Grammar and Usage
Comprehensive grammar rules tested on the SAT including verb tense, parallelism, modifier placement, comparisons, and idiomatic expressions.
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Grammar and Usage
Pronoun Errors
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number and gender.
- "Each student must bring their book." (informal, but SAT prefers "his or her")
- "The scientists published their findings." ✓
Pronoun Case
| Subject | Object | Possessive |
|---|---|---|
| I | me | my/mine |
| he/she | him/her | his/her |
| we | us | our |
| they | them | their |
| who | whom | whose |
Tip: "Between you and me" (object), not "between you and I"
Ambiguous Pronouns
"When Tim talked to John, he was nervous." — Who was nervous? Fix: "When Tim talked to John, Tim was nervous."
Modifier Errors
Dangling Modifiers
"Running to the bus, my backpack fell." — The backpack wasn't running! Fix: "Running to the bus, I dropped my backpack."
Misplaced Modifiers
"She almost drove 300 miles." vs. "She drove almost 300 miles."
Verb Errors
Tense Consistency
Don't shift tenses unnecessarily within a passage.
Subjunctive Mood
"If I were president..." (not "was" in hypothetical conditions)
Parallel Structure
Items in a list or comparison must be in the same grammatical form.
- Wrong: "She likes swimming, to run, and biking."
- Right: "She likes swimming, running, and biking."
SAT Tips
- Most grammar questions have exactly one error — find it
- "No change" is sometimes correct
- Read the full sentence before choosing — context matters
📚 Practice Problems
1Problem 1easy
❓ Question:
Which is correct?
A) The team are winning B) The team is winning
💡 Show Solution
Solution:
"Team" is a collective noun (singular) even though it contains multiple people.
Use singular verb: is
Answer: B - The team is winning
SAT Tip: Collective nouns (team, group, class) are singular!
2Problem 2medium
❓ Question:
Fix the error: "Everyone must submit their homework by Friday."
💡 Show Solution
Solution:
"Everyone" is singular but "their" is plural.
Options to fix:
- "Everyone must submit his or her homework by Friday."
- "Students must submit their homework by Friday."
Answer: Change "their" to "his or her" OR make subject plural
SAT Tip: "Everyone," "each," "either," "neither" are all singular!
3Problem 3hard
❓ Question:
Which is correct?
A) The author, along with her editors, are attending B) The author, along with her editors, is attending
💡 Show Solution
Solution:
The phrase "along with her editors" is extra information.
The true subject is "author" (singular).
Ignore the phrase between commas when determining agreement.
Answer: B - The author... is attending
SAT Tip: Phrases like "along with," "as well as," "in addition to" don't change the subject!
4Problem 4easy
❓ Question:
Identify and fix the error: "Each of the students must bring their own supplies to class."
💡 Show Solution
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).
5Problem 5easy
❓ Question:
Identify and fix the error: "Each of the students must bring their own supplies to class."
💡 Show Solution
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).
6Problem 6medium
❓ Question:
Choose the correct option: "The coach told the players that (they/he) needed to practice harder."
💡 Show Solution
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.
7Problem 7medium
❓ Question:
Choose the correct option: "The coach told the players that (they/he) needed to practice harder."
💡 Show Solution
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.
8Problem 8medium
❓ Question:
Fix the error: "Running quickly through the park, the dog was spotted by Maria."
💡 Show Solution
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.
9Problem 9medium
❓ Question:
Fix the error: "Running quickly through the park, the dog was spotted by Maria."
💡 Show Solution
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.
10Problem 10hard
❓ Question:
Identify and fix the error: "The scientist, along with her research assistants, are publishing the findings next month."
💡 Show Solution
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.)
11Problem 11hard
❓ Question:
Identify and fix the error: "The scientist, along with her research assistants, are publishing the findings next month."
💡 Show Solution
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.)
12Problem 12expert
❓ Question:
Fix all errors in this sentence: "After reviewing the data carefully, it was concluded by the committee that the proposal, which were submitted last week, needed revisions before they could be approved."
💡 Show Solution
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").
13Problem 13expert
❓ Question:
Fix all errors in this sentence: "After reviewing the data carefully, it was concluded by the committee that the proposal, which were submitted last week, needed revisions before they could be approved."
💡 Show Solution
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").
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