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Typical Errors on the SAT Proofreading Section

Page 1

Typical Errors on the SAT Proofreading SectionEach grammatical category begins with sentences that illustrate the different ways that particular error can occur. You will get much more benefit from the remainder of this chapter if you try to identify the errors yourself before reading the explanations that follow. Use a pencil to mark up the sentences; use the bracket technique.

Category:
Pronoun Errors

Illustrative Sentences

• Madeline is a better badminton player than me even though she learned the game only a few months ago.
• Between you and I, I'm not sure whether our gym teacher can tie his own shoes much less lead us in calisthenics drills.
• The enthusiastic participants in the state fair's pie-eating contest, which ranged in age from seven to nearly seventy, all said that they had eaten nothing that morning.
• A paradox is a situation when an apparently reasonable statement leads to contradictory or inexplicable conclusions.

As I mentioned earlier, pronoun problems are a major source of errors on the SAT Writing Test. To keep this category a reasonable size, I deal with ambiguous pronouns under the ambiguity category and singular-plural pronoun problems in the singular-plural category. (Again, this classification scheme is for our discussion purposes only; I could have classified things differently.) This category consists of using the wrong pronoun for the noun it refers to, and here I've included two different types of this error.

The first two illustrations are variations of subject-object pronoun errors. This error occurs when we use a subject pronoun or object pronoun when the other was required.

Subject Pronouns Object Pronouns

---

I me you you we us he him she her they them who whom

We use subject pronouns when they do things (I hit the ball) and object pronouns when they receive the action either of a verb (I hit the ball) or a preposition (the ball is under me). In certain sentence constructions, these distinctions can be confusing. Once we work through the illustrations you'll understand the principle behind this grammatical rule and it will be much easier to apply on the SAT.

In the first illustration, you wouldn't say Madeline is better than me is, would you? Of course not; you'd say, Madeline is better than I am. So a longer, correct version of the sentence is Madeline is a better badminton player than I am, which we can shorten to Madeline is a better badminton player than I. The same distinction would have been apparent if we had reversed the order of the words without changing the meaning. I am a worse badminton player than Madeline (not Me is a worse badminton player than Madeline).

In the second illustration, the word "between" is a preposition. Objects of prepositions require an object pronoun (me) not a subject pronoun (I). What's confusing the issue here is that the phrase "you and I" is usually heard (correctly) as a subject (you and I are friends; let's you and I go to the movie). The word "you" can also be an object (you hit the ball; the ball hit you), and in this instance "you" is the object of the preposition, too.

Let's consider a different context in which the distinction will be more obvious. Would you say "Paul stands by I" or "Paul stands by me?" The preposition "by" requires the object pronoun: me. If you're a little shaky on identifying prepositions, a quick review of our discussion on page 5 of The SAT Proofreading and Edition Section: Basic Principles would be a good idea. The second sentence should begin, Between you and me, I'm not sure whether ...

Deleting, substituting, and reversing the order of certain words in a sentence are powerful techniques to clear up grammatical confusion when you're uncertain about the correctness of a particular word or phrase in a question.

Before we leave the topic of subject and object pronouns, the ever-popular is-it-who-or-whom question has not yet been tested on the SAT. Explaining when to use "who" and when to use "whom" can cause confusion, so let it suffice to say that the basic rule is that you'd use "who" whenever you'd reply—if it were a question—he or she, and "whom" whenever you'd reply him or her.

The third sentence illustrates the use of one pronoun when the noun requires another. The participants are people, so the pronoun "who" is required, not "which."

The fourth illustration is not strictly a pronoun error but it is closely analogous to the pronoun error we just discussed. Be careful about the incorrect substituting of the words "when" or "where" for the pronouns "who" or "which." Perhaps this error occurs because all these words are short and begin with "w." In any event, the word "when" refers to a time, but the context of this sentence requires the pronoun which: A paradox is a situation in which an apparently reasonable statement leads to contradictory or inexplicable conclusions.

