Advice from an experienced tutor.

This is one of the frequently asked questions that I hear from my students: Do I need to go over all theoretical information about Subject, Predicate, Direct object, etc?

The answer is no. Although the SAT Writing and Language section includes pure grammar questions, few of them are about theory. In fact, correct answers to most of the questions require editing skills. If in general you are a good writer, it will help you make the right choice at the test. However, in order to succeed at SAT Language test, you need some basic review of a few grammar topics. The most important are Subject-Verb Agreement, Rules of Punctuation (especially the difference between semi-colon and colon), Faulty Parallelism, Pronouns, and Misplaced Modifier.

Let’s first look at the questions related to Subject-Verb Agreement and see how they can be incorporated into the test.

Here is an example:

Studying grammar rules seem to be a thing of the past.

1. NO CHANGE
2. Seems
3. Will seem
4. Seemed

Although the word rules precedes the underlined verb, the verb agrees not with the rules but with studying. In other words, studying is the subject. Since it is singular, choice (b) is the correct answer.

Here is another sample question:

The collection of paintings entitled “Matisse in Morocco” are one of the most widely traveled exhibits in recent years.

1. NO CHANGE
2. Have been
3. is
4. were

What letter have you picked up for your answer? I hope not (a). The underlined verb agrees with collection, which is singular. Thus, the answer should be (c).

If you still have trouble with questions on Agreement, here is an easy trick. Remember that the subject cannot be a part of a prepositional phrase. As in our second example, the phrase the collection of paintings consists of a noun and a prepositional phrase (of paintings). Since the subject cannot be a part of a prepositional phrase, the only noun left is the collection. 

Most of the agreement questions on the test are relatively easy, but you should be ready to deal with more complicated cases.

Much of what we know about the nineteenth-century tribes come  from German-American anthropologist Franz Boas.

1. NO CHANGE
2. comes
3. are coming
4. came

What do you think about this one? Try it yourself first and read explanations after.

Probably, you have already picked up the correct answer. If still in doubt which word is the subject, recall the prompt about prepositional phrases. In this sentence, all the words after the preposition of are parts of a prepositional phrase. Thus, much is the subject. Since it is singular, the correct answer is (b).