The prepositional phrase of the carpenter vari- ety may mislead you to believe that variety is the subject, but subjects are never found in a prepositional phrase. All other underlined portions are correct. 3. a. The proper preposition to use after contrary is to—contrary to their expectations. All other underlined portions are correct. 4. e. There is no error in this sentence. The use of the plural pronoun their agrees with its antecedent, women. 5. d. This sentence lacks parallel structure. The phrase which created should have the same structure as the expansion of. Thus, the sen- tence should read . . . and the creation of many new programs. Improving Sentences 6. c. The original item lacks parallel structure. The clause where the school is located is not in the same grammatical form as the other items in the series, which are both nouns. Only choice c corrects the error. Choice b places the article the before only the second item in the series, and choice e places the before only two items. The phrase how many teachers to every student in choice d is not parallel to the two nouns in the series. 7. d. Choice a has a misplaced modifier. It was the ceremony that was held in 1927, not President Coolidge. Choice b retains this error and adds the wordy it was whoconstruction. Choice c is grammatically correct but not as concise as choice d because it uses the passive voice. Choice e is a sentence fragment; removing which would correct that error. 8. b. In choice a, although does not express the cor- rect relationship between the two clauses. In choice b, the subordinate conjunction while clearly and effectively expresses the right rela- tionship. Choice c’s use of however is correct, but it is preceded by a comma instead of a semicolon, creating a run-on sentence. Choice d also creates a run-on sentence and does not offer a coordinating or subordinating con- junction to express the contrast between the two clauses. Choice e repeats the error in a and adds unnecessarily wordy constructions. Improving Paragraphs 9. b. Choice b puts the paragraphs in the most logi- cal order. Paragraph 1 introduces the general topic of student volunteer programs in schools. Paragraph 3 then moves to a specific program and describes volunteerism in the author’s school and her particular class. Para- graph 2 then describes how she benefited from that experience; thus, paragraph 2 can only come after the description of the program in her class in paragraph 3. Finally, paragraph 4 (an underdeveloped paragraph) moves from her specific personal experience to the broader audience with a concluding thought encour- aging others to participate. 10. e. Choice e expresses the chronology more effec- tively than the other choices by using the subordinating conjunction After. Choice a is unnecessarily wordy and has an overall awk- ward construction. Choice b uses a wordy which phrase and unnecessarily repeats to. Choice c is illogical; the students are divided into teams, but they are not divided into local organizations. Choice d is correct, but is not as clear as choice e, which includes the chronology and makes it clear that the students donate their time to a local organization. –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 197 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 197 Part 1: Identifying Sentence Errors Identifying Sentence Errors questions are exactly what they sound like; they ask you to spot which part of a sentence is incorrect, if any. You don’t have to cite any grammar or usage rules, and you don’t have to correct the error once you find it, making these the easiest of the three multiple-choice question types. Of the 49 multiple-choice questions in the Writing section, approximately 18 are Identifying Sentence Errors. Identifying Sentence Errors questions (we’ll just call them “Sentence Errors”from now on) are designed to measure your knowledge of what is and what is not acceptable in standard written English and, by exten- sion, your ability to find grammar and usage errors in your own writing. The kinds of errors tested in these questions range from subject-verb agreement to verb tense, from pronoun case to parallel structure. Fortu- nately, the ETS likes to focus on a handful of key gram- mar and usage concepts, which you will review shortly. You will also learn a handful of key strategies that can help you more quickly and accurately identify sentence errors. Question Structure Each question will present a sentence with four under- lined words or phrases. These underlined sections are lettered a–d. Choice e, No error, is placed at the end of the sentence. Most of the time, one of the underlined words or phrases will contain an error in grammar, usage, idiom, or word choice. About one in five times, the sentence will be correct, so the correct answer will be choice e,No error. Sample Identifying Sentence Errors Question Every decade, a f ew popular television shows a t ranscends mere c leverness and high ratings to reflect bc d the social issues of out times. N o error e The correct choice is b. This is an error in subject- verb agreement. The subject, television shows, is plural and requires a plural verb form. In this case, the cor- rect form is transcend, not the singular form transcends. Strategies for Sentence Errors Obviously, your best preparation for this kind of ques- tion is to know the rules of standard written English. But whatever your level of grammar expertise, the fol- lowing strategies can help you identify the errors in these questions quickly and correctly. 1. Listen to the sentence as you read it. By hearing how the sentence sounds in your head, you are much more likely to identify the error. We can often hear that something is wrong even if we can’t identify why it is wrong. 2. Take it one at a time. Examine each underlined part individually as you read the sentence. Look at it carefully in the context of the phrase or clause in which it is used. As you go, eliminate choices that you know are grammatically correct. 