<p>The Seven Deadly Screw-Ups
The same types of grammar errors pop up again and again on Identifying Sentence Errors questions. Our list of Seven Deadly Screw-Ups tells you what kinds of errors to look and listen for, but you also need to know precisely what each one means. Below we provide a bit more background and plenty of examples to help make sure youve got each screw-up squared away in your head.
A word of advice: When going through the examples below, read them out loud to yourself. Hearing what sounds right and what sounds wrong can help burn these grammar rules into your brain. Also, we know from experience that its easy to space out while studying grammar. Talking out loud will help keep you focused. Ready to get familiar?
Screw-Up 1: Pronouns
Pronoun errors are the most common type of screw-up found on Identifying Sentence Errors questions. Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns (words for people, places, and things)words like she, her, hers, he, him, his, they, their, it, its, that, and which. Lets look at this sentence:</p>
<p>Ernie felt better after playing air guitar. </p>
<p>A pronoun is a word you would use to replace the noun Ernie:</p>
<p>He felt better after playing air guitar. </p>
<p>Hearing pronoun problems might take a little practice, because people often use pronouns incorrectly in casual speech. So even if a particular pronoun sounds correct, double-check it to make sure it follows all the rules governing pronoun use. Here are those rules:
Pronoun Agreement
Pronoun agreement is by far the most frequently tested pronoun rule in Identifying Sentence Errors questions. Heres what its all about.
Pronouns must agree in number with the noun. If the noun is plural, the pronoun must be plural; if the noun is singular, the pronoun must be singular. This sounds straightforward enough, but spotting errors in pronoun agreement on the test can be tricky because we make errors of pronoun agreement so frequently in speech. We tend to say things like Yo, somebody lost their shoe! instead of Yo, somebody lost his shoe! You might avoid saying somebody lost his shoe because you dont want to exclude women by saying his, and its cumbersome to write somebody lost his or her shoe. People attempt to solve these problems with the gender-neutral their. So if you see it on the test, youll know its an error. Their might be gender-neutral, but its plural, and plural pronouns cannot ever replace singular nouns.
Since this error is so common in everyday speech and therefore sounds correct to many peoples ears, you can be sure youll see a few questions on it on the test. The deceptively correct sound of many pronoun agreement errors serves as a good reminder of how dangerous it is to just trust your ear. Often what sounds right is dead wrong.
The sentence below is incorrect because the pronoun and the noun dont agree in number:</p>
<p>Every student at the party tried to look their best . No error .
A B C D E </p>
<p>This sentence begins with the singular noun student, so the pronoun must be singular too. Their is plural and therefore wrong in this sentence.
The pronoun and noun also wont agree if the noun is plural and the pronoun is singular:</p>
<p>Even though some possess the flexibility to put their legs<br>
A<br>
over their heads, most people vary in his or her ability<br>
B C<br>
to achieve this feat . No error .
D E </p>
<p>In this sentence, the problem is with C, the phrase his or her. Those pronouns refer to the plural noun people, but his or her is singular, because that pesky or makes it one or the other. This is a case in which their is correct, and his or her is incorrect.
Another kind of pronoun agreement question just tests to see if youre paying attention. On questions like the one below, youll get into trouble if youre reading quickly and fail to make sure that the pronoun matches up with the noun it replaces:</p>
<p>For the robber trying to decide between potential getaway<br>
A<br>
cars, every car up for consideration has their own set of<br>
B C D<br>
advantages. No error<br>
E </p>
<p>In this sentence, the pronoun their replaces the noun car. This is incorrect, because car is singular, and their is plural. If you were reading carelessly, however, you might assume that since the first part of the sentence contains the plural noun cars, the plural pronoun their is correct. Always be sure youre inspecting each pronoun carefully.
Pronoun Case
Were about to get on your case. The case of a word refers to the function that a word performs in a sentence. The most important thing for you to understand in reference to pronoun case is the subjective and objective case. Huh? Exactly. Let us explain.
A word is the subject of a sentence if it is the main noun that performs the verb. The object of a sentence is the noun toward which, or upon which, the verb is being directed. Look at this sentence:</p>
<p>Sam kissed Jess. </p>
<p>Sam is the subject, since he performed the kiss, and Jess is the object, since she received the kiss.
When a pronoun replaces a noun, that pronoun must match the nouns case. This is important because pronouns actually have different forms, depending on their cases.
