SAT Prep 3-13-08

Prefixes/Review/Grammar

Prefixes

Bel/Bell- War Rebel, Belligerent

Bi- Twice, Doubly Binoculars, Biennial, Bigamy

Bri/Brev- Brief, Short Abbreviate

Prefixes

Cad/Cid- To fall, to happen by chance Accident, Cadence

Cand- To Burn Incandescent

Cant/Cent/Chant- to sing Chant, Enchant

More Commonly Confused Words

Adopted- Adoptive Adverse- Averse Ambiguous-Ambivalent Amoral- Immoral Appraise- Apprise Augur- Auger Censure- Censor Climactic-Climatic

Homework

Define each of the words above and use them in a sentence.

Subject/Verb Agreement This is probably the easiest question to get

correct. In many cases, people get confused as to when to

add an “s” to the end of the main verb. I.E. Say or says? When do you use either one?

ISE

3rd person singular, add “s” to the verb He eats pizza. The dog runs everyday. Ben poos every morning. Terrance, the acclaimed songwriter, says that he

doesn't like opera. 3rd person singular includes subjective

pronouns like (He/She/It), names, or groups

3rd person singular includes subjective pronouns like (He/She/It/They), names, or groups

Some subjects sounds plural but are really singular Everyone/Everybody Nobody Everything/Altogether Whoever/Whatever/Whenever Committee/Board of Directors/Congress/Chamber of

Deputies (etc.)

Here are more examples of singular indefinite pronouns:

one anyone everyone no one someone

anybody everybody nobody somebody

everything something any each either

neither none

ISE

Conjunctions can get difficult as well: John AND I see Mary. (AND is plural) Either John OR Bob dates Mary (OR is singular) Either John OR I date Mary (Even though OR is singular,

you must go with the conjugation of the word closest to the verb, which is I DATE)

Neither John NOR I date Mary (Same rule as above) Both John AND I date Mary. (Same as AND)

Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement

What are pronouns? Subject- I, You, He/She/It, We, You, They, Who Object- Me, You, Him/Her/It, Us, You, Them,

Whom What are antecedents?

Specific nouns Like names, places, etc

Why is it important to memorize subject/object pronouns for ISE? What this means is that "he" is a pronoun that

replaces the subject of the sentence while "him" replaces a direct or indirect object in the sentence.

Pronoun/Antecedent Agreements

Ambiguous Questions William raced Harry and he was clearly the winner.

Whenever a sentence is not clear, most likely it is wrong.

Comparison with pronouns I am a better writer than she.

Make sure that the pronouns are the same when comparing.

Verb Tenses

Conjugation Errors I go to the pool I goes to the pool I lay down and sleep every night I lie down and sleep every night

Since you are doing the action “every night” you have to change the verb to present tense.

http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/verbs.htm

Verb Tenses

Tense Errors You should also make sure that the tense of a

verb being used matches the context. Yesterday I go to the beach. Last Monday I will have bought at least four bushels

of corn.

Adjectives

When comparing two items, must add “er” to the adjective Yesterday is hotter than today This laptop is more expensive than that laptop.

When comparing three or more, must as “est” to the adjective Today is the hottest day of the month. This is the most expensive laptop in the store.

Adverbs

Adverbs describe verbs and other adjectives. Even a person who drives carefully cannot

operate a motor vehicle when he is under the influence of alcohol.

He slowly walked to the classroom.

The College Board will not ask you what an

adverb is. Rather, it will ask you questions in

which it mixes up adverbs and adjectives.

Verbs

Three types of verbs Infinitive- to+verb

form of a verb that can be used to replace a noun, adjective, or adverb

Gerund- verb+ing Present progressive form of a verb that can be used

to replace a noun.

Participle Present progressive or perfect/past ("-ed" or "-ing")

form of a verb that replaces an adjective. Panting, I caught my breath

Verbals

You should know how they are correctly applied to a sentence. He said that I should really start to instruct the

kids, including to teach them reading.

