by Erica L. Meltzer | May 7, 2011 | Blog, Grammar (SAT & ACT)
Rule: whenever you are given the choice between a gerund and a conjugated verb on either SAT Writing (Fixing Sentences) or ACT English, pick the conjugated verb. If you’re scanning through ACT English or Fixing Sentences answers, you should automatically cross out any options that contain gerunds. If nothing that remains works, then you can go back and reassess, but this strategy will usually get you to the right answer a whole lot faster.
Here’s why: Gerunds can be nasty little critters. They look like verbs. They sound like verbs. They *ought* to be verbs. But they’re not.
Although they are created from verbs, for all practical purposes they are in fact nouns.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, gerunds are built by adding -ING onto verbs
Be —– Being
Have —– Having
Run —– Running
You get the picture. Gerunds are frequently used with the possessive (e.g. “The teacher was annoyed by his incessant talking during class”), although they can also be used with object pronouns (The teacher was annoyed by him talking incessantly during class). The second one has a slightly different emphasis, but it is acceptable.
The possessive vs. object distinction (his vs. him) before a gerund is NOT tested on either the SAT or the ACT.
Since gerunds are not verbs, they cannot replace verbs. A sentence that contains only a gerund is actually missing a main verb. Any sentence on the SAT or the ACT that includes only a gerund is automatically incorrect.
Much of the time, this error will be pretty obvious:
Incorrect: The senator giving a press conference about her decision not to run for re-election.
And the easiest way to fix it is simply to stick in a conjugated verb
Correct: The senator gave a press conference about her decision not to run for re-election.
But sometimes they’ll try to confuse you with multiple clauses or false parallelisms:
Incorrect: The senator, who earlier in the week had publicized her intention to run for re-election, calling a press conference to announce her decision to pursue other political goals.
Correct: The senator, who earlier in the week had publicized her intention to run for re-election, called a press conference to announce her decision to pursue other political goals.
Or:
Incorrect: The senator publicizing her intention to run for re-election but later calling a press conference to announce her decision to pursue other political goals.
It may be parallel, but it’s not correct!
Correct: The senator publicized her intention to run for re-election but later called a press conference to announce her decision to pursue other political goals.
On the other hand, gerunds can be used as subjects because they are actually nouns. When they are used this way, they always take singular verbs.
Correct: Distributing copies of her new book was the mayor’s primary strategy for publicizing her campaign.
Incorrect: Distributing copies of her new book were the mayor’s primary strategy for publicizing her campaign.
by Erica L. Meltzer | Apr 24, 2011 | Blog, Grammar (SAT & ACT)
Sometime around second or third grade, most people learn that it’s not ok to start to start a sentence with the word “because.” While I have no desire to cast aspersion on your third-grade teacher, unfortunately that rule is only half true. The main reason is gets taught that way is that seven and eight year-olds have a tendency to write sentences like this:
Because I went to Disneyland last summer!
Or:
Because I played hockey with my brother last weekend.
As I hope you can recognize, neither of these is a full sentence; it is unacceptable to begin the sentences such as these with “because.”
Unfortunately, though, a lot of the time no one bothers to teach the other half of the rule three or four years down the line. The truth is that under certain circumstances it’s perfectly fine to start a sentence with “because.”
Here’s when: a clause beginning with “because” (e.g. “because I stayed out late last night) must be followed by a complete sentence.
Correct: Because I stayed out late last night, I fell asleep in math class this morning.
Since the second clause, “I fell asleep in math class this morning,” works as a stand-alone statement, it’s perfectly acceptable to start the entire sentence with “because.”
by Erica L. Meltzer | Mar 29, 2011 | Blog, Grammar (SAT & ACT)
Transition questions tend to be one of the trickier kinds of questions that show up on both the SAT Writing and the ACT English sections. Unlike straight-up grammar questions, they don’t present obvious errors that can be easily caught by ear. Instead, they require you to (gasp!) think.
Transitions can be divided into three major categories.
Continuers include and, furthermore, moreover, and in fact, which tell us that an idea is continuing on in the same direction it began
Contradictors include but, yet, although, despite, nevertheless and however, which tell us that the an idea is being contradicted or moved in a different direction
Cause and Effect include so, therefore, and consequently tell us that something is happening as a result of something else.
On the SAT, you will be dealing primarily — but not exclusively — with and, but, however, and therefore; on the ACT, you will encounter a much wider variety of transitions, and such questions will appear far more frequently. The essential technique for making sure you get these questions right is the same on both tests, however: whenever you see a transition underlined, you need to take your pencil and cross it out. It is important that you physically cross it out, not just imagine you’re crossing it out. Then, examine the relationship between the two clauses (same idea or different ideas) before you look at the answers.
Original sentence: People who are happy to be alone are often viewed as as odd or threatening, and research suggests that spending time by oneself is necessary to interacting well with others.
