🎓SAT Review
Fiveable SAT Writing and Language: Deep Dive into Conventions of Usage
Fiveable SAT Writing and Language: Deep Dive into Conventions of Usage
SAT Writing and Language: Deep Dive into Conventions of Usage
Conventions of Usage questions on the SAT test whether you can spot errors in how words are used: pronoun mix-ups, agreement mistakes, confused word pairs, and more. These questions make up a significant chunk of the Writing and Language section, and they're very learnable once you know what to look for.
Before diving in, make sure you're comfortable with Sentence Structure, the first piece of Standard English Conventions. Usage builds on those same foundations.
SAT Writing and Language: Usage
Compared to the other Writing and Language question types, Standard English Conventions is more technical. The topics below follow College Board's own breakdown, with explanations and practice questions for each one.
Pronoun Clarity
What College Board tests: Recognizing and correcting ambiguous or vague pronouns (pronouns with more than one possible antecedent or no clear antecedent at all)
An antecedent is the noun that a pronoun replaces. Without clear antecedents, sentences get confusing fast.
- "Jed is a rising college freshman. He loves his cookies burnt to a crisp." Here, He clearly refers back to Jed.
- The SAT tests situations where the antecedent is ambiguous (more than one possible noun) or missing entirely.
When you see a pronoun in an underlined portion, slow down and ask: Can I point to exactly one noun that this pronoun refers to? If not, the sentence has a clarity problem.
Watch for sentences like these:
- "Dolly and Polly went to her cousin's room." Who is her? Dolly or Polly? That's ambiguous.
- "Michael gave Steven his book." Whose book? Michael's or Steven's? Unclear.
Sample Question (from Khan Academy): After practicing the violin together for 15 years, Justine told Katie that __she was__ the better violinist.
(A) NO CHANGE (B) Katie was (C) she were (D) they were
Answer: (B). She is ambiguous because it could refer to either Justine or Katie. (C) fails because she and were don't agree. (D) still doesn't clarify who the better violinist is. Only (B) removes the ambiguity by naming Katie directly.
Possessive Determiners
What College Board tests: Distinguishing between and among possessive determiners ("its," "your," "their"), contractions ("it's," "you're," "they're"), and adverbs ("there")
These are the classic mix-ups. The trick is simple: if you can expand the word into two words (it is, they are, you are), use the contraction with the apostrophe. If not, use the possessive form.
- Its = belonging to it. "The dog wagged its tail."
- It's = it is. "It's raining today." (Test: "It is raining today" works, so the apostrophe is correct.)
- Their = belonging to them. "Jolene and her friends paid for their concert tickets."
- They're = they are. "Children are hard to babysit because they're always running everywhere."
- There = refers to location or existence (not a pronoun at all). "There are five red trucks outside."
- Your = belonging to you. "I remember your mother baking cookies."
- You're = you are. "You're the most radiant contender in this pageant."
Quick test on every question: Try replacing the word with the expanded form. If "it is" or "they are" or "you are" makes sense in the sentence, use the contraction. If not, use the possessive.
Sample Question: If we're talking about must-go places, I'd personally go for Fisherman's Wharf because of __their__ vibrance.
(A) NO CHANGE (B) you're (C) its (D) there
Answer: (C). Fisherman's Wharf is a singular noun (a place), so you need a singular possessive pronoun. Their (A) is plural. You're (B) means "you are." There (D) refers to a location. Only its correctly shows possession for a singular noun.
Agreement
What College Board tests: Ensuring agreement between subject and verb, between pronoun and antecedent, and between nouns
The core rule: singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs.
- "He/she/it" or any singular noun pairs with is/was or a singular verb form
- "You/they/we" or any plural noun pairs with are/were or a plural verb form
- "I" pairs with am/was
Examples:
- The dogs were noisy. (plural subject, plural verb)
- The showdown between the fairies and the clowns is starting soon. (singular subject, singular verb)
The biggest trap: phrases that separate the subject from the verb. Prepositional phrases, comma-set-off phrases, and relative clauses often sit between the subject and verb to distract you. Strip them out mentally.
- "Alvin, accompanied by the other chipmunks, performed at the Times Square Ball Drop." Remove the phrase between commas: Alvin performed. Singular subject, singular verb.
- "Movies by Quentin Tarantino, including Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight, interest moviegoers." Strip it down: Movies interest moviegoers. Plural subject, plural verb.
Always agree with the subject, not with a noun that happens to be closer to the verb.
- "The drafts I completed a couple of days ago have impressed my film professor." Have impressed agrees with drafts (plural), not professor.