Subjective Case Pronouns Objective Case Pronouns
I me
you you
he, she, it him, her, it
we us
they them
who whom </p>
<p>In the example sentence, you would replace the subject, Sam, with the subject pronoun, he, and the object, Jess, with the object pronoun, her. He kissed her.
The SAT Writing section often tests your knowledge of pronoun case in a tricky way. Youll get phrases like her and her cats or him and his friends. They try to confuse you with these phrases by including two pronouns, each of which is doing separate things. They want you to reason that if one pronoun is in a certain case, then the other pronoun should be in the same case, right? Noooo. For example:</p>
<p>Her and her friend like to stay in their hotel room and<br>
A B<br>
drink root beer whenever they take a trip . No error .
C D E </p>
<p>This sample has a plural subject: Her and her friend. You know her and her friend is the subject since they are the ones who do the liking in the sentencethey perform the verb (drink). In this sentence, the first her is a pronoun and should be in the subjective case, not the objective case.
Dont worry if this all feels too technical for you. If you can grasp this kind of grammatical complexity after a few tries, then youre in great shape. But whether you know the grammar or not, there is a strategy that can help you decide if a pronoun is in the proper case. When you have a compound subject like her and her friend, throw out each side of the phrase and try it out in the sentencejust remember to make the verb singular, since it stops being plural when you throw out one half of the subject. If you follow this method, youll get two sentences, which would begin in the following ways:</p>
<p>Her likes to stay . . . </p>
<p>Her friend likes to stay . . . </p>
<p>You should immediately be able to hear that the first sentence is wrong and the second one is right. Suddenly it seems obvious that the first part of the original sentence should read:</p>
<p>She and her friend like to stay . . . </p>
<p>The Curious Cases of Me and I
The SAT particularly likes to test you on phrases such as John and me or the ghost in the graveyard and I, because many people dont know when to use me and when to use I.
Heres a quick True/False question for you: Its always more proper to use Itrue or false? FALSE. Often me is the right word to use. Read the following example:</p>
<p>There is usually a haze of blue smoke surrounding Jesse and I<br>
A B<br>
in Chem lab, especially when we mix together chemicals of<br>
C<br>
unknown origin . No error .
D E </p>
<p>In this example, B is incorrect, since it should read Jesse and me. So how can you tell when to use I and when to use me? Its got nothing to do with formality or propriety. Me is used as an object of a preposition. I is used as the subject (or part of the subject) of a sentence. Give that ball to me. The dog and I sped down the lane.
Its often hard to tell when to use I and when to use me. One of the best ways to tell is to cut out some of the surrounding words. For example, in the sentence above, if you cut out Jesse and from the sentence, you get the phrase smoke surrounding I. Though we told you not to rely on your ear exclusively, examples like this one dont require a trained ear to detect the error. Youd never say or write the smoke surrounding I. It should leap off the page and shout out its incorrectness to you.
Its always a good idea to double-check your ear. On I/me questions like this example, substitute me for I (or vice versa if the case may be). Here youd get smoke surrounding Jesse and me, which sounds better and checks out correctly if you drop Jesse and to get smoke surrounding me.
The Strange Cases of Me and My
It can also be tough to depend solely on your ear to try to figure out whether to use me or my. Look at this sentence:</p>
<p>When it comes to me studying for the math tests, concentration <br>
A B C<br>
is my middle name . No error .
D E </p>
<p>Although it may sound right, me is actually incorrect in this sentence. The me/my refers to studying. You need a possessive word to indicate that the sentence refers to your study habits. If you use me, the phrase means when it comes to me. The subject of the sentence is not you, its your study habits. Using my gives the sentence the possessive meaning it needs to convey.
Pronoun Shift
This is a bad thing. A sentence should start, continue, and end with the same kind of pronouns. Pronoun shift occurs when the pronoun type changes over the course of the sentence.</p>
<p>When one first begins to arm wrestle, its important to<br>
A B<br>
work on your endurance and to make your biceps appear formidable .<br>
C D<br>
No error .
E </p>
<p>If you start talking about one, you have to keep talking about one for the duration of the sentence. Therefore, the sentence could read, When one first begins to arm wrestle, its important to work on ones endurance, or, When you first begin to arm wrestle, its important to work on your endurance. But the sentence cannot combine one and you. So C is the correct answer.