3. Look for the bare bones of the sentence. If you are having trouble identifying the error, try to determine the core structure of the sentence. What is the subject of the sentence? The verb? Who or what is performing what kind of action? Focusing on the core sentence can help you avoid being distracted by “fillers” so you can better identify problems in agreement, parallel struc- ture, and so on. –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 198 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 198 4. Trust your instincts. If it sounds wrong to you, it probably is, even if you can’t identify the gram- mar or usage rule that is being broken. Because every other part of the sentence is correct, there aren’t likely to be many tricky distracters. So if something doesn’t sound right, it’s probably the right answer. 5. Look for the most commonly tested errors. There are eight kinds of mistakes that pop up most often in Sentence Errors on the SAT. If you are having trouble finding an error, do a quick check for the common errors described in this section. 6. Remember the “No error” option. Approxi- mately one in five sentences will be correct. If you reach the end of the sentence and haven’t found a mistake, choice e (No error) is probably the correct answer. Agreement Grammatically speaking, agreement means that sen- tence elements are balanced. Verbs, for example, must agree with their subjects: If the subject is singular, the verb should be singular; if the subject is plural, the verb should also be plural. You can expect at least one of your Sentence Error questions to be about agreement. The most common agreement issues are between subject and verb and between pronoun and antecedent. In subject-verb agreement questions, you will often find a “filler” phrase between the subject and verb intended to dis- tract you. Here’s an example from the pretest: Often mistak en for termites, carpenter ants have a longer bodies and sho r ter wings than termites, b and w hile termite antennae are straight, the antennae c of the carpenter variety is bent or “elbowed.” d N o error e Notice how the prepositional phrase of the car- penter variety can mislead you. If you assume variety is the subject, then the verb is seems correct—it agrees with what you think is the singular subject. But sub- jects are never found in prepositional phrases, so vari- ety can’t be the subject of the verb is. Look again at the sentence. What is bent? Not the variety, but the anten- nae—a plural noun. Thus, the verb must be are to agree with the subject, so choice d contains the error and is therefore the correct answer. Use the same strategy for pronoun-antecedent agreement questions. (An antecedent is the noun that a pronoun replaces.) If a pronoun is underlined, deter- mine exactly what noun it refers to, and then see if they agree. Watch out for this kind of very common error. –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– Eight Errors to Expect There are many different kinds of errors that might appear in this section of your SAT, and indeed any gram- mar or usage issue is fair game. However, you can expect a healthy majority of the questions to have errors in one of the following eight categories: 1. agreement 2. consistency 3. parallelism 4. verb form 5. pronoun case 6. idiom 7. word choice 8. confusing adjectives and adverbs 199 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 199 Incorrect: Luckily, nobody lost their luggage on the flight. Correct: Luckily, nobody lost his o r her luggage on the flight. In the above example, the subject is the singular indefinite pronoun nobody. Because nobody is always singular, the pronoun that refers to it must also be sin- gular. Although many times when we speak we use the plural pronoun their to refer to nobody, this is gram- matically incorrect. Consistency Just as sentences must be balanced, they must also be consistent. If, for example, a sentence begins in the past tense, it should stay in the past tense. Likewise, pro- nouns need to be consistent in person and number. A shift from the singular I to the plural we, for example, can leave the reader wondering just who is doing what in the sentence. Errors like the following may appear on the exam: Incorrect: After hours of negotiations, the leaders finally settled their differ- ences and ha ve come to an agreement. Correct: After hours of negotiations, the leaders finally settled their differ- ences and came to an agreement. Incorrect: One’s genetic makeup, one’s upbringing, and one’s environ- ment are all important factors in shaping who y ou are. Correct: Y our genetic makeup, your upbringing, and your environ- ment are all important factors shaping who y ou are. In the first example, the past tense verb settled is followed by the present participle have come.To be correct, both verbs should be in the simple past: The leaders settled their differences and came to an agree- ment. In the second example, the author uses the indef- inite third-person pronoun one three times and then switches to the second-person you. To be correct, all pronouns should be the same; either one or you will do, as long as the sentence is consistent. Parallelism Parallel structure means that the words and phrases in a sentence follow the same grammatical pattern. This makes ideas easier to follow and expresses thoughts more gracefully. Parallelism is especially important in lists and in any two-part sentence construction. These two-part constructions include: ■ not only but also ■ the more (less, better) . . . the more (less, better) ■ both and ■ neither nor ■ either or Notice the difference in the following examples: Not parallel: I’m looking for a job that offers a competitive salary, provides full health benefits, and o ne in which I will be challenged so that I can grow professionally. Parallel: I’m looking for a job that offers a competitive salary, provides full health benefits, and p resents me with challenges so that I can grow professionally. Not parallel: Not only is this the most delicious pizza I’ve ever eaten, but it also costs the most of any pizza. Parallel: