Fiveable SAT Writing and Language: Deep Dive into Sentence Structure

✍🏼 SAT Writing and Language: Sentence Structure

This is the first of three guides covering Standard English Conventions on the SAT Writing and Language section. Compared to the other SAT Language areas, this one is more technical. You need to know the actual rules of written English, not just what "sounds right." This guide breaks sentence structure down into six testable areas: sentence boundaries, subordination and coordination, parallel structure, modifier placement, verb shifts, and pronoun shifts.

🌉 Sentence Boundaries

🌰 What the College Board says: Recognizing and correcting grammatically incomplete sentences that aren't rhetorically effective

⭐ What this means for you: You need to know what makes a sentence complete versus incomplete, and how punctuation marks those boundaries.

🤔 What You Need to Remember:

• A complete sentence has three things: (1) a subject (a noun or pronoun performing or receiving an action), (2) a predicate (a verb expressing what the subject does), and (3) a complete thought.
  • Ex. I always wake up in the morning to catch a glimpse of Uncle Jimmy's cows.
• A fragment is missing at least one of those three elements.
  • Ex. Uncle Jimmy's cows (missing predicate)
  • Ex. To catch a glimpse of his cows (missing subject)
  • Ex. Always waking up in the morning (incomplete thought)
• You can end complete sentences with periods (.), exclamation points (!), or question marks (?).
  • Ex. Have you seen the sequel to Boss Baby?
  • Ex. I hate pineapple on pizza!
  • Ex. It is frustrating how the SAT is coming up very soon.
• You can also join two related independent clauses with a semicolon (;). Both sides of the semicolon must be complete sentences.
  • Ex. I heard the San Diego Zoo is among the most popular zoos in the world; it is said to have more than 500 animals and 20 shops.
• You CANNOT end a fragment with a period. If a fragment comes at the beginning of a sentence, attach it to the main clause with a comma.
  • Wrong: Too exhausted to talk. Jimmy drifted off to sleep.
  • Correct: Too exhausted to talk, Jimmy drifted off to sleep.
• Watch out for comma splices. A comma splice happens when you use just a comma to connect two independent clauses (complete sentences). This is a type of run-on sentence.
  • Wrong: I went for a walk, it was a beautiful day.
  • To fix it, you could use a period, a semicolon, or add a coordinating conjunction: I went for a walk, and it was a beautiful day.

---

🙌 Subordination and Coordination

🌰 What the College Board says: Recognizing and correcting problems in how major parts of sentences are related

⭐ What this means for you: You need to know your subordinating and coordinating conjunctions and understand how they create logical relationships between ideas.

🤔 What You Need to Remember:

• A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb.
• An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence.
  • Ex. Wetlands are becoming less and less prevalent over time.
• A dependent clause CANNOT stand alone. It sounds like a cliffhanger if you say it out loud.
  • Ex. Although she enjoys ravioli
  • Ex. Because Kanye West delayed the launch of 'Donda'
• Conjunctions are words that link words, phrases, or clauses together.
  • Ex. bored yet hungry
  • Ex. My mom loves watching NASCAR events, but my dad prefers watching figure skating championships.
• Coordinating conjunctions join equally important ideas (two phrases or two independent clauses). Remember them with the acronym FANBOYS:

When you use a coordinating conjunction to join two independent clauses, place a comma before the conjunction.

• Subordinating conjunctions combine a dependent clause with an independent clause. If you see one of these words at the beginning of a clause, that clause is dependent:

• Ex. Joaquin studied Japanese so he can do a study abroad program in the Far East next semester. (Joaquin studied Japanese = independent clause; so he can... = dependent clause)
• Ex. Unless the church can find 50 more donors, it will shut down next month. (Unless the church... = dependent clause; it will shut down... = independent clause)

The key skill on the SAT is choosing the conjunction that creates the correct logical relationship. Does the sentence need a cause, a contrast, a condition, or something else?