- "The pencils are lying in the corner, while the laptop charger has been hidden under the bed." Has agrees with charger (singular), not pencils.
Sample Question: Harry Houdini's daredevil stunts __requires__ skill and his charisma never __fails__ to impress.
(A) NO CHANGE (B) require; fail (C) require; fails (D) requires; fail
Answer: (C). Require matches stunts (plural), and fails matches charisma (singular).
Frequently Confused Words
What College Board tests: Distinguishing between and among words that are commonly mistaken for one another (e.g., "affect" and "effect")
This category is a bit of a wildcard because English has many word pairs that sound alike but mean different things. The key strategy: pay close attention to the context of the sentence and think about what meaning is actually needed. Here are the pairs most likely to show up:
| Word 1 | Word 2 |
|---|---|
| than - used for comparisons ("He has more experience than his colleague.") | then - used for sequence of events ("She finished her work and then went for a walk.") |
| less - used with uncountable nouns ("There is less sugar in this recipe.") | fewer - used with countable nouns ("There are fewer apples in the basket.") |
| much - used with uncountable nouns ("She doesn't have much time.") | many - used with countable nouns ("How many friends do you have?") |
| accept - to agree to receive something ("I accept your apology.") | except - not including ("I like all fruits except bananas.") |
| affect - verb meaning to influence ("The policy will affect profits.") | effect - noun meaning result or outcome ("The policy had a significant effect on profits.") |
| access - the ability to obtain or reach something ("She was granted access to the area.") | excess - more than what is needed ("He ate in excess and felt sick.") |
| compliment - a positive remark ("He complimented her cooking.") | complement - something that completes or enhances ("Sweet and salty flavors complement each other.") |
| afflict - to cause suffering, often from uncontrollable circumstances ("Poverty afflicts many communities.") | inflict - to deliberately cause harm ("He inflicted a deep wound.") |
| allude - to hint at something ("The speaker alluded to a historical event.") | elude - to escape or avoid ("The suspect eluded the police.") |
| lose - to no longer have something ("I don't want to lose my keys.") | loose - not tight ("Her shoelaces are loose.") |
| Sample Question: Identify the grammatically correct sentence: |
(A) Hurricane Harvey has affected millions of Americans. (B) During the 19th century, child labor effected almost every household's work dynamic. (C) Watch your words because if carelessly said, they can effect people negatively. (D) Today, Negan presented a report on the Industrial Revolution and its long-term affects.
Answer: (A). Affect is typically a verb meaning "to influence," while effect is typically a noun meaning "result" or "consequence." In (A), affected correctly functions as a verb. (B) and (C) incorrectly use effect as a verb where affect is needed. (D) incorrectly uses affects as a noun where effects is needed.
Logical Comparison
What College Board tests: Recognizing and correcting cases in which unlike terms are compared
The rule here is straightforward: compare equivalent things. You can't compare a thing to a category or a quality to a person. Both sides of the comparison need to be parallel.
- Wrong: "Life in the Northern Water Tribe is completely different from the Southern Water Tribe." (This compares life to a tribe.)
- Correct: "Life in the Northern Water Tribe is completely different from that in the Southern Water Tribe." Adding that makes it clear you're comparing life to life.
Logical comparison also overlaps with parallel structure. Both sides of a comparison should use the same grammatical form:
- Wrong: "When encountering a lion, it is better to hide than running away." (infinitive vs. gerund)
- Correct: "When encountering a lion, it is better to hide than to run away." (infinitive vs. infinitive)
When you see a comparison in an underlined section, check two things: (1) Are the compared items truly equivalent? (2) Are they in the same grammatical form?
Conventional Expression
What College Board tests: Recognizing and correcting cases in which, for no good rhetorical reason, language fails to follow conventional practice
Some word pairings in English are fixed. These are called correlative conjunctions (or coordinators), and they always travel in pairs. If you see the first word, the second must also appear:
- Neither... nor...
- Either... or...
- From... to...
- As... as...
- Between... and...
- Not only... but also...
- Both... and...
Prepositions (words like in, on, at, for) can also be tested. These don't follow neat rules and often depend on convention:
- "I find it hard to focus on what the teacher is doing."
- "The USSR stands for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics."
If you're unsure about a preposition choice, try reading each option in the sentence. The one that sounds natural is usually correct. Your ear for English is a real asset on these questions.
SAT Usage: Conclusion
Once you're comfortable with these six usage topics, move on to Conventions of Punctuation, the last piece of SAT Standard English Conventions. Between Sentence Structure, Usage, and Punctuation, you'll have the full technical side of Writing and Language covered.