Standard conventions

Measures the ability to edit text to conform to core conventions of Standard English sentence structure, usage, and punctuation.

This section is the easiest to improve yet the place where students tend to struggle the most. This was personally the hardest section for me when I was starting my journey with the SATs. To ace the standard conventions questions you will need to memorise the grammar rules but also practice a lot with these questions provided in the question bank. These questions will be the easiest and the most straightforward to answer from Reading and Writing module once you get the rules right.  Once you master these rules below you could see a 50 point increase in your reading and writing score. 

With these questions, the best thing to do is to understand the basis of these concepts, and then practise practise practise!

It is highly recommended to read up on this book if you are unsure or unfamiliar with standard English conventions. Once you start to notice these patterns, it will become easier to see which answers are correct and what makes the other answers wrong.

Boundaries

Main ideas:

• Subject-verb agreement: The verb always has to be conjugated to match the subject. This seems like an easy concept, but the SAT can use tricks to make the answer seem less obvious. Keep in mind that the answer is never ambiguous; there is always something that makes each wrong answer choice objectively wrong.

  • Example: "You are smart" instead of "you is smart"

• Relative clauses: These are clauses that add information but aren't necessary for the construction of a sentence. The SAT often uses these to confuse the candidate due to the frustrating wording of the sentences. If you identify a relative clause, you can disregard it as it only adds information and doesn't contribute to the grammatical structure of the sentence.

  • Example: "The lost ship and its treasure that had fallen to the bottom of the ocean were never found again." (strikethrough is a relative clause)

• Oxford comma: In American English (tested in the SAT), the Oxford comma has to exist (very annoying but yes)

  • Example: "Apples, bananas, and oranges" instead of "Apples, bananas and oranges"

Strategies:

1. Comma Rules: Understand the correct usage of commas for lists, clauses, and modifiers.

2. Run-Ons and Fragments: Recognize incomplete thoughts and fix them appropriately.

Form, structure and sense

This section tests how sentences connect on to an uncomplete clause, and the forms of forming clauses. A lot of the techniques are the same to the above section.

Strategies:

1.  Parallel Structure: Ensure similar grammatical forms in lists or comparisons.

2. Pronoun Usage: Check for correct antecedents and clarity.