❗ Sample Question: Unless he transferred to a new school, Jeremy struggled with finding friends.

(A) NO CHANGE

(B) Although

(C) Because

(D) Even though

ANSWER: (C) Because. "Unless" implies a condition or ultimatum, which doesn't fit here. "Although" and "Even though" both signal contrast, but the sentence describes a cause-and-effect relationship: Jeremy struggled because of his transfer. "Because" correctly connects the cause (transferring) to the effect (struggling to find friends).

---

⛓️ Parallel Structure

🌰 What the College Board says: Recognizing and correcting problems with parallelism

⭐ What this means for you: When items appear in a list or a pair, they all need to follow the same grammatical pattern. Think of it like parallel lines going in the same direction.

🤔 What You Need to Remember:

• Items in a series must match in form. If the first item is an -ing verb, they all should be -ing verbs. If the first uses "to + verb," they all should.
  • Ex. I like drinking milk tea, singing Taylor Swift songs, and collecting pins. (-ing, -ing, -ing)
  • Ex. I want to dance, to ride horses, and to take photos. (to ___, to ___, to ___)

❗ Sample Question: To win at Scrabble, I suggest that you focus on spelling longer words, reach the "double" or "triple" bonuses, and using all your rare consonants.

(A) NO CHANGE

(B) reaches

(C) reaching

(D) to reach

ANSWER: (C) reaching. The other items in the list are "spelling" and "using," so you need "reaching" to stay consistent.

• Parallel structure with verbs: Keep them in the same tense.
  • Ex. He enlisted into the army, trained diligently, and fought against the enemies of the nation.
  • Ex. By donating to UNICEF, we can support those in need, keep the organization running, and make plentiful use of our money.
• Parallel structure in pairs: Certain word pairs always go together, and whatever follows each half of the pair must match grammatically.
  • neither...nor: You shouldn't give up neither your life nor your effort for a futile cause.
  • as...as: Contemporary critics view Romeo's love for Juliet as something that is as shallow as a pond.
  • both...and: The police found both the illegal paraphernalia and the missing individuals.
  • from...to: Dean Johnson's favorite activities range from judo to kayaking.
  • not only...but also: My sister wants to not only go rock climbing but also go cliff diving.

---

🗺️ Modifier Placement

🌰 What the College Board says: Recognizing and correcting problems with modifier placement, including dangling and misplaced modifiers

⭐ What this means for you: A modifier is a word or phrase that describes something. Your job is to make sure it's placed right next to the thing it describes. If it isn't, you get confusion or unintentional comedy.

🤔 What You Need to Remember:

• A dangling modifier occurs when the descriptive phrase doesn't logically connect to the subject that follows it.
  • Ex. Crushed and brutally pulverized, the chef grabbed the ground pepper from within the mortar.
  • "Crushed and brutally pulverized" is supposed to describe the pepper, but the way the sentence is written, it sounds like the chef was pulverized. The modifier needs to sit right next to what it actually describes.
• When you see a descriptive phrase at the start of a sentence (before the comma), check: does the subject right after the comma match what's being described? If not, it's a dangling modifier.

❗ Sample Question: After being caught in the act, the on-site reporters excitedly snapped photos of the malevolent vandals.

(A) NO CHANGE

(B) the on-site reporters and the malevolent vandals ran.

(C) the malevolent vandals ran away from the excited on-site reporters.

(D) the photos of the malevolent vandals were snapped by on-site reporters.

ANSWER: (C). Ask yourself: "Who was caught in the act?" The vandals. So "the malevolent vandals" needs to appear right after the comma. Choice A puts "reporters" there. Choice D puts "photos" there. Choice B puts "reporters" there too. Only choice C places the vandals immediately after the modifier.

---

🔊 Shifts in Verb Tense, Mood, and Voice

🌰 What the College Board says: Changing inappropriately from past to present tense

⭐ What this means for you: Stay consistent with verb tenses throughout a sentence and passage. Don't jump between past and present without a reason.

