<p>I fail at grammar. Heck, I didn't know what a participle was until today! Either I never bothered to learn it at school or I was never taught grammar. </p>
<p>What books can I use to learn grammar? The Blue Book isn't very useful.</p>
<p>I do not believe that you have to know grammatical definitions to do well on the grammar section. It’s really about learning the 20 to 25 tested errors and then recognizing them and knowing the best way to fix them.</p>
<p>I agree that the Blue Book does not explain these concepts well. Sparknotes offers a brief free review. You could learn the errors and then start categorizing the Blue Book test questions by error type on your own. I found that invaluable practice when I started my study of the SAT, and it helped me see how few errors are actually tested. I used a college grammar site to learn about each of the following errors, and then found examples of them in the Blue Book:</p>
<p>Subject Verb Agreement Errors
Verb Tense Errors (i.e. is vs was and the presence of two "had"s in a sentence)
Verb Form Errors (watch for verbs ending in -ing that are not really verbs)
Noun Agreement Errors (i.e., “platypuses are the only mammal that lays eggs” vs. “platypuses are the only mammals that lay eggs”)
Pronoun Antecedent Agreement Errors
Pronoun Choice Errors (i.e. I vs me and who vs whom)
Pronoun Reference Errors (ambiguous and implied pronouns)
Modifier Choice Errors (i.e. calm vs calmly)
Modifier Placement Errors (misplaced modifiers and dangling modifiers)
Coordinating Conjunction Errors (and, but, or)
Subordinating Conjunction Errors (although, despite, etc.)
Correlating Conjunction Errors (either…or vs either…and)
Parallel Structure Errors (“types and signs” vs “types and will be signing”)
Comparison Errors (comparative degree, double comparisons, and parallelism)
Run-Ons, Fragments, and Comma Splices Errors
Idiom Errors (“right at that moment” vs “right on that moment”)</p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>As SATWriter said, you definitely don’t need to know the definition for words like participle. As long as you can identify an error, or lack there of, you will do fine. </p>
<p>I didn’t study at all for the writing section and did it by ear. I did pretty well and I don’t what a participle is either haha. But then again, if it doesn’t come as naturally to you, you should definitely do a lot of practice questions to familiarize yourself with the material.</p>
<p>If you need help with the grammar in the SAT you should check out: ultimatesatverbal.blogspot.com my friend Erica Meltzer (author of forementioned blog) will be publishing a book called “Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar” soon. You can get in contact with her and get the book as a pdf in which you may print out and start doing the excercises. There are tips, tricks, explanations; everything you could ask for in a grammar prep book for SAT. In the book there is a new section which has all the writing section from the practice tests in the blue book explained so you’ll see that the blue book may actually come in handy. The books complement each other. I can attest to the fact that you will, with a little bit of practice, definitely succeed in the writing/ grammar portion of the SAT. Good luck. Let me know if you have any questions. I can help you out.</p>