MOST COMMON SAT

GRAMMAR ERRORS
with Miss Choi
Summer 2017
Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-Verb Agreement

1. Cross out prepositional phrases and interrupters.

2. Identify the subject.
3. Choose the correct verb.

Example: The number of grey wolves, particularly

young pups, ( has / have ) been declining in recent
years.
Subject-Verb Agreement
1. One of the students ( is / are ) studying algebra.
2. The dictator, accompanied by his generals, ( was /
were ) at the meeting.
3. The boxes of chalk ( is, are ) at the chalkboard.
4. ( Has, Have ) the books or other supplies come?
5. Everybody on the team ( show, shows ) outstanding
ability.
6. Here in this room ( is, are ) the best paintings.
Verb Tense Agreement
Verb Tense Agreement
Fix the underlined parts.

1. Fran spends her free time reading, listening to

music, and she works in the garden. working
2. The old Ford sputtered, was coughing, and finally
stopped altogether. coughed
3. The boss told Vern that he had only two options: to
work harder or leaving the company. (to) leave
Verb Tense Agreement
Verb Tense Agreement
Pronoun Agreement
Pronoun Agreement
Always look to see what word a pronoun is REFERRING to.

1. Everyone should work hard at (their, his or her) job.

2. Several of the boys willingly did (his, their) share of the
camp duties.
3. If anyone has an extra pen, will (she or he, they) lend it to
me?
4. Many of the girls have had (her, their) vacation.
5. Every pupil is expected to do (his, their) best
Pronoun Agreement
Pronoun Agreement
Pronoun Agreement
Pronouns: Who vs. Whom
WHO is the subject.
WHOM is the object.

For example:
WHO is at the door?
With WHOM did you speak last night?
WHO made those cookies?
For WHOM did you bake that cake?
Pronouns: Who vs. Whom
Misplaced Modifiers
Misplaced Modifiers
What is wrong with the following sentences?

1. We had a pizza after the movie that was delicious.

2. He bought a doughnut from the bakery filled with jelly.

1. Swinging from a giant tire, the tourists were delighted by

the gorilla.
2. After working hard all day in the sun, a cold drink tasted
good.
Misplaced Modifiers: Choose correct sentence.
Redundancy
Redundancy
Diction Error
Diction Error
Idioms
Idioms
Idioms
Semicolon Use
Semicolon Use

A semicolon goes between 2 complete sentences.

Semicolon Use

Add semicolons (and commas) where necessary.

1. Tom ran to the store, he needed to buy shoes.

2. The road was unpaved we drove on in the rain
nevertheless.
3. We cannot get materials consequently we cannot
finish the job.
Semicolon Use
Colon Use
Colon Use
A colon follows a complete sentence.
A colon can introduce 1) a list, 2) a long quotation, or 3) an
explanation.
Colon Use
Add colons where necessary.
1. Sharon is good at three sports tennis, racquetball,
and softball.
2. We studied history, geography, and sociology in our
French class.
3. She had a poor excuse for being late she forgot to
set her alarm clock.
4. Writers need only one thing an audience.
Colon Use
Colon Use
Apostrophe Use
Apostrophe Use
Apostrophes show:
1) Ownership (Janes dress, the students backpack)
2) A letter is missing (cant, dont, Ive, its)

Special Case:
ITS = belonging to IT (The dog scratched its ear.)
ITS = IT IS or IT HAS (Its cold. Its been a rainy day.)
Apostrophe Use
Add apostrophes where necessary. You may also need
to add an S.

1. The three (businessmens)

(businessmen) trips
tripswere
werecancelled.
cancelled.
2. (Its)
(Its)sad
sadto
tosee
seean
ananimal
animalbreak
break(its)
(its)leg.
leg.
3. Nell liked (Winstons)
(Winstons) (fathers)
(fathers)car.
car.
4. In three (weeks)
(weeks) time
time(well)
(well)have
havetotobegin
beginschool
school
again.
Apostrophe Use
Commas: Special Usage
Development Questions
Add sentence
Delete sentence
Reorder sentence
Main idea
Transitions (However, Nevertheless, Therefore)

Read the Passage Carefully!