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41 cards · 10 topics · by Quizcard team · 0 hearts · Updated 2026-11-03
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What is a run-on sentence?
Answer: Two or more independent clauses joined with no punctuation or conjunction at all.
Wrong: "I love reading I read every day." Corrected: "I love reading, and I read every day." (or "I love reading; I read every day.")
What is a comma splice?
Answer: Two independent clauses joined by only a comma, with no coordinating conjunction.
Wrong: "The movie was long, we left early." Corrected: "The movie was long, so we left early." (or "The movie was long; we left early.")
What is a sentence fragment?
Answer: A group of words punctuated as a sentence but missing a subject, a verb, or a complete thought (often a dependent clause standing alone).
Wrong: "Because she was tired." Corrected: "Because she was tired, she went to bed early."
List the four main ways to fix a run-on or comma splice.
Answer: 1) Split into two sentences with a period. 2) Join with a semicolon. 3) Add a comma + coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS). 4) Make one clause dependent with a subordinating conjunction.
Wrong: "He was late, he missed the bus." Corrected (4 ways): "He was late. He missed the bus." / "He was late; he missed the bus." / "He was late, so he missed the bus." / "Because he was late, he missed the bus."
What distinguishes an independent clause from a dependent clause?
Answer: An independent clause has a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought (can stand alone); a dependent clause has a subject and verb but cannot stand alone, often starting with a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun.
Independent: "She finished the race." Dependent (fragment alone): "Although she finished the race" needs to attach to an independent clause: "Although she finished the race, she was exhausted."
Rule: can a semicolon join two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction after it?
Answer: No. A semicolon alone joins two independent clauses; it should not be followed by a FANBOYS conjunction (and, but, so, etc.).
Wrong: "She studied hard; so she passed." Corrected: "She studied hard; she passed." or "She studied hard, so she passed."
When is a colon used correctly?
Answer: A colon follows a complete independent clause to introduce a list, explanation, or elaboration.
Wrong: "The ingredients are: flour, sugar, and eggs." (clause before colon is incomplete). Corrected: "The recipe requires three ingredients: flour, sugar, and eggs."
How do you punctuate a conjunctive adverb (however, therefore, moreover) joining two independent clauses?
Answer: Semicolon before the conjunctive adverb, comma after it.
Wrong: "I was tired, however, I kept working." (comma splice) Corrected: "I was tired; however, I kept working."
When must a comma appear before a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)?
Answer: When the conjunction joins two independent clauses.
Wrong: "I went to the store and I bought milk." Corrected: "I went to the store, and I bought milk."
Should a comma separate a compound predicate (one subject, two verbs) joined by "and"?
Answer: No comma is needed before "and" when it joins two verbs sharing the same subject (not two independent clauses).
Wrong: "She cooked dinner, and cleaned the kitchen." Corrected: "She cooked dinner and cleaned the kitchen."
Rule: comma between subject and verb?
Answer: Never separate a subject from its verb with a single comma, even if a long modifying phrase sits between them.
Wrong: "The dog that barked all night, kept us awake." Corrected: "The dog that barked all night kept us awake."
How are nonrestrictive (nonessential) clauses punctuated?
Answer: Set off with commas on both sides because the information is extra and could be removed without changing the sentence's core meaning.
Wrong: "My brother who lives in Texas is a doctor." (implies more than one brother) Corrected: "My brother, who lives in Texas, is a doctor." (only one brother; clause is extra info)
How are restrictive (essential) clauses punctuated?
Answer: No commas, because the clause is necessary to identify which noun is meant.
Correct: "Students who study hard succeed." (no commas — the clause specifies which students, so it can't be removed)
Rule: comma after an introductory word, phrase, or clause?
Answer: Place a comma after an introductory element before the main clause begins.
Wrong: "After the game the team celebrated." Corrected: "After the game, the team celebrated."
Rule: commas in a list of three or more items?
Answer: Separate each item with a comma, including before the final conjunction (the serial/Oxford comma is standard on the SAT).
Wrong: "I bought apples, bananas and pears." Corrected: "I bought apples, bananas, and pears."
Subject-verb agreement: does a prepositional phrase between subject and verb change the verb's number?
Answer: No — the verb must agree with the true subject, not with a noun in an intervening phrase.
Wrong: "The list of items are on the table." (subject is "list," singular) Corrected: "The list of items is on the table."
Subject-verb agreement with "each," "every," "either," "neither," "one" as subjects — singular or plural verb?
Answer: Singular verb, because these words are grammatically singular even when followed by a plural noun phrase.
Wrong: "Each of the students have a book." Corrected: "Each of the students has a book."
Subject-verb agreement: subjects joined by "and"?
Answer: Take a plural verb (they form a compound subject).
Wrong: "Tom and Jerry is best friends." Corrected: "Tom and Jerry are best friends."
Subject-verb agreement: subjects joined by "or"/"nor"?
Answer: The verb agrees with the subject nearer to it.
Wrong: "Neither the teacher nor the students was ready." Corrected: "Neither the teacher nor the students were ready." (verb agrees with "students," the nearer subject)
How do collective nouns (team, committee, family) usually take verbs?
Answer: Singular verb, since the group acts as one unit.
Correct: "The team is winning." (Not "the team are winning" in standard American usage tested on the SAT)
Rule: pronoun-antecedent number agreement.
Answer: A pronoun must match its antecedent in number — singular antecedent takes a singular pronoun, plural takes plural.