Related Errors
If this type of error tends to trip you up, you should also review the following categories:

• ambiguity
• singular-plural errors

Page 2 Category:
Singular-Plural Errors

Illustrative Sentences

• A picture of the All-Star Team, composed of players from different leagues, were given to each member.
• The nature and consequences of the senator's alleged offense is serious, so unless he addresses the charges soon he will face disciplinary action by his fellow senators, and possible expulsion from the senate itself.
• For all their size, elephants, a plant-eating animal indigenous to Asia as well as Africa, are remarkably passive.
• Lance Armstrong, winner of the Tour de France, recommended that every serious cyclist invest in the best bicycle that they can afford.
• Tim and Jack want to get an A in their ethics class, and each student is prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve his goal.
• Fire officials attributed the large amount of property damage to the fact that not one of the hotel's more than two thousand rooms were equipped with the latest sprinklers or smoke detectors.
• Nobody ever achieved true success—whether in sports, business, or any other field—all by themselves.
• Neither George nor Helene were able to decide who should drive to the dance, so they flipped a coin.

We saw an example of this error in our discussion of the bracket technique in The SAT Proofreading and Edition Section: Basic Principles. These errors occur when a singular word or phrase is not in agreement with a plural word or phrase. Singular-plural errors can take a variety of forms, such as a plural pronoun referring to a singular noun or a plural noun taking a singular verb.

The trick to catching these errors is to isolate the true subject of a sentence. Remember to use the bracket technique to isolate the distracting phrases so that you can focus on the important elements of each sentence.

In the first example, the subject—picture—is singular, but the verb—were—is plural.

In the second example, the subject—nature and consequences—is plural, but, the verb—is—is singular.

In the third example, the subject and verb—elephants and are—are both plural; the problem is the singular modifying phrase—a plant-eating animal. An acceptable revision of this sentence would be the following: For all their size, elephants, plant-eating animals indigenous to Asia as well as Africa, are remarkably passive. Yes, we could have revised the entire sentence with singular forms: For all its size, the elephant, a plant-eating animal indigenous to Asia as well as Africa, is remarkably passive.

The plural pronoun they in the fourth example refers to a singular noun, cyclist. The correct pronoun for this noun would have been he or she. An alternative solution would have been to make the phrase every serious cyclist plural: serious cyclists.

In the fifth example, Tim and Jack want to get As, not a single A.

In the sixth example, the bracket technique would be useful in revealing that the plural verb were equipped refers to one, a singular noun.

In the seventh example, the plural pronoun themselves refers to a singular pronoun, nobody.

In the eighth example, the subject of the sentence—neither George nor Helene—is singular, but the verb were is plural. The expression neither-nor is also singular. In fact, all the following pronouns are singular when they appear on the SAT (some rare, minor exceptions confuse most college English professors, so we won't worry about them):

Singular pronouns:

• anybody
• anything
• anyone
• everybody
• everything
• everyone
• somebody
• something
• someone
• nobody
• nothing
• no one
• none
• each
• either
• neither
• another

Notice that some of these singular pronouns seem plural. The word everybody is really shorthand for "every single body," and so is singular. Everybody is present; everybody packed his or her lunch for the school field trip. Everything and everyone are also singular pronouns.

You don't have to memorize this list, but do familiarize yourself with the principle that all these words are singular.

Related Errors
If this type of error tends to trip you up, you should also review the following category:

• pronoun errors

Page 3 Category:
Idiom Errors

Illustrative Sentences

• Many teenagers feel a great deal of pressure to conform with the values, attitudes, and behavior of their peers.
• I was prohibited, by my conscience as well as the team dress code, to wear a dress to the football scrimmage.
• The labor dispute was caused by both long hours as well as unsafe working conditions.

This major grammatical category is one of the most important on the SAT Writing Test. The proofreading questions on your SAT will include at least one and as many as three idiom errors.

Preposition idioms make up the majority of these errors. No rule governs which preposition is correct for a given expression; idioms must be learned individually.

I am jealous of you; I am worried about you; I am grateful to you. Sometimes a different preposition can be used with a certain word depending on meaning intended. A scientist can be a credit to her university; a scientist can be credited with a discovery; a scientist can be given credit for her discovery. A common idiom error is the expression "different than"; the correct expression is "different from."

In the first example, the correct expression is "conform to"; the preposition "with" is incorrect. This example was relatively straightforward because the two words in the expression appeared together. When testing a prepositional idiom with both words together, the test writers will underline either both words or just the preposition. If the preposition is wrong, the entire expression is wrong.

