All SAT GuidesStudy Guide
Form, Structure, and Sense
Use sentence structure to check agreement, verb forms, modifiers and pronoun reference. The nearest noun is not always the subject of a sentence.
Key Rules
- Find the subject and main verb before inspecting agreement.
- Temporarily remove interrupting phrases to reveal the sentence skeleton.
- Place modifiers beside what they describe and make pronoun references unambiguous.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Matching a verb to a noun inside a prepositional phrase.
- Choosing a verb ending by sound alone.
SAT Strategy Tips
- →Ask who or what performs the main action.
- →After fixing grammar, reread the whole sentence to confirm its meaning still makes sense.
Example Question
The collection of handwritten letters _____ a detailed record of the expedition.