Ambiguous Pronouns
A pronoun is called ambiguous when its not absolutely clear what the pronoun refers to. People use ambiguous pronouns all the time when theyre talking. This works out fine in speech, as you can usually make it clear, from context or gestures, what the pronoun refers to. But in writing, you often cant provide that sort of context. Even if the result sounds awkward, you must make sure its absolutely clear what the pronoun refers to. See if you can spot the ambiguous pronoun in the following sentence:</p>
<p>Sarah told Emma that she had a serious foot odor problem,<br>
A B<br>
and that medicated spray might help. No error .
C D E </p>
<p>The pronoun she poses a problem in this sentence. Who has a problem with foot odor, Sarah or Emma? No one knows, because she is ambiguous. Grammatically and logically, she could refer either to Sarah or Emma. Therefore, A is the correct answer.
Comparisons Using Pronouns
Take special notice whenever you see a comparison made using pronouns. When a pronoun is involved in a comparison, it must match the case of the other pronoun involved:</p>
<p>Im much stronger than her , which is good, because it means<br>
A B C<br>
Ill dominate this wrestling match. No error .
D E </p>
<p>In this sentence, I is being compared to her. These two pronouns are in different cases, so one of them must be wrong. Since only her is underlined, it must be wrong, and therefore its the right answer.
Another way to approach pronouns in comparisons is to realize that comparisons usually omit words. For example, its grammatically correct to say, Johanna is stronger than Tom, but that phrase is actually an abbreviated version of what youre really saying. The long version is, Johanna is stronger than Tom is. That last is is invisible in the abbreviated version, but you must remember that its there. Lets go back to the wrestling sentence for a sec. As in the Johanna and Tom example, the word is is invisible, but its implied. If you see a comparison using a pronoun and youre not sure if the pronoun is correct, add the implied is. In this case, adding is leaves you with Im much stronger than her is. That sounds wrong, so you know that she is the correct pronoun in this case.
Take a look at this similar sentence:</p>
<p>Brock Lesner is a better professional wrestler than them .<br>
A B C D<br>
No error .
E </p>
<p>In this comparison the word are is implied, since in this sentence the pronoun them is plural. Adding are leaves you with Brock Lesner is a better professional wrestler than them are. That sounds dead wrong, so you know that the sentence should read Brock Lesner is a better professional wrestler than they, and that D is the right answer.
Screw-Up 2: Subject-Verb Agreement
The fundamental rule about the grammatical relationships between subjects and verbs is this:
If you have a singular subject, you must use a singular verb. If you have a plural subject, you must use a plural verb.
It sounds simple, and usually it is. For example, you know that its incorrect to say candy are good or concerts is fun.
However, in a few instances, subject-verb agreement can get hairy. There are four varieties of subject-verb problems the SAT Writing section loves to test:
When the subject comes after the verb
When the subject and verb are separated
When you have an either/or or neither/nor construction
When the subject seems plural but isnt
Remember, its not necessary to remember the name of the problemyou certainly dont have to memorize this list. Its only necessary to check subjects and verbs carefully to see if they match up. Knowing the different ways subjects and verbs can go astray will help you check more efficiently.
Subject After the Verb
In most sentences, the subject comes before the verb. The SAT tries to throw you off by giving you a sentence or two in which the subject comes after the verb and the subject-verb match-up is incorrect.</p>
<p>Even though Esther created a petition to protest the crowning<br>
A B<br>
of a Prom Queen, there is many people who refused to sign,<br>
C<br>
saying they support the 1950s-era tradition. No error .
D E </p>
<p>The SAT frequently uses this exact formulation, so be wary if you see a comma followed by the word there. In this kind of sentence, its tempting to assume that just because the word there comes before the verb is, there is the subjectbut its not. People is the subject. And since people is plural, the matching verb also must be plural. Is is a singular verb, and therefore incorrect in this sentence.
Even when you dont see the red flag of there is, dont just assume that the subject always comes before the verb. Look at the following sentence:</p>
<p>Atop my sundae, a colossal mass of ice cream, whipped cream ,<br>
A B C<br>
and sprinkles, sits two maraschino cherries. No error .
D E </p>
<p>Tricky! The answer is D, sits. Because the things doing the sitting are two maraschino cherries (plural subject), you need to use sit (plural verb). The sentence should read Atop my sundae, a colossal mass of ice cream, whipped cream, and sprinkles, sit two maraschino cherries. Why is this so sneaky? The subject, maraschino cherries, comes after the verb, sits. With all the singular stuff floating aroundone sundae, one mass of ice cream and whipped creamits easy to assume that the verb should be singular, too. Look out for that kind of backwards construction.
