the bat when you see it in the answer choice.


Remember: it's the function of the information, the role it plays in the overall argument, that matters -- not the information itself. Yes, this tends to be more true on the SAT than the ACT, but the ACT has many, many "main point" questions as well, and you're ultimately better served on both tests by working this way.

Semicolons = Period (SAT & ACT)

I find that a lot of people are afraid of semicolons. Either that, or they sort of kind of think they might have an idea about how to use them... From what I have observed, semicolons are probably the most misunderstood punctuation mark. Which is very unfortunate because they're actually very simple to use. They also show up on the SAT (Fixing Sentences only) and ACT English a whole lot.

Here's the rule:

Semicolon = Period

That's it (well, almost). Seriously. Wherever you can use a period, you can also use a semicolon. If you want to get a tiny bit more technical about it, a semicolon is used to join two independent clauses, but you don't even need to go that far.

There's one more tiny little piece, though: whenever you start a clause with "however" or "therefore," you need to place a semicolon before it, thereby attaching it to the previous sentence. It is 100% incorrect to use a comma, and technically you shouldn't use a period either.

Correct: It's very sunny outside now; however, it might rain later.

Incorrect: It's very sunny outside now, however, I heard it might rain later.

Incorrect: It's very sunny outside now. However, I heard it might rain later.