Sometimes the same word can take different prepositions depending on the context and the meaning of the expression. When you write a letter to someone, you correspond with that person; when two things serve similar functions in different contexts, we say that one thing corresponds to the other. On the SAT Writing Test, the context will always be clear in such situations, so you'll always be able to decide which preposition is required.

Idiom errors get tricky when the test writers sandwich a long phrase between the two halves of an idiom to distract you from their connection. When the two halves are separated, the test writers usually just underline the preposition. But because the preposition is now separated from its "other half," it's easy to forget to look back to see whether the preposition is properly used. You have to train yourself to anticipate the second half of these idioms—and look for it—as soon as you encounter the first half.

Once again, the bracket technique comes in handy. In the second example, bracketing the middle phrase isolates the expression "prohibited to." The correct preposition to follow prohibited is "from."

Let's say that you weren't sure which preposition goes with prohibited and that your ear is no guide in this case. You might ask yourself what preposition goes with a synonym for prohibited, like prevented. If you're not sure which preposition goes with a particular word, try substituting a familiar synonym: generally both words will take the same preposition.

The other type of idiom error you need to look out for involves linking expressions. Certain expressions, a list of which follows, link two sets of words or phrases. These expressions are fixed idioms, and they require both halves to be correct. Notice that the two parts of each linking expression will be separated: when you see the first half, you must anticipate the second half. When one of these expressions is being tested on the SAT, often only the second part will be underlined. You'll need to be extremely careful and look back to see whether the underlined second half correctly goes with the first half, which may not be underlined (and which may therefore escape easy notice).

The following common linking expressions, which we will also discuss under parallel errors, all require both parts to be correct.

• both . . . and
• either . . . or
• neither . . . nor
• whether . . . or
• not only . . . but also

In the third example, the phrase "as well as" incorrectly follows the word "both." Any of the following would have been acceptable versions of this sentence:

• The labor dispute was caused by both long hours and unsafe working conditions.
• The labor dispute was caused by long hours and unsafe working conditions.
• The labor dispute was caused by long hours as well as unsafe working conditions.

You don't have to memorize a long list of idioms. If you're on the lookout—two or three will show up on your test—you should have no difficulty spotting them. The following drill will give you additional practice.

Prepositional Idiom Drill
For each of the following words, supply the correct preposition. You'll find the answers at the end of this page.

1. able . . .
2. capable . . .
3. comply . . .
4. conscious . . .
5. equivalent . . .
6. identical . . .
7. method . . .
8. opposed . . .
9. preoccupied . . .
10. relevant . . .

Related Errors
If this type of error tends to trip you up, you should also review the following categories:

• diction errors
• parallel structure errors

Answers to the Prepositional Idiom Drill

1. able to
2. capable of
3. comply with
4. conscious of
5. equivalent to
6. identical to
7. method of
8. opposed to
9. preoccupied with
10. relevant to

If you missed more than a few of these, try to be more alert to idioms in your regular classroom reading assignments. Now that you know to be on the lookout for prepositional idioms, you'll quickly become familiar with the more common ones.

Page 4 Category:
Parallel Structure Errors

Illustrative Sentences

• A talented athlete just like his older brother, Harold enjoys biking, skiing, and to play golf.
• Sharon is a great dancer but, despite years of diligent practice, poor at singing.
• The purpose of George Bernard Shaw's plays is more to instruct than providing entertainment.
• The short story contains not only comic elements but also it contains tragic elements.

When a sentence contains related concepts, it should express those concepts in the same (or parallel) grammatical form. In the first example, the sports should be expressed in the same form: biking, skiing, and golfing.

In the second example, the related concepts are Sharon's dancing and singing and should take the same grammatical form, so either of the following versions is acceptable:

Sharon is a great dancer but, despite years of diligent practice, a poor singer.

Sharon is great at dancing but, despite years of diligent practice, is poor at singing.

On the SAT, either Sharon's singing or dancing would be underlined for correction. Notice again that a non-underlined part of a sentence can affect an underlined part and that the two parts can be widely separated.

In the third example, the sentence lists two purposes of Shaw's plays—instructing and entertaining—but the two ideas are in different grammatical forms. The following would be an acceptable version of this sentence:

The purpose of George Bernard Shaw's plays is more to instruct than to entertain.