🤔 What You Need to Remember:

• Most of the time, you'll be checking for tense inconsistencies. Does the tense match the time frame of the sentence?
• Past vs. Present Tense: Look for timestamp clues in the sentence to figure out which tense is correct.
  • Ex. Yesterday, aunt Rosa shopped for souvenirs in downtown San Francisco. (Past tense: "yesterday" is the clue.)
  • Ex. Scientists sanctioned by the UN recently stated that in terms of climate change, the world will be in a dire place by 2040. (The stating happened in the past; the prediction is about the future. Both tenses are correct here because they refer to different time frames.)

❗ Sample Question: Back in his day, Grampa Joad pulled out the weeds and chop down trees in his backyard.

(A) NO CHANGE

(B) chopping

(C) will chop

(D) chopped

ANSWER: (D) chopped. Two ways to get here: (1) parallel structure with "pulled," which is past tense, so you need "chopped"; or (2) the phrase "back in his day" signals past tense.

• Indicative Mood vs. Conditional Mood: The indicative mood states facts or describes things that actually happened. The conditional mood expresses hypothetical or "what if" situations, often paired with an "if" clause.
  • Ex. The drink might explode if you shake the bottle. (Conditional: hypothetical situation)
  • Ex. When he shook the bottle, the drink exploded. (Indicative: this actually happened, past tense)
• Active vs. Passive Voice: The SAT generally prefers active voice because it's shorter and more direct. In active voice, the subject performs the action. In passive voice, the subject receives the action.
  • Passive: The drink was served by the waitress.
  • Active: The waitress served the drink.
• That said, don't automatically eliminate passive voice if it's the only answer that maintains correct verb tense. Tense consistency matters more than voice preference.
  • Ex. The emcee presented the plaque at the ceremony and the guest was beyond excited to receive it. (Both verbs are past tense, which is what matters here, even though "was" could look passive.)

---

🔢 Shifts in Pronoun Person and Number

🌰 What the College Board says: Changing inappropriately from second person "you" to third person "one"

⭐ What this means for you: Keep track of what each pronoun refers to, make sure pronouns match their antecedents in number (singular/plural), and don't switch between "you" and "one" mid-sentence.

🤔 What You Need to Remember:

• Don't get thrown off by collective nouns (words that describe groups). Collective nouns are typically treated as singular.

  • Ex. The orangutan at the Los Angeles Zoo shoved a bunch of bananas down its throat and gnawed it aggressively. ("It" refers to "a bunch," which is singular, not the individual bananas.)
  • Ex. The Jamesons saw a pack of wolves and admired it from afar. ("It" refers to "pack," not the wolves.)

• Keep the pronoun person consistent. Remember the three categories:

  • First person: I/me, we/our
  • Second person: you/your
  • Third person: they/them, he/him, she/her, it/its Don't switch from "you" to "one" or from "we" to "they" without reason within the same passage.

• Make sure the pronoun matches the number of its antecedent (the noun it refers to). Plural subjects need plural pronouns.

  • Ex. Fifteen college students were randomly assigned to form groups within themselves. (Not "himself," "herself," or "ourselves.")

❗ Sample Question: Agatha and her classmates followed her teacher outside the wet laboratory right after the smoke alarm went off.

(A) NO CHANGE

(B) our

(C) its

(D) their

ANSWER: (D) their. The subject is "Agatha and her classmates," which is plural. That eliminates (A) "her" (singular) and (C) "its" (singular). Since "I" isn't part of the sentence, "our" in choice (B) doesn't work either. "Their" correctly matches the plural subject.

---

🤓 SAT Sentence Structure: Conclusion

That covers all six sentence structure areas tested on the SAT Writing and Language section. Take time to practice each one with real SAT questions. Once you feel solid on these, move on to the deep dive into conventions of usage for the next set of grammar rules.