SAT GRAMMAR TIPS

Level M

Sentence errors section – tips for identifying errors.

This section contains sentences with errors in grammar, word choice, use of words,
punctuation etc. Keep your Correct Writing Gr 10 grammar book handy to check on the list
below and help you identify errors.

SAT focuses on the following categories in the sentence errors section.

Error-Identification Categories

1) Subject-Verb Agreement & pronoun-verb agreement

2) Verb Tense
3) Pronouns
4) Pronoun Antecedent (Pronoun Agreement)
5) Adjectives & Adverbs
6) Parallelism
7) Prepositions
8) Faulty Comparisons
9) Comparatives vs. Superlatives
10) Double negatives/Double positives
11) Word Pairs
12) Count & non-count nouns
13) Relative Pronouns
14) Coordinating Conjunctions/ Subordinating Conjunctions

1) Subject-Verb Agreement

The basic rule about subjects and verbs is that verbs must agree with their subject in person
and number. If you have a singular subject, you must use a singular verb, and if you have a
plural subject, you must use a plural verb. It sounds simple, and a lot of the time it is;
however, there are some cases where the subject-verb agreement can be difficult to work out.
a) Words between subject and verb which throw you off track.
E.g. The library with its many books fills (not fill) a need in the college. What is the subject
of fills? It is library, not books. The library fills the need.

a. Verb Preceding the Subject.

In some sentences the verb comes before its subject – this is a reversal of common
order and can lead to confusion.
E.g. – Where are Fred and his friends going to tonight?

Fred and his friends are the subjects of the verb are going.

E.g. There is (not are) in many countries much poverty today.

 The meaning of the sentence is: Much poverty is in many countries today; however,
this is a clumsy construction and sounds wrong.

b. Use of Indefinite Pronouns

The Indefinite pronouns or adjectives, neither, each and every, refer to people or
things which are not exactly defined by number. So do the compounds everybody,
anybody, everyone and anyone. They are always singular and as such take a singular
verb.
E.g. Each of the sweets tastes delicious. (Each sweet, so singular – it tastes).

c. Compound Subjects
Compound subjects joined by and normally take a plural verb.
E.g. Laziness and apathy are the marks of a bad student.
However if the nouns act as a unit (or group) or refer to the same person or thing, then
they are considered singular.
E.g. My friend and colleague Mary is going on holiday. (The friend and colleague are
not two separate people.)

d. Subjects joined by Or and Nor.

Singular subjects joined by or or nor take a singular verb.
E.g. Neither Sally nor John is in class.
However; if one subject is singular and the other plural, the verb agrees with the one
closest to it in the sentence.
E.g. Neither the dog nor the puppies have been for a walk.
(subject puppies is closer to the verb have been – so the verb is plural).
If we switch it around the verb becomes singular because dog is singular: - Neither
the puppies nor the dog has been for a walk.

e. Nouns that are Plural in form.

The general rule is that a singular verb is used with nouns that are plural in form yet
singular in meaning:-
news, measles, mumps, subjects such as physics and mathematics etc.
E.g. Physics is an interesting subject.
If the noun is plural in meaning: - trousers, scissors, riches, athletics etc then it takes a
plural verb.
E.g. The scissors are in the kitchen cupboard.

2) Verb Tense

Understand that there are three principal parts of a verb: 1st person singular present tense,
e.g. I walk, 1st person singular past tense e.g. I walked, and the past participle : walked.
It is your job to ensure that there is consistency in tenses within the sentence. Ensure that you
pay special attention to words relating to tense within the sentence. Check that there is a no
error in tense construction. E.g. Incorrect: He baked a cake (past tense) and then eats it.
(present tense). It should be: - He baked a cake and then ate it.
The only instance when you can use two different tenses in a sentence is when you want to
indicate a time difference of two events, when one happens after the other. E.g. I told (past
tense) him that I had finished (past perfect tense) the painting. (You finished the painting
first, then told him.)
There is a list of irregular verbs on page 124 of your Correct Writing grammar book – this
must be learned.

3) Pronoun Case

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. E.g. My uncle arrived so I asked him for a lift.
(him is the pronoun in place of uncle and is in the object case as it is object of the verb
asked.)
Take note that pronouns are consistent with the nouns to which they refer.

Singular Personal Pronouns

Person Subjective Case Objective Case Possessive Case

First I me my, mine

Second you you your, yours

Third he, she, it him, her, it his, her, hers, its

Plural Personal Pronouns

Person Subjective Case Objective Case Possessive Case
First we us our, ours
Second you you your, yours
Third they them their, theirs

Another case in pronoun agreement to take care of is when to use who and whom.
Understand and remember that whom is the object form of who.
Who is used when it is the subject of a sentence or clause.
E.g. Who ate my sweets?
and also after a preposition e.g. That is the person to whom I gave the book.
Whom is also used when it is not the subject of a relative clause, but the object.
E.g. The police shot the man whom you saw. The relative clause whom you saw consists of
whom (object) you (subject) and saw (verb)

4) Antecedent Pronoun (Pronoun Agreement) (Check Correct Writing)

Antecedent (meaning to go before): - is the word, phrase or clause to which the pronoun
refers.
Check that pronouns agree in person, number and gender with the noun to which they refer.
E.g. We saw a man so we asked him the way. (not her, or it, or them or they)
There are certain words that can be tricky – so learn them! By learning these you will be
more prepared to identify a sentence with an error in agreement. Refer to your Correct
Writing book for a breakdown of these cases.