Subject and Verb Are Separated
One of the SATs most diabolical tricks is to put the subject here and the verb waaaaay over yonder. The test-writers hope that by the time you get to the verb, youll forget the subject and end up baffled.</p>
<p>Sundaes with whipped cream and cherries, while good if consumed<br>
A B<br>
in moderation, is heinous if eaten for breakfast, lunch,<br>
C D<br>
and dinner. No error .
E </p>
<p>In this sentence, the subject (sundaes) is at the beginning of the sentence, while the verb (is) is miles away. When this happens, its helpful to bracket clauses that separate the subject and the verb so you can still see how the subject and verb should relate. If you ignore the phrase here (while good if consumed in moderation), youre left with sundaes is heinous. Thats grammatically heinous. So C is the right answer.
Neither/Nor and Either/Or
In neither/nor and either/or constructions, youre always talking about two things, so its tempting to assume that you always need a plural verb.
But if the two things being discussed are singular, you need a singular verb. For example, its correct to say, Neither Jason nor Sandra acts well, because if you broke the components of the sentence in two, you would get Jason acts well and Sandra acts well. Its incorrect to say, Neither Jason or Sandra act well, because if you break that sentence into its components, you get Jason act well and Sandra act well.
It can be hard to hear this error, so be sure to check subject-verb match-ups carefully when you see a sentence like this one:</p>
<p>Neither Kylie nor Jason measure up to Carrie . No error .
A B C D E </p>
<p>Even though the sentence mentions two people (Jason and Kylie) who dont measure up to Carrie, both of those people are singular nouns. Therefore, the verb must be singular. Measure is a plural verb, when it should be a singular one, so C is the answer.
Tricky Singular Subjects that Seem Plural
There are a bunch of confusing subjects out there that are singular but masquerade as plural. Its easy to get tripped up by these singular subjects and mistakenly match them with plural verbs. Here are the leading culprits:
anybody either audience nobody
anyone group each none
America number everybody no one
amount neither everyone </p>
<p>In this sentence, for example, nobody seems plural:</p>
<p>Of all of the students in my class, nobody, not even me ,<br>
A B<br>
are excited about the new teacher . No error .
C D E </p>
<p>Nobody is always a singular noun, so it needs to be matched with a singular verb. The answer is C. The sentence should read, Of all the students in my class, nobody, not even me, is excited about the new teacher. Look carefully at all seemingly plural subjects to make sure theyre not singular subjects masquerading as plural ones.
Be particularly careful with phrases like as well as, along with, and in addition to. Like the neither/nor construction, these phrases can trick you into thinking they require a plural verb.</p>
<p>The leadoff hitter, as well as the cleanup hitter, are getting<br>
A B<br>
some good hits tonight . No error .
C D E </p>
<p>The actual subject here is leadoff hitter. Since leadoff hitter is a singular subject, the verb must be singular, too. The presence of the phrase as well as does not make the subject plural. Even though there are two hitters doing well, the leadoff hitter is the only subject of this sentence. B is the answer; the sentence should read, The leadoff hitter, as well as the cleanup hitter, is getting some good hits tonight. If the sentence used an and instead of an as well as, so that it read, The leadoff hitter and the cleanup hitter are getting some good hits tonight, then are would be correct. Its that as well as construction that changes things.
Screw-Up 3: Tenses
Identifying Sentence Errors questions test your knowledge of three common causes of tense errors. We explain each type in detail below.
Annoying verbs
Illogical tense switches
The conditional
Very Annoying Verbs
Very annoying verbs never sound quite right in any tenselike to lie, to swim,or to drink. When do you lay and when do you lie? When do you swim and when have you swum? When did you drank and why are you drunk? Forget that last one.
You LIE down for a nap.
You LAY something down on the table.
You LAY down yesterday.
You SWIM across the English Channel.
You SWAM across the Atlantic Ocean last year.
You had SWUM across the bathtub as a child.
You DRINK a glass of water every morning.
You DRANK a glass of water yesterday.
You have DRUNK three gallons of water this week. </p>
<p>Youll probably see one question that will test your knowledge of a confusing verb like to lie. Look at this sentence, for example:</p>
<p>On Saturday afternoon, I laid in the sun for an hour , working<br>
A B C<br>
on my tan . No error .
