Grammar and Usage

Error: Pronoun-antecedent agreement

"Each" is SINGULAR, but "their" is PLURAL.

Fix: "Each of the students must bring his or her own supplies to class."

Or restructure: "All students must bring their own supplies to class." (Now the subject is plural to match "their.")

Answer: Change "their" to "his or her" or change "Each" to "All."

Rule: Singular indefinite pronouns (each, every, either, neither, anyone, everyone, nobody) must be matched with singular pronouns (he, she, it, his, her, its).

Context matters for pronoun clarity:

• "The coach told the players that they needed to practice harder." → "They" refers to the players.
• "The coach told the players that he needed to practice harder." → "He" refers to the coach.

The correct answer depends on the intended meaning:

If the coach wants the PLAYERS to practice harder → they ✅ If the coach is saying HE HIMSELF needs to practice harder → he ✅

On the SAT: Context from surrounding sentences will make the intended meaning clear. Read the full paragraph.

SAT Rule: A pronoun must clearly refer to ONE specific antecedent. If it's ambiguous (could refer to multiple nouns), the sentence needs to be rewritten.

Answer: Most likely "they" (the coach is telling the players to improve), but read context.

Error: Dangling/misplaced modifier

"Running quickly through the park" is a participial phrase that should modify the subject of the main clause. But "the dog" is the grammatical subject — it sounds like the dog was running.

If MARIA was running: "Running quickly through the park, Maria spotted the dog." ✅ (Now "Maria" is the subject, and she's the one running.)

If THE DOG was running: "Maria spotted the dog running quickly through the park." ✅ (Restructure so the modifier is next to what it describes.)

Answer: Rewrite so the modifier is next to the noun it describes.

SAT Rule: A modifying phrase at the beginning of a sentence MUST describe the subject that immediately follows the comma.

Error: Subject-verb agreement with an interrupting phrase

"Along with her research assistants" is a parenthetical phrase — it does NOT make the subject plural.

The subject is "The scientist" (singular), so the verb must be singular: "is publishing"

Corrected: "The scientist, along with her research assistants, is publishing the findings next month." ✅

Rule: Phrases set off by commas like:

• "along with..."
• "as well as..."
• "in addition to..."
• "together with..."

do NOT change the number of the subject. Only "and" creates a compound subject.

Answer: Change "are" to "is."

Compare: "The scientist and her assistants are publishing..." (Here "and" creates a plural compound subject.)

Error 1: Dangling modifier "After reviewing the data carefully, it was concluded..." → Who reviewed the data? Not "it." Fix: "After reviewing the data carefully, the committee concluded..."

Error 2: Passive voice (not technically an error, but the SAT prefers active) "it was concluded by the committee" → "the committee concluded"

Error 3: Subject-verb agreement "the proposal, which were submitted" → "proposal" is singular → "which was submitted"

Error 4: Pronoun reference "before they could be approved" → "they" is ambiguous (could refer to proposal or revisions). Should be "before it could be approved" (referring to the proposal).

Corrected sentence: "After reviewing the data carefully, the committee concluded that the proposal, which was submitted last week, needed revisions before it could be approved." ✅

Answer: Four corrections: dangling modifier, passive voice, SVA ("was"), pronoun reference ("it").