5) Adjectives & Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.

E.g She sang softly. (Softly modifies the verb sang)
E.g. James was a very fat baby. (very modifies the adjective fat)
E.g. Sara whispered quite softly. (quite modifies the adverb softly)

While

Adjectives modify only nouns.

Generally, adverbs end in – ly. E.g. quickly, hurriedly, loudly. However, there are exceptions
either way so ensure you are aware of these exceptions so that you are not fooled.

6) Parallelism

In a list, you must make sure that every item follows the same format. In a list there will not
be a gerund, noun and verb. Check there is consistency within sentences.
E.g. There is no drinking, eating and don’t throw objects allowed in the classroom.
Here, there is an error with parallelism. The first two are gerunds, drinking and eating, while
the last is a verb throw. To fix this error the sentence should read “There is no drinking,
eating or throwing of objects allowed in the classroom.”

7) Prepositions

Usually students are tested in the use of prepositions through the incorrect use in idioms.
Refer to your Correct Writing book page 11 to help in this area and check
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/5-pairs-of-prepositional-idioms/ for some tips on pairs of
prepositional idioms to be aware of.

8) Faulty Comparisons

Use ‘better’ and ‘more’ when comparing only two things. Use best and most when
comparing three or more things.
When you see a word or phrase that indicates that there is a comparison in the sentence, ask
yourself, "What is being compared?" Here are some such words and phrases:

Example: The weather in Mexico is better than Germany.

This sentence is illogical. What is being compared? A country’s weather should not be
compared to a country. Weather should be compared to weather. The sentence should read

The weather in Mexico is better than the weather in Germany.

9) Comparatives vs. Superlatives

More/-er form of adjective = 2 items being compared

Most/-est form of adjective = 3+ items being compared

10) Double negatives/Double positives

 E.g. Incorrect: You shouldn’t do nothing to the house.

 Correct: You shouldn’t do anything to the house.

Here, there is already a negative ‘shouldn’t’ in the sentence. The word nothing is a negative
and should be replaced with anything in order to fix this error.
Look for double negatives/positives in your sentences.

11) Word Pairs

There are certain pairs of words that must be used together.

Below is a list of pairs of words that go together.

A. Either...Or
B. Neither...Nor
C. Not only...But Also
D. Both...And
E. Between…And (never "Between...Or")
E. As...As
F. More/Less…Than
G. So/Such…That
H. From…To
I. Just as…So (Rare)
J. At once...And (Rare, usually correct when it appears)

Learn this list of words and if one of them appears check that it is followed by the correct
word in its pair.

12) Noun Agreement

Be aware of the difference between count and non-count nouns. Sometimes you may think a
noun is plural when it should be considered singular.

E.g Bread. You do not say “May I have one bread?” Instead, in order to make it into a count
noun, you must change it to “May I have one slice of bread?” By adding ‘slice’ you change it
from a non-count a count noun. To test whether a noun is count or non-count, put a number
before it e.g. four houses (correct – houses is a count noun)
However, four hatreds or four bread is incorrect – you cannot count these; they are non-
count.
Countability is most often tested via the less/fewer and number/amount pairings. Use
amount/less for non-count and fewer /number for count nouns.

Take note of this chart and be aware when a question regarding noun agreement comes up

Noun Count- Use Example

able?
hatred no less You would be wise to show less hatred toward others.

pony yes fewer There are fewer ponies romping here than I had hoped.

love no less The less love you provide, the less you’ll receive.

kiss yes fewer I would suffer if you bestowed fewer kisses on me.

mango yes number I ate a large number of mangoes right off the tree when
I was in Maui.

money no amount The amount of money I spent in Maui is less that you
might think.

shark yes number There are a number of sharks off Maui’s coast.

fear no amount The amount of fear these sharks cause is way out of
proportion to the actual danger they represent.

13) Relative Pronouns

Sometimes you can be tested on relative pronouns. It can be confusing to decide which
pronoun to use in place of a noun. Here are some tips to follow for using pronouns.

Only use who and whom to refer to people. “Who” is a subjective case pronoun and can only be
utilized to replace people. “Whom” is the objective case, and also refers to people.
E.g. The teacher who wears glasses is my uncle’s friend. NOT The teacher that wears glasses is
my uncle’s friend.

You can only use which and that to refer to inanimate objects, never people.
E.g The new table that I bought is broken.
14) Coordinating Conjunctions

And, but, or, nor, for, so, yet.

Are used to join two independent clauses.

In identifying sentence error questions, when conjunctions are underlined, make sure that
they connect the two halves of the sentences logically. Ideas that are being continued need
transitions like “and,” and ideas that are being contradicted need transitions like “but.”
e.g I went to the mall and I bought some ice cream.
e.g I went to the mall but it was closed.

Be on the lookout for "when," which is often used in place of "because" or "for."
Ex: It came as a surprise to no one that Santiago could not finish the race, when he had put
little effort into training.