Mastering SAT Standard English Conventions: A Comprehensive Review

Boundaries

The domain in the Digital SAT Reading and Writing section that tests the recognition of sentence and clause endings and requires command of punctuation rules.

Independent Clause

A group of words with a subject and verb that expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence.

Dependent Clause

A group of words with a subject and verb that cannot stand alone, beginning with a subordinating conjunction.

FANBOYS

A mnemonic for coordinating conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So used to connect independent clauses.

Comma Splice

An error that occurs when two independent clauses are joined only by a comma.

Punctuation

Marks such as periods, commas, semicolons, colons, and dashes used to clarify meaning in writing.

Colon (:)

A punctuation mark used to introduce a list, explanation, or elaboration; the clause before it must be independent.

Single Dash (—)

A punctuation mark that emphasizes or explains; the clause before it must be independent.

Double Dash (—…—)

Punctuation that functions like parentheses to set off non-essential information in a sentence.

Subject-Verb Agreement

The grammatical rule that the verb must match the subject in number, whether singular or plural.

Intervening Phrases

Phrases that can be ignored when checking subject-verb agreement, which may appear between the subject and verb.

Inverted Sentences

Sentences where the verb precedes the subject; agreement can be checked by reversing the order mentally.

Singular Possessive

Formed by adding 's to a singular noun to indicate ownership.

Plural Possessive

Formed by adding s' to a plural noun to indicate ownership.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

The rule that pronouns must agree in number and gender with their antecedent.

Present Perfect Tense

Verb tense used for actions that started in the past and continue to the present, formed with has/have + past participle.

Past Perfect Tense

Verb tense used for actions that were completed before another past action, formed with had + past participle.

Parallel Structure

The grammatical rule that requires items in a list or comparison to share the same grammatical form.

Redundancy

The unnecessary repetition in writing, often discouraged in Standard English Conventions.

Its vs. It's

Its indicates possession, while it's is a contraction for it is or it has.

Collective Nouns

Nouns that refer to a group and are treated as singular in American Standard English (SAT standard).

Logical Comparisons

The grammatical rule that requires comparisons to be coherent and clear, often checked through parallel structure.

Grammar

The set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in a language.

Logical Consistency

The necessity for verbs to align logically with the verb timeline, particularly in narrative tenses.

Comma + FANBOYS

A combination that correctly joins two independent clauses, following the format Independent + , + FANBOYS + Independent.