<p>Just saying, when i say writing score, i mean just the multiple choice grammar questions, excluding the essay.
So I have been trying to improve my writing section score. I noticed that I know all the grammar rules that are being tested on the test, but i make mistakes on things such as whether the wording is awkward or not. Like, i get a question, i have to revise the underlined part, i can cross out the options that contain grammatical errors, but i dont know what to do with the ones that are grammatically correct, but with awkward wordings cuz i cant tell.
These kinda things are never taught in class or any grammar books but somehow im just not good with them and i really have to work on it cuz its really dragging my score down.
Can anyone help me with this? What do i do with the grammar questions that arent really grammar questions..</p>
<p>Can you provide an example of a problem you got wrong? </p>
<p>And the grammar tested on the SAT is indeed covered in most grammar books. I have used a plethora of grammar books, including general grammar guides not designed for the SAT, and thanks to those books, I have bumped my writing score by 300 points :).</p>
<p>Ok i think i shouldnt’ve said that but like sometimes after u eliminate 3 out of 5 options, you are left with 2 grammatical correct answers but awkward wording.
for example,
the question was: While trimming his forsythia bush, an overgrown mass of vegetation that had just begun to flower, “an indignant bee stung poor Mr. Nettleworth on the wrist.” (“” is whats being underlined)
A. an indignant bee stung poor Mr. Nettleworth on the wrist. (as it is)
D. poor Mr.Nettleworth was stung on wrist by an indignant bee.</p>
<p>After i eliminated the grammatically incorrect ones I picked A but it actually is D and i didnt know why i was wrong till i asked my friend and he said A sounds so awkward.
Can i really learn this off a book? Is there a grammatical reason why D is better than A that i’m too stupid to see? T-T this kind of things happen a lot to me and i really wanna improve. Thank you!
and btw, what book did you use that you found helpful with??</p>
<p>The question you posed contains a dangling modifier. Dangling modifiers are covered in almost every grammar book. </p>
<p>Here’s how to crack your question. I’m going to type it out again:</p>
<p>While trimming his forsythia bush, an overgrown mass of vegetation that had just begun to flower, an indignant bee stung poor Mr. Nettleworth on the wrist.</p>
<p>A. an indignant bee stung poor Mr. Nettleworth on the wrist. (as it is)
D. poor Mr.Nettleworth was stung on wrist by an indignant bee.</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Let’s trim the sentence first. Take out the subordinate clause offset by commas. Usually, phrases offset by commas can be trimmed. You should remove such phrases on the SAT as well to make long sentences short. Now, let’s read the new sentence. </p>
<p>While trimming his forsythia bush an indignant bee stung poor Mr. Nettleworth on the wrist.<a href=“incorrect”>/u</a></p>
<p>The sentence makes it sound as if an “indignant bee” was trimming “his forsythia bush.” Typically, you want to place the subject as close to the modifier as possible. So the corrected sentence should read:</p>
<p>While trimming his forsythia bush, an overgrown mass of vegetation that had just begun to flower, poor Mr.Nettleworth was stung on wrist by an indignant bee.</p>
<p>–</p>
<p>Dangling modifier recap</p>
<p>Place the modifier as close as possible to its subject. </p>
<p>Example</p>
<p>Wrong: Having finished the test, the TV was turned on by me.
Why: Did the TV finish its test?
Correction: Having finished the test, I turned on the TV.</p>
<p>lol at the explanation. Overkill much?</p>
<p>^ a bit over kill, but icequbes explanations are by far some of the best i’ve ever come acrossed</p>
<p>^Thanks scrub :)!</p>
<p>slowly, but surely, i am evolving from my scrubby self to a student scoring in the 2200+'s</p>
<p>sorry for the late response i have not been able to get on cc lately.
i read your explanation and it was very clear and thorough, thanks very much for the time you spent! this tells me that i still gotta go over all the grammar rules more in depth.
Again, i really appreciated your help Iceqube!</p>
<p>^appreciate not appreciated.LOL</p>
<p>^ICEQUBE …is genius…</p>