Not only is this the most delicious pizza I’ve ever eaten, but it ’s also the most expensive. –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 200 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 200 Parallelism is one of the favorite issues of SAT developers. You can expect at least one Sentence Error with a parallelism mistake as well as parallelism issues in Improving Sentences. Verb Form Verbs are the heart of a sentence. They express the action or state of being of the subject, telling us what the subject is doing, thinking, or feeling. Correct verb form is essential to sentence clarity, and you can expect to find at least one question with an incorrect verb form. These errors include: 1. Incorrectly conjugated irregular verbs. There are dozens of irregular verbs in the English lan- guage, and the ETS wants to make sure you know how to conjugate them. Here’s an example: Incorrect: I shak ed his hand when my col- league introduced us. Correct: I sho ok his hand when my col- league introduced us. The past tense of the irregular verb shake is shook. 2. Incorrect tense. If there’s an error in tense, the sentence will provide enough context for you to determine the tense the verb should be in. Here’s an example: Incorrect: Rebecca se en the movie the day it came out. Correct: Rebecca sa w the movie the day it came out. Seen is the past participle of the verb to see. Past participles require a helping verb, such as have or had. This sentence requires the simple past tense saw. Incorrect: I ha ve been waiting for an hour when LuAnn finally arrived. Correct: I ha d been waiting for an hour when LuAnn finally arrived. The sentence requires the past perfect tense, which describes when an action happens in the past before another action in the past. In this case, the subject, I, was waiting (in the past) before LuAnn arrived, which also happened in the past. The past perfect is formed with the helping verb had, not have. 3. Missing subjunctive. The subjunctive (formed by using the past tense were) is used to express some- thing that is wished for or contrary to fact. But we often forget to use it, both in speech and in writing: Incorrect: If I was you, I would take a vacation. Correct: If I w ere you, I would take a vacation. The if tells us that the situation is contrary to fact, so the verb needs to be in the subjunctive. Pronoun Case Personal pronouns have two main forms: the subjective and objective cases. This simply means that we use one form when the pronoun is acting as a subject and another form when the pronoun is acting as an object. SUBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE CASE CASE Ime you you he, she, it him, her, it we us they them who whom –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 201 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 201 We see them. subject object T hey see us. subject object Pronoun questions on the SAT will often pur- posefully confuse the subjective and objective cases, as in the following example: Incorrect: I am taller than him . This is a very common mistake. Whenever a pro- noun follows than, it should be in the subjective case, because in the than + (pro)noun construction the verb is understood, even if that verb is not articulated: Correct: I am taller than he [is]. Though we usually cut off the verb, the pronoun must still act as if it is there. Thus, use the subjective case with than constructions. The other common pronoun error is to have the subjective case in a prepositional phrase: Incorrect: We will split the profits evenly b etween her and I. Nouns and pronouns in prepositional phrases are always objects, so the sentence requires the objec- tive pronoun: Correct: We will split the profits evenly b etween her and me. And finally, the often-confused who and whom errors fall into this category. Who is the subjective form, whom the objective. (A memory trick: Whom and him are both objects and both end in m.) Incorrect: W hom lives in this house? Correct: W ho lives in this house? (He lives in this house.) Incorrect: To w ho shall I address this letter? Correct: To w hom shall I address this let- ter? (Address the letter to him.) Idiom Idioms are expressions that are characteristic of a par- ticular language, and they are often the most difficult aspect of a language to learn. But they are essential to clear and effective communication, and you can expect at least one question about idioms on the Writing sec- tion of the exam. Most of the time, the idioms that are tested are (1) prepositional idioms (e.g., take care of, according to) and (2) idiomatic use of infinitives and gerunds (e.g., want to meet, practice swimming). And most of the time, by listening carefully to the sentence as you read it, you will be able to hear this kind of mistake. Listen to the following sentences as you read them, and you should be able to hear the errors: Incorrect: His behavior g ets under my nerves. Correct: His behavior g ets on my nerves. In this case, the correct idiom uses the preposition on. An idiom similar in meaning, gets under my skin, uses the preposition under. Idioms with infinitives (to + verb: to water) and gerunds (verb + ing: watering) are equally likely to appear on the exam. Here’s an example: Incorrect: Experts s uggest to water your gar- den late in the day when the sun is less intense. –THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 202 5658 SAT2006[05](fin).qx 11/21/05 6:45 PM Page 202 . s uggest to water your gar- den late in the day when the sun is less intense. THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 20 2 5658 SAT2 006[05](fin).qx 11 /21 /05 6:45 PM Page 20 2 . them who whom THE SAT WRITING SECTION– 20 1 5658 SAT2 006[05](fin).qx 11 /21 /05 6:45 PM Page 20 1 We see them. subject object T hey see us. subject object Pronoun questions on the SAT will often pur- posefully. in the past before another action in the past. In this case, the subject, I, was waiting (in the past) before LuAnn arrived, which also happened in the past. The past perfect is formed with the helping