SATs Grammar 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence correctly places the comma with a nonrestrictive clause? A) My sister who lives in Boston is a doctor. B) My sister, who lives in Boston, is a doctor. C) My sister, who lives in Boston is a doctor. D) My sister who, lives in Boston, is a doctor.
- A
- B (Correct answer)
- C
- D
Correct answer: B
Nonrestrictive (non-essential) clauses are set off by commas on both sides.
Question 2: Which sentence contains a comma splice?
- She finished the test, and she left.
- He was tired, he went to bed early. (Correct answer)
- Although tired, she kept working.
- The storm passed; the sun came out.
Correct answer: He was tired, he went to bed early.
A comma splice incorrectly joins two independent clauses with only a comma and no coordinating conjunction.
Question 3: Choose the correctly punctuated sentence with a transitional phrase.
- However, the results were inconclusive. (Correct answer)
- However the results were inconclusive.
- However; the results were inconclusive.
- However the results, were inconclusive.
Correct answer: However, the results were inconclusive.
Transitional adverbs like 'however' are followed by a comma when beginning a clause.
Question 4: Which sentence uses the colon correctly?
- She bought: apples, oranges, and bananas.
- The recipe requires: flour, eggs, and butter.
- He had one goal: to finish the marathon. (Correct answer)
- They visited: Paris, Rome, and Madrid.
Correct answer: He had one goal: to finish the marathon.
A colon after a complete independent clause correctly introduces what follows; a colon should not interrupt a verb and its objects.
Question 5: Select the sentence with correct pronoun-antecedent agreement.
- Each student must bring their laptop.
- Each student must bring his or her laptop. (Correct answer)
- Each student must bring our laptop.
- Each of the students must bring its laptop.
Correct answer: Each student must bring his or her laptop.
Traditional SAT style matches 'each student' (singular) with 'his or her,' though 'their' is increasingly accepted.
Question 6: Which version eliminates the misplaced modifier? 'I almost drove my children to school every day last year.'
- I drove my children almost to school every day last year.
- I drove almost my children to school every day last year.
- I drove my children to school almost every day last year. (Correct answer)
- Almost I drove my children to school every day last year.
Correct answer: I drove my children to school almost every day last year.
'Almost' should modify 'every day,' indicating frequency, not the act of driving.
Question 7: Which sentence uses 'fewer' and 'less' correctly?
- There are less apples on the tree this year.
- I have fewer money than I expected.
- She made fewer mistakes on the second test. (Correct answer)
- We need less volunteers for the event.
Correct answer: She made fewer mistakes on the second test.
'Fewer' is used with countable nouns ('mistakes'), while 'less' is used with uncountable nouns.
SATs Grammar 3
Which sentence correctly places the comma with a nonrestrictive clause?
A) My sister who lives in Boston is a doctor.
B) My sister, who lives in Boston, is a doctor.
C) My sister, who lives in Boston is a doctor.
D) My sister who, lives in Boston, is a doctor.