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United StatesReading and Writing

Standard English Conventions: Form, Structure and Sense

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you place a modifier so it clearly describes the right word, and fix a dangling or misplaced modifier?

Modifier placement: ensuring an introductory or descriptive modifier sits next to the word it describes, and fixing dangling modifiers by naming the right subject, on Digital SAT form questions.
A focused answer to the Digital SAT modifier skill: making an introductory modifier describe the noun that immediately follows, recognising dangling and misplaced modifiers, and fixing them by putting the right subject next to the modifier.
9 min answer →

How do you keep items in a list or comparison grammatically parallel, and compare logical like with like?

Parallel structure and comparisons: matching the grammatical form of items in a list or with correlative conjunctions, and ensuring a comparison compares logically comparable things, on Digital SAT form questions.
A focused answer to the Digital SAT parallelism skill: making list items and correlative pairs share the same grammatical form, and making comparisons logical by comparing like with like, with worked short-passage practice.
9 min answer →

How do you decide between a plural, a singular possessive and a plural possessive, and place the apostrophe correctly?

Plural and possessive nouns: distinguishing a plain plural from a singular possessive and a plural possessive, placing the apostrophe correctly, and handling its versus it's, on Digital SAT form questions.
A focused answer to the Digital SAT apostrophe skill: telling a plain plural from a singular possessive and a plural possessive, placing the apostrophe before or after the s, and distinguishing its from it's and their from they're.
9 min answer →

How do you make a pronoun agree with its antecedent and keep its reference clear on the Digital SAT?

Pronoun agreement and clarity: matching a pronoun to its antecedent in number, choosing the right case, and avoiding ambiguous or missing references on Digital SAT form questions.
A focused answer to the Digital SAT pronoun skill: matching a pronoun to its antecedent in number, using the correct case, and keeping references unambiguous, including singular antecedents like 'each' and the its/it's and who/whom distinctions.
9 min answer →

How do you make a verb agree with its true subject, especially when words come between them?

Subject-verb agreement: finding the true subject, ignoring intervening phrases, and matching a singular or plural verb, including with collective nouns and inverted sentences, on Digital SAT form questions.
A focused answer to the Digital SAT subject-verb agreement skill: identifying the true subject past intervening phrases, handling collective nouns and 'each/every,' and matching the verb's number, with inverted and there-is sentences.
10 min answer →

How do you choose the verb tense and form that fit the time frame and the sequence of events?

Verb tense and form: keeping tense consistent with the passage's time frame, using the perfect tenses for sequence, and distinguishing finite verbs from participles on Digital SAT form questions.
A focused answer to the Digital SAT verb tense and form skill: matching tense to the time markers in the passage, using past perfect for an earlier past event, and choosing a finite verb rather than a participle when the sentence needs one.
9 min answer →