The following information was excerpted/adapted from Barron's Strategies and Practice for the New PSAT/NMSQT. These examples will be helpful for both the PSAT and SAT.
- Sentences Basics. You need to know the difference between a sentence and a sentence fragment. A sentence expresses a complete thought and has both a subject and a predicate (verb section). A sentence fragment expresses an incomplete thought and is missing either a subject or predicate. For example, "Sunny, my favorite dog."
- Sentence Flow and Structure. Sentences must be logically and consistently written. Notice the difference in the specificity/clarity of the following examples: Incorrect--She won the student council presidency, and most people think she did not win fairly. Correct--She won the student council presidency, but most people think she did not win fairly. Precision in language is very important in relaying ideas.
- Logical Comparisons. Incorrect--I am better at math problems than everybody in my class. Correct--I am better at math problems than everybody else in my class. In the incorrect example, "everybody" logically includes the "I," which is not what the speaker/writer meant.
- Wordiness. Incorrect--The meeting is going to last for the duration of five hours. Correct--The meeting is going to last for five hours. "The duration of" is unnecessary.
- Parallelism, which means balance or evenness in sentence structure (similarity in phrasing). Incorrect--The blizzard was snowy, had wind, and icy. Correct--The blizzard was snowy, windy, and icy. The "had" in the incorrect example is unnecessary and is dissimilar from the structure in the correct version.
- Modifier Placement and Clarity. Sometimes we carelessly place words or phrases that describe something in the wrong spot. Incorrect--The kitten nuzzled up against my leg, purring softly. Correct--While purring softly, the kitchen nuzzled up against my leg. The incorrect example implies that the leg was purring softly. Modifier placement should be logical.
- Verb Use. Be sure that the tense, mood, and voice of the verbs are properly used. Incorrect--Susan had been working on her research up to the present day. Correct--Susan has been working on her research up to the present day. Incorrect--The assignment was completed by me. Correct--I completed the assignment. (Although the first version is technically correct, avoid using the passive voice. Make your sentences strong and direct when possible.)
- Clarifying Singular and Plural. Incorrect--The teacher who has read our essays are instructing the class. Correct--The teacher who has read our essays is instructing the class. Incorrect--Neither John nor Mitchell are going to the mall. Correct--Neither John nor Mitchell is going to the mall. With "neither/nor" and "either/or," the number of the subject is determined by the part of the subject closest to the verb. In this instance, Mitchell is singular; therefore a singular verb is needed. If "Mitchell" was replaced by his "his friends," then the verb would be plural--Neither John nor his friends are going to the mall.
- Be Consistent in Use of Pronouns. Incorrect--If one is looking for a job, you should find solid references. Correct--If one is looking for a job, one should find solid references.
- Proper Wording. Know the difference in meaning/usage of the following pairs: accept/except, affect/effect, I/me, its/it's, less/fewer, lie/lay, than/then, there/their/they're, to/too/two, your/you're, who/whom, who/which/that.
- Punctuation. Know the correct usage of commas, semicolons, colons, dashes, and apostrophes.