Cross out transition and consider clauses separately
1) People who are happy to be alone are often viewed as odd or threatening
2) Research suggests that spending time by oneself is necessary to interacting well with others.
Determine relationship: Contradiction
Plug in correct transition: People who are happy to be alone are often viewed as as odd or threatening, but/yet research suggests that spending time by oneself is necessary to interacting well with others.
Or: People who are happy to be alone are often viewed as odd or threatening; however, research suggests that spending time by oneself is necessary to interacting well with others.
by Erica L. Meltzer | Mar 23, 2011 | Blog, Grammar (SAT & ACT)
Dangling modifiers are guaranteed to show up on both the SAT and ACT. You can reasonably expect to encounter one on every test. So what is a dangling modifier, and how do you fix it? Dangling modifiers are best explained through examples, so let’s take a look at an example.
Correct: The dog jumped over the fence after escaping from its leash.
In this sentence, the subject (the dog) appears immediately and the modification follows. We can, however, also rewrite the sentence so that the modification comes before the subject:
Correct: After escaping from its leash, the dog jumped over the fence.
Even though the dog no longer appears at the beginning of the sentence, it is still the subject. And at the beginning of the sentence, we now have a clause that describes the subject but that does not name it. If the subject does not immediately follow that description, however, the result is a dangling modifier. When taken literally, sentences that contain dangling modifiers are often completely absurd.
Dangling Modifier: After escaping from its leash, the fence was jumped over by the dog. (Implies that the fence escaped from its leash.)
Dangling Modifier: After escaping from its leash, jumping over the fence was what the dog did. (Implies that jumping escaped from its leash.)
While some of the dangling modifiers that appear on the SAT and ACT clearly sound wrong, like the sentences above, others can be much harder to catch — especially if you’re not looking out for them.
For example: (more…)
by Erica L. Meltzer | Mar 12, 2011 | ACT English/SAT Writing, Grammar (SAT & ACT)
For some reason, colons have a tendency to make people nervous. There’s really no reason for concern, though, because there are only three things you need know in order to use them flawlessly.
Colons can be used in two situations:
1) Before a list
New England consists of six states: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
2) Before an explanation
Correct: I spoke to my supervisor, and this is what she said: I should come in early tomorrow morning in order to make up for the shift that I missed last night.
The first half of the sentence sets up the information after the colon, which explains what the supervisor said.
Let’s look at a slightly more challenging example.
Correct: The Greek goddess Athena was a complex figure: she was a patron of the arts and music, but she also was a warrior who was typically depicted as wearing armor and carrying a shield.
Again, the second half of the sentence expands on the first — it explains why Athena was a complex figure.
Now, there is an additional requirement:
The sentence before a colon must be able to stand on its own as a complete thought.
For instance, in the second example above, the statement The Greek goddess Athena was a complex figure is both a grammatically complete sentence and a statement that makes sense on its own.
In contrast, we cannot say this:
Incorrect: The Greek goddess Athena was: a complex figure.
Even though The Greek goddess Athena was is technically a complete sentence because it contains a subject (The Greek goddess Athena) and a verb (was), it does not make sense as an independent thought.
One more example.
Incorrect: In recent years, forest fires have become: an increasing threat in the United States and abroad.
Because In recent years, forest fires have become does not make sense as an independent statement, it should not come before a colon.
Correct: In recent years, forest fires have become an increasing threat: they burn earlier and later in the year, both in the United States and abroad.
Because In recent years, forest fires have become an increasing threat does make sense on its own, it can come before a colon.
by Erica L. Meltzer | Mar 7, 2011 | Grammar (SAT & ACT)
Prepositions are location and time words. They indicate where things are, where they’re going, and when they happen(ed).
Common Prepositions: to, from, for, at, by, with, between, about, in, on, around
Prepositional phrase – phrase that begins with a preposition. Prepositional phrase can contain nouns, pronouns, and adjectives, but they cannot contain verbs.
Examples:
-At my house
-During the long movie
-Between you and me
-To my older sister
If you’re not sure whether a word is a preposition, see if you can place it right before a noun at the end of a sentence. For example, you can say, My friend and I went to the movie because to is a preposition, but you cannot say, My friend and I went when the movie because when is not a preposition.
In addition, one of the most frequent questions students ask me is how they can figure out where prepositional phrases begin and end. The answer: a prepositional phrase begins at the preposition and ends right before the verb (if there is one).
In the following sentences, the prepositional phrases are underlined. Note that a sentence can easily contain multiple prepositional phrases back to back, and that a prepositional phrase can occur anywhere in a sentence.
-The stack of books is sitting on the kitchen table.
-One of the stories on the front page of the newspaper discusses the upcoming elections in great detail.
-The train is crowded with people on their way home from school and work.
-Sitting on the table are a peach and an apple.
Prepositional phrases are frequently inserted between subjects and verbs on both the SAT and the ACT in order distract from disagreements, so whenever you see a combination of singular and plural verbs in answer choices, crossing out prepositional phrases can help you identify errors.