Finally, certain expressions connect related ideas, and these ideas must be expressed in the same grammatical form. We discussed these expressions under idiom errors, but they are important enough to repeat here. Under idiom errors we were concerned that the two parts of an expression both be included. Here we are concerned not with the two halves of the expressions but with the ideas they connect.

The following expressions all require parallel forms of the phrases (the blanks) that they link:

• both . . . and
• either . . . or
• neither . . . nor
• whether . . . or
• not only . . . but also

In the fourth example, what follows "not only" (comic elements) is not in the same form as what follows "but also" (it contains tragic elements). The following would be an acceptable version of this sentence:

The short story contains not only comic elements but also tragic elements.

Keep your eye out for these expressions; on average one of them will show up on an SAT.

Related Errors
If this type of error tends to trip you up, you should also review the following categories:

• idiom errors
• comparison errors

Page 5 Category:
Comparison Errors

Illustrative Sentences

• In some regions of the state, May's average rainfall is greater than April.
• The basic policies of the incumbent senator are no different from the candidate challenging her in the upcoming election.
• Like many other insects, the camouflage strategy of the viceroy butterfly is imitative: potential predators have a hard time distinguishing the tasty viceroy butterfly from the toxic monarch butterfly.

Comparison errors are a type of parallel structure error: the two things being compared must have similar forms. These errors are easy to understand once you observe how a comparison error innocently arises. Using the first illustration, let's write out fully the comparison the writer intended:

In some regions of the state, May's average rainfall is greater than April's average rainfall.

Okay, so far so good. The average rainfall in one month is being compared with the average rainfall in another month; no problem, yet. Now let's omit a couple of words that would be implied by the sentence structure:

In some regions of the state, May's average rainfall is greater than April's.

Okay, this sentence is perfectly fine, too. Unfortunately, this version is different from the original sentence: April is not the same as April's. It's easy to read right past this type of error because we unconsciously realize what the sentence "really meant." Notice how carefully you must read this sentence: a single letter and an apostrophe—changing a noun into its possessive form—make all the difference between a correct and an incorrect comparison.

In the second illustration, the basic policies of the senator are being compared with the challenger. A proper comparison could have been the following:

The basic policies of the incumbent senator are no different from those of the candidate challenging her in the upcoming election.

Notice that a mere two words—those of—make all the difference.

In the third illustration, a strategy (the camouflage strategy of the viceroy butterfly) is being compared with insects (other insects). A proper comparison would have been the following:

Like that of many other insects, the camouflage strategy of the viceroy butterfly is imitative: potential predators have a hard time distinguishing the tasty viceroy butterfly from the toxic monarch butterfly.

If you're on your toes about this important error, it should not give you much trouble on the SAT.

Related Errors
If this type of error tends to trip you up, you should also review the following categories:

• ambiguity
• parallel structure errors

Page 6 Category:
Modifier Errors

Illustrative Sentences

• While visiting the Statue of Liberty, Mr. Johnson's hat was blown into the harbor waters and quickly sank beneath the turbulent waves.
• Unaware the loudspeaker system's microphone was on, the entire school was treated to the principal's musical humming.

Different variations of this error are referred to as "dangling modifiers" or "misplaced modifiers" or "squinting modifiers," but the underlying principle is simple: modifying phrases should be next to the nouns or pronouns that they re modifying. Whenever a sentence begins with a modifying phrase followed by a comma, the subject of that modifier follows immediately after the comma.

In the first example, "Mr. Johnson's hat" is the subject being modified by the opening phrase, "while visiting the Statue of Liberty." That's clearly not what the speaker really meant, but that's literally what the sentence is saying. Modifier errors are easy to read right past if you're not on the lookout because your brain subconsciously realizes the intended meaning—here that Mr. Johnson was visiting the Statue of Liberty—and so ignores the literal meaning.

So you can understand the logic of this important grammatical principle, let's reverse the order of the sentence and put the modifying phrase at the end: Mr. Johnson's hat was blown into the harbor waters and quickly sank beneath the turbulent waves while visiting the Statue of Liberty. The sentence's meaning is now unclear: while who was visiting the Statue of Liberty? A grammatically correct version of the sentence would be, While Mr. Johnson was visiting the Statue of Liberty, his hat was blown into the harbor waters and quickly sank beneath the turbulent waves.