Word Choice

Sometimes during the SAT, you will face a sentence that sounds like these I cannot except any kind of personal check. There are many affects of global warming that

are starting to show up.

Commonly Mistaken Word-Pairs

Write/right Affect/effect Infamous/famous Conscience/Conscious Principal/Principle It's/Its (The word it's is a contraction for "it

is") Contraction/Contradiction

Parallelism

Sometimes you might come across sentences like these: I like to eat, play volleyball, surf, and also I can

sing. Reading is my favorite hobby even though to

play baseball is America's. Doesn't he understand that knowing how to

throw, catch, and how to tackle are fundamentals of football?

Parallelism

What is parallelism? The structure of one part of a sentence should

match the structure of the others.

The SAT's will be littered tremendously with these types of errors, so have your eyes aware for this.

Miscellaneous

Speaking Errors Sometimes we use incorrect grammar when we

speak. This seeps into our understanding of grammar. Here are some speaking errors you should be aware of

I ain’t going to listen to her anymore. (I am not going to listen to her anymore.)

He use to be my friend. (He used to be my friend.) Irregardless of your opinion on abortion, you must admit

that there are many perspectives in the debate. (Regardless of your position…)

I should of taken those groceries out. (I should have taken those groceries out.)

You aren’t suppose to mess with her. (You aren’t supposed to mess with her.)

Miscellaneous

Double Negatives Two negatives cannot be next to each other

Haven't never Couldn't never Couldn't hardly Can't barely

Could be an outright negative or a word that has a negative connotation. Be aware!

Improving Sentences

The next portion of the Writing Section is called Improving Sentences.

This is a bit more difficult because you are called to not only identify the mistake, but also to correct it

Improving Sentences

You are looking for the most clear (not confusing) and the most concise (straight to the point, not to many changes) answer possible.

IS

I firmly disagree with the idea, which we may disobey perceived unjust laws.

A. disagree with the idea, which we may disobey

B. disagree with the idea that we may disobey C. disagree that we can't obey D. agree that we do have to obey E. disagree with our obedience not being

required

I firmly disagree with the idea, which we may disobey perceived unjust laws.

A. disagree with the idea, which we may disobey

B. disagree with the idea that we may disobey

C. disagree that we can't obey D. agree that we do have to obey E. disagree with our obedience not being

required

IS

Most common errors found in IS are: Parallelism Modifiers

"The siren blowing, James barely avoided the coming train." Correct: "James barely avoided the coming train with the siren blowing."

Compound Structures The use of and, or, and nor should be appropriate

IS (Modifiers)

What are modifiers? Modifiers are words that are used to describe other

words (i.e. Adjectives and adverbs) Running towards the train, I panted for breath.

Identify the modifier and what the modifier is modifying.

Modifiers

Hopefully, we will have better luck this year. Specifically, what is it that you want? The man, seeing that I would not give him any

change, walked away angrily.

Modifiers

1. What does the modifier modify? 2. Is the modified word in the correct place? 3. Does the sentence make logical and

grammatical sense with the modifier in place?

Modifiers

What is wrong with these sentences? Speeding down the highway, I watched the car from

my office. Being at a very low price, I bought the new

magazine. I paid for the new car with a credit card.

Clear and Concise

Here are some following clues to eliminating or finding the correct answer for the IS portion

Clear and Concise

Avoid “Being” and Gerunds Look for run-on sentences

If two independent clauses (with two subjects and verbs) are not connected by a semicolon (";") or a coordinating conjunction (and/but/for/or/nor/not/yet/so), the union of them is considered a "run on sentence."

Clear and Concise

Look for Fragments You can spot a fragment as any dependent clause

without an independent clause, or any sentence without a subject and a predicate.

And vs That Abby bought a new dog and it has brown hair.

What would be a better way to write this sentence?