SAT Grammar Tips & Tricks to Boost Your Score

SAT grammar can be hard to tackle. This article includes a list of grammar topics that are important to understand if you want to ace the Reading and Writing section.

SAT grammar can be hard to tackle. The problem is that high school classes won’t truly truly guide you towards SAT success. Subject and verb number agreement, Parallelism, Transition Words, Dashes, and Who vs Whom are some of the many topics that are important to be familiar with for the test.

Below we will discuss these more in depth.

Subject and Verb Agreement

Subject-verb agreement will be tested on every single exam. The most important part to not mess up is the number agreement. This means to simply keep the singular with the singular, and the plural with the plural.

For example- the dog chases the cat vs. the dogs chase the cat

Parallelism

Another way that the SAT or ACT will try to confuse you is by messing up the tense of a verb throughout a sentence. These sentences typically are long and confusing to take away your focus from the verbs but this is how to spot them.

Wrong Example: Last week, Julia rented a car and drives to New York City.

This is incorrect because the verb drives should be in the past tense to remain consistent with the past tense verb rented.

Correct Example: Last week, Julia rented a car and drove to New York City.

Transition Words

Often times, the SAT or ACT exam will have MULTIPLE questions regarding transition words. Once you know these rules it’s really easy to rack up an extra 20–30 points from getting these correct.

There are three types of transition words:

• #1 Addition: Also, Moreover, Furthermore
• #2 Contrast: However, On the other hand, Despite
• #3 Causation: Therefore, Consequently, As a result

Addition transition words should be used when there is a logical flow from one sentence to the next: when you’re building upon the previous sentence with your next sentence.

For example: Amikka sends students to the top universities every year. Moreover, they usually receive a lot of money in scholarships.

Contrast transition words should be used when there is a break in the flow from one sentence to the next. When the first sentence is going in one direction, and the next sentence is saying something opposing.

For example: John washes his hands multiple times throughout the day. However, Mike doesn’t wash his hands at all.

Causation transition words should be used when there’s a relationship between the first sentence causing whatever happens in the second sentence.

For example: John fell off his bike. As a result, he scraped his knee.

Dashes

Knowing when and how to use dashes is a big part of the grammar portion of the SAT and ACT. They serve two main purposes and once again, if you memorize this tip it can instantly help you get an extra question or two correct (easy 20 point boost)

Main purposes:

• #1 Indicate a hesitation or break in though
  For example: I saw Sarah yesterday and she looked great- no, it was actually Nicole.
• #2 Set off an explanatory example or list from the rest of the sentence
  For example: Many facets of Cody’s personality- among them empathy, respect, and kindness- make him a great friend and human being.

Who vs Whom

This is another minor difference that can save you in the grammar portion of the test.

Who: should be used to refer to the subject of the sentence

For example: Who would like to get pizza?

Whom: Should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition

For example: I do not know with whom I will go to prom.

These are just some of the dozens of little tricks that can help boost you score by 100+ points. These minor tips have allowed us to help dozens of students improve 50+ points… only with what’s being offered in this article.

If you want to learn more helpful tricks, check out Amikka Learning's SAT course.