One of the most reliable grammar patterns on the SAT involves dependent clauses—and once you understand how they work, comma questions in this category become very predictable. The key idea is simple: some clauses can stand alone as sentences, and some can’t. The SAT is testing whether you can tell the difference and punctuate accordingly. … Read more
One of the most useful things to understand about SAT grammar is that the test really only cares about sentence structure, not fancy punctuation rules. Once you see that, a lot of punctuation questions suddenly stop feeling mysterious. A great example of this is the comma + FANBOYS rule, which works hand-in-hand with periods and … Read more
SUP! The Reading and Writing section is full of punctuation traps, and colons (:) and dashes (—) are two of the sneakiest. Nail this one rule, and you’ll pick up easy points every time. Let’s break it down with the exact pattern the SAT loves to test. The One Rule You Need Colons and dashes … Read more
If you’ve ever found yourself staring at a punctuation question on the SAT wondering whether to pick a period or a semicolon, here’s the truth: it doesn’t actually matter—at least not grammatically. On the SAT, these two punctuation marks serve exactly the same purpose. Once you realize that, this whole category of questions becomes much … Read more