D E </p>
<p>B is the correct answer here, because laid is not the correct tense in the context of this sentence. The past tense of to lie is lay, so the sentence should read I lay in the sun.
Unfortunately, theres no easy memory trick to help you remember when to use which verb form. The only solution is to learn and memorize. To simplify that task, were providing a table of difficult verbs in infinitive, simple past, and past participle forms. You dont have to know those technical terms, but its well worth your time to look at the list below and learn as many of these as you can:
Infinitive Simple Past Past Participle
arise arose arisen
become became become
begin began begun
blow blew blown
break broke broken
choose chose chosen
come came come
dive dived/dove dived
do did done
draw drew drawn
drink drank drunk
drive drove driven
drown drowned drowned
dwell dwelt/dwelled dwelt/dwelled
eat ate eaten
fall fell fallen
fight fought fought
flee fled fled
fling flung flung
fly flew flown
forget forgot forgotten
freeze froze frozen
get got gotten
give gave given
go went gone
grow grew grown
hang (a thing) hung hung
hang (a person) hanged hanged
know knew known
lay laid laid
lead led led
lie (to recline) lay lain
lie (tell fibs) lied lied
put put put
ride rode ridden
ring rang rung
rise rose risen
run ran run
see saw seen
set set set
shine shone/shined shone
shake shook shaken
shrink shrank shrunk
shut shut shut
sing sang sung
sink sank sunk
sit sat sat
speak spoke spoken
spring sprang sprung
sting stung stung
strive strove/strived striven/strived
swear swore swore
swim swam swum
swing swung swung
take took taken
tear tore torn
throw threw thrown
wake woke/waken waked/woken
wear wore worn
write wrote written </p>
<p>Tense Switch
You dont always need to use the same tense throughout a sentence. For example, you can say:
I used to eat chocolate bars exclusively, but after going through a conversion experience last year, I have broadened my range and now eat gummy candy, too. </p>
<p>This sentence has several tense switches, but theyre logical and correct: The sentence uses past tense when it refers to the past and present tense when it talks about the present, and the progression from past to present makes sense.
The SAT gives you a sentence or two with incorrect tense switches. Heres an example:</p>
<p>At swimming pools last summer, the heat will have brought<br>
A B<br>
hundreds and even thousands of people to bathe in chlorine-infested<br>
C D<br>
waters. No error .
E </p>
<p>This sentence begins by talking about the past (last summer), but then uses the phrase will have brought, which refers to the future. The phrase will have brought doesnt fit because it suggests something continuing from the present to the future, whereas the sentence should be rooted entirely in the past. Therefore, B is the correct answer. Always be sure that the sentences tenses match the time frame (past, present, or future) in which the subject is discussed.
The Conditional
Your parents are supposed to give you unconditional love, meaning they love you even though you refuse to be seen in public with them. So it stands to reason that the conditional is a verb form used to describe something uncertain, or dependent on something else. Conditional sentences are often characterized by the presence of the word if. The conditional requires a different conjugation of some verb forms, most notably the verb to be. For example, in the past tense, youd write, I was a good student and got good grades. In the present tense, youd write, I am a good student and get good grades. Thats all fine and familiar so far, right? The conditional is different, however. In the conditional, youd write, If I were a good student, I would get good grades.
To conquer conditionals on the SAT, look out for the word if and memorize this simple formula to use the correct conjugation: If . . . were . . . would. Heres an example:</p>
<p>If I was to see a movie with Mom and Dad, I would risk<br>
A B C<br>
my reputation. No error .
D E </p>
<p>Was may sound right to you on first reading this sentence, but when in doubt, remember the formula. Was violates the formula and therefore is incorrect. The sentence should read, If I were to see a movie with Mom and Dad, I would risk my reputation. A is the right answer.
Screw-Up 4: Parallelism
Parallel lines line up neatly with each other, right? Parallelism in writing means that the different components of a sentence start, continue, and end in the same way. Its especially common to find errors of parallelism in sentences that list actions or items. When you see a list of any sort, be on the alert for an error in parallelism. In the question below, for example, the activities are not presented in the same format, which means there is a parallelism error.</p>
<p>Jack never liked bathing the dog , feeding the llamas, or<br>
A B<br>
to ride his personal roller coaster . No error .
C D E </p>
<p>A gerund is a funny word for something you already know well</p>