Wrong: "Every student must bring their own pencil" is tested as an error on SAT formal style; Corrected (singular): "Every student must bring his or her own pencil." or rewrite as plural: "All students must bring their own pencils."
What is an ambiguous pronoun reference error, and how is it fixed?
Answer: It occurs when a pronoun could logically refer to more than one noun; fix by replacing the pronoun with the specific noun or rewording.
Wrong: "When Sarah met Lisa, she was nervous." (unclear who "she" is) Corrected: "When Sarah met Lisa, Sarah was nervous."
Rule: consistency of pronoun person within a sentence.
Answer: Do not shift between pronoun persons (e.g., "one" to "you") when referring to the same antecedent.
Wrong: "If one wants to succeed, you must work hard." Corrected: "If one wants to succeed, one must work hard."
Rule: verb tense consistency within a sentence or passage.
Answer: Keep verb tense consistent unless the timeline of events genuinely requires a shift.
Wrong: "She walks to the store and bought milk." Corrected: "She walked to the store and bought milk."
When should the past perfect tense ("had + past participle") be used?
Answer: To show an action that was completed before another past action (the earlier of two past events).
Wrong: "After she finished her homework, she watches TV." Corrected: "After she had finished her homework, she watched TV." (finishing homework happened before watching TV)
What is a misplaced modifier, and how is it fixed?
Answer: A modifying word or phrase placed too far from the word it's meant to describe, creating confusion; fix by moving the modifier next to what it describes.
Wrong: "Running down the street, the bus was missed by John." (implies the bus was running) Corrected: "Running down the street, John missed the bus."
What is a dangling modifier, and how is it fixed?
Answer: An introductory phrase that has no logical subject in the main clause to modify; fix by adding the correct subject right after the phrase.
Wrong: "Walking into the room, the lights were off." (the lights can't walk) Corrected: "Walking into the room, I noticed the lights were off."
Rule: parallel structure in a list or comparison.
Answer: All items joined in a series or comparison must use the same grammatical form.
Wrong: "She likes hiking, to swim, and biking." Corrected: "She likes hiking, swimming, and biking."
Rule: parallelism with correlative conjunctions (not only...but also, either...or, both...and).
Answer: The grammatical structure following each half of the correlative pair must match.
Wrong: "She not only enjoys reading but also to write." Corrected: "She not only enjoys reading but also enjoys writing."
Rule: forming a singular possessive noun.
Answer: Add apostrophe + s ('s) to the end of a singular noun.
Wrong: "The dogs bone was buried." Corrected: "The dog's bone was buried."
Rule: forming a plural possessive noun that already ends in s.
Answer: Add only an apostrophe after the final s.
Wrong: "The students books were lost." Corrected: "The students' books were lost." (books belonging to multiple students)
"Its" vs. "it's" — what's the rule?
Answer: "Its" is the possessive pronoun (no apostrophe); "it's" is a contraction of "it is" or "it has."
Wrong: "The dog wagged it's tail." Corrected: "The dog wagged its tail." ("it's" would mean "it is tail," which makes no sense)
"Who's" vs. "whose" — what's the rule?
Answer: "Who's" is a contraction of "who is"/"who has"; "whose" is the possessive form of "who."
Wrong: "Who's book is this?" Corrected: "Whose book is this?" ("Who's" would mean "Who is book," which is wrong)
Rule: possessive of irregular plural nouns (children, men, women).
Answer: Add apostrophe + s ('s), since these plurals don't already end in s.
Wrong: "The childrens toys." Corrected: "The children's toys."
Give common contrast transition words and their use.
Answer: However, nevertheless, on the other hand, whereas, although, yet — used to signal an opposing or unexpected idea between sentences/clauses.
Example: "The hike was long; however, the view made it worthwhile."
Give common cause-and-effect transition words and their use.
Answer: Therefore, thus, consequently, as a result, hence — used to show that one idea is the result of another.
Example: "It rained heavily all night; as a result, the game was canceled."
Give common addition transition words and their use.
Answer: Furthermore, moreover, in addition, additionally, also — used to add a related, supporting idea.
Example: "The plan saves money; moreover, it reduces waste."
Give common example transition words and their use.
Answer: For example, for instance, such as, namely, specifically — used to introduce a specific illustration of a general claim.
Example: "Many fruits are rich in vitamin C; for instance, oranges and strawberries."
Strategy for choosing the correct transition word on the SAT.
Answer: Determine the logical relationship between the two ideas (contrast, cause/effect, addition, or example) before looking at the answer choices, then pick the transition matching that exact relationship.
If sentence 2 contradicts sentence 1, the answer must be a contrast word (however), not a cause word (therefore), even if both sound fluent.
What is a "rhetorical synthesis" question on the Digital SAT?
Answer: A question giving bullet-point notes on a topic and asking the student to combine information from them into one effective sentence that achieves a specific stated goal (e.g., to compare, to emphasize a contrast, to introduce a topic).
The goal is always stated in the question stem (e.g., "to highlight a similarity between X and Y") — the correct answer must accomplish that exact goal using only the given notes.
Best strategy for answering rhetorical synthesis questions.
Answer: 1) Read the stated goal carefully. 2) Identify which bullet points are relevant to that goal. 3) Eliminate answer choices that add information not in the notes, misstate facts, or fail to achieve the specific goal (even if grammatically correct).
A choice can be grammatically perfect but still wrong if it doesn't fulfill the stated purpose (e.g., it lists facts but doesn't actually draw the required contrast).
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