When “what sounds right” and “what is actually right” conflict, you can bet the SAT is waiting with a question to trap the unwary, often on misplaced modifiers.

The SAT Writing section is made up of four 350-450-word essays, containing eleven questions each. It tests basic grammar, big-picture grammatical issues, style, tone, and syntax. Let’s explore some basic techniques for succeeding on this section of the SAT.

What are Sentence Fragments? Sentences are made up of both a subject and a verb that tells us what the subject is doing. The exception would be commands, which aren’t tested on the SAT (study!). Fragments are incorrect because they lack a verb that describes what a subject is doing. But it’s not that straightforward, […]

Acing the new SAT’s Writing section comes down to three key strategies: 1) know your grammar, 2) know the test, and 3) know how to identify parts of sentences. Read on to learn what the heck that all means.

Take a crack at this practice set; it’s based last week’s post Sense of Grammar for Improving Sentences.

The questions in SAT Paragraph Correction deviate from the rest of SAT Writing. The SAT throws out a big chunk of text, requiring you to mentally switch gears. Rather than obsessing over the individual components of sentences and tweaking them (like in Sentence Correction and Error ID), you’re now looking at a whole piece of writing. Learn the strategies, and you’ll be good to go.

Hello! And welcome to the latest installment of our SAT Essay Theme Guide series. Today, we tackle SAT essays about knowledge. Since you’re reading an SAT blog, I think it’s safe to assume that you’re pretty familiar with the acquisition of knowledge. It’s why we go to high school and it’s why we’re applying to […]

Welcome to the newest post in our 10-part SAT Essay Theme Guide series! Today, we tackle SAT essay prompts that ask you to write about challenges. Let’s get started! Getting up at 6:30 a.m., not constantly eating all of the Nutella in the pantry with a spoon, acne – we teenagers go through a lot […]

Develop an “eye for grammar.” Wear your monocle and get to it. I know someone* who picks out grammatical mistakes wherever they show up: flyers, menus, signs, newspaper articles, instruction manuals, etc. She’s often tempted to circle them. On occasion, she has given into this temptation. Noooo! Do you see it?! Whether or not you […]

I love this question. It shows just how frazzled people are when writing under the clock. However, it also means they lack confidence when choosing examples. When test-takers get anxious and panicky, they often feel that lying is their only option. When this happens on the SAT essay, students support their argument with made-up wars, […]