Standard English Conventions 5–8 questions per test
All grammatical relationships in a sentence must be aligned and in agreement, so test-takers must ensure that every part of the sentence in question match in tense, number and meaning.
THE METHOD
The Anchor-First, Pattern-Second Rule
Form, Structure & Sense questions are often an exercise in pattern matching. Once you locate the anchor word(s)–the part of the sentence that dictates what will go in the blank space–you must match its grammatical characteristics to the answer choices. For example, if the anchor word is singular, so too must the correct answer.
Choices that swap singular and plural verbs are testing agreement. Choices that swap tenses are testing the timeline. Choices that make modifiers apply to the wrong part of the sentence are testing modifier placement. Choices that cause ambiguity surrounding which part of a sentence a pronoun is referring to are testing pronoun clarity.
This is why success on this question type comes down to finding the anchor: the true subject, the antecedent, the reference point in time, the noun being modified, or the items in the list. That word is what the blank depends on. The answer then stops being a matter of what “sounds right,” because you are, instead, checking every choice against one specific grammatical standard and eliminating the ones that break it.
Read the sentence and locate the word that the blank depends on. Don’t be distracted by words and phrases that sit in between the blank and the anchor word. The SAT loves to distract students with complex, multi-clausal sentences, so discipline in locating the anchor is crucial.
Is the anchor word singular or plural? Past or present tense? Is it a noun needing a pronoun to replace it? You need to know all of the basic grammatical characteristics of the anchor word before looking at the answer choices.
Test each choice against the anchor word’s characteristics and eliminate every choice that differs. If two choices survive, check whether the sentence is also testing a second rule. Grammar decides the answer, not what “sounds right.”
THE FIVE RULES
The true subject, the noun that is doing the verb. This is found by stripping away surrounding words and phrases and answering: “who or what is doing the action?”.
A noun-verb disagreement (“he are” or “they is”) is made less obvious in a sentence that separates the noun and verb with a long phrase in the middle.
A singular subject takes a singular verb. A plural subject takes a plural verb. To test this, try conjugating the verb in question with “he” or “she” for singular and “they” for plural (“he eats” vs. “they eat”).
The noun that the pronoun stands in for, which may be several words back.
A subject is introduced, but the pronoun does not match it (often with a long, complex clause in the middle to make the disagreement less obvious).
Determine which noun the pronoun is replacing, and make sure it matches the original noun in number and person, and that it is clearly replacing that noun. Uncertainty on what a pronoun is replacing is incorrect.
Time markers and surrounding verbs that establish when the action occurs.
Introducing, for example, a present tense verb, then subtly switching a later verb to the past tense.
The tense fits the tense and timeline that have been established, and every sentence has at least one verb/completed action.
The word or phrase that is being described or “modified.”
The modifier (describer) subtly refers to the wrong part of the sentence.
Make sure the modifier actually directly ties to the thing it should be modifying.
The list, the pair joined by “and” or “or,” or the comparison using “than.”
The established form–a noun, an -ing form, a “to” form, or a full clause–is not shared all elements in a sentence.
If two items in a series share the same form, make sure the third (and beyond) items share it, too.
INTERACTIVE WALKTHROUGH
THE SENTENCE
The collection of letters that the naturalist wrote to colleagues across Europe_____now housed in a single university archive.
The choices: are, is, were, have been. Notice how they split between singular and plural forms of one verb. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
01 · Find the anchor
Cover the blank and ask what the verb depends on. Cross out the phrases that only sit between the subject and the blank.
THE TRAPS
The choice agrees with the noun closest to the blank instead of the actual subject or antecedent. It sounds smooth because the nearby noun makes it sound smooth.
The choice supplies the one form that satisfies the rule the sentence is testing, checked against the anchor word rather than against how the sentence sounds.
The choice hangs a modifier on the wrong noun, compares unlike things, or leaves the sentence without a verb/completed action, so the meaning or the structure quietly breaks.
TRY THE METHOD
Find what is being compared, list the characteristics the correct answer must have in order to match the Anchor Word, then eliminate every choice that does not have the right characteristics.
The Sentence
Unlike the growth rings of temperate hardwoods, which typically form a single band each year, _______ several bands within a single year in response to intermittent drought.
The sentence opens with a comparison: “Unlike the growth rings of temperate hardwoods.” Whatever follows the comma has to be the same kind of thing, which means growth rings, not trees. The blank also has to supply the sentence’s main verb, and that verb must agree with the plural “rings.” Choice A uses “those” to stand in for “growth rings” and pairs it with the plural verb “contain.” It is the only option that survives the comparison check, the verb check, and the agreement check.
One-Sentence Check
Confirm you can find the word the blank depends on and the characteristics the correct answer must have. Then eliminate the choices that differ, not just the ones that merely “sound wrong.”
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