The intended meaning of the second sentence was that the principal was unaware the microphone was on, but that's not what the sentence says. The sentence says that the entire school was unaware the microphone was on. A grammatically correct version of this sentence would be, Unaware the loudspeaker system's microphone was on, the principal treated the entire school to his musical humming.

Whenever a sentence begins with a phrase followed by a comma, make sure that what immediately follows is the subject of that phrase! These phrases often include a word ending in ing (like visiting, as in the first example), but not always (as in the second example).

Related Errors
If this type of error tends to trip you up, you should also review the following categories:

• ambiguity
• comparison errors
• logic errors

Page 7 Category:
Diction Errors

Illustrative Sentences

• The space launch will take place next month, providing that the weather is good.
• The range and sheer number of Thomas Edison's inventions are indicative of a uniquely imaginary mind.
• Because the elderly dog's physical condition rapidly decreased, the veterinarian decided at long last to undertake the risky operation.
• The amount of people who go to the library these days is far less now that so much research is accessible on the Internet.
• The latest version of the software has less flaws in it than does the previous version.
• The third game of the series was delayed when the two referees disagreed among each other about a critical play.
• It was difficult to decide which of the two teachers wore the most outrageous costume to the school Halloween Dance.
• The cheering by the home team's fans in the stadium was so deafening as the buzzer went off that the spectators could not hardly hear the announcement that the final play had been disallowed.

A diction error is using the wrong word for the meaning intended. You have to be very careful to spot this error because the word in the sentence is spelled almost exactly like the word that should have been used. The word providing in the first example should have been provided;the word imaginary in the second example should have been imaginative. A diction error is not a spelling error (which isn't tested on the SAT Writing Test), but rather the wrong word.

As I mentioned earlier, don't let a difficult or unfamiliar word intimidate you on the proofreading questions—but do be careful that the word is not a diction error. For example, the word "incredulous" (which means disbelieving or highly skeptical) once appeared as a diction error on an SAT when the word "incredible" should have been used.

In the first example, the word should have been provided (which means on the condition) rather than providing (which means supplying). In the second example, the word should have been imaginative (which means creative) rather than imaginary (which means unreal).

In the third example, the word "decreased" is incorrectly used. A condition can deteriorate but it cannot decrease.

In the fourth example, the word "amount" is incorrectly used. Amount refers to quantities that cannot be counted; countable quantities (like how many people) require the word number.

The fifth example contains a related diction error. The words less and more refer to quantities that cannot be counted; countable quantities (like the number of flaws) require the words fewer or greater.

The sixth example uses the word "among" incorrectly. The word between is used when referring to two items; among is used when referring to three or more items.

The seventh example contains a related error. When comparing two items, use words like more, happier, better, colder; when comparing three or more items, use words like most, happiest, best, coldest. The word most should have been more.

I've included the last example in this category because students who tend to miss diction errors also tend to miss this error. The phrase could not hardly should be could hardly; the "not" is redundant. The synonyms scarcely, barely, and hardly are already negative, and so should not be used with words like not, no, or none (the correct expressions are scarcely any, barely any, or hardly any).

Don't go crazy second-guessing every word, hunting for suspected diction errors. Your SAT will probably contain just one—usually among the last few usage questions. (Breaking news: the last PSAT Writing Test had two consecutive diction errors; as predicted, they were among the last few usage questions.)

Related Errors

If this type of error tends to trip you up, you should also review the following categories:

• adjective-adverb errors
• idiom errors

Page 8 Category:
Adjective-Adverb Errors

Illustrative Sentences

• The exacting editor looked extremely close at the young author's final manuscript, but could find no typographical, grammatical, or other errors.
• The team of surgeons worked slowly and steady during the most delicate phase of the operation on the newborn infant's heart.

I'm sure you know the difference between an adjective and an adverb (and if you're a little shaky on these terms you should take a moment to review the definitions in The SAT Proofreading and Editing Section: Basic Principles.) Adjectives modify only nouns or pronouns; adverbs modify primarily verbs, but also adjectives and other adverbs. What's the big deal? What makes these errors so pesky is that the adjective and adverb forms of many words look almost identical, with two or three letters making all the difference.

In the first example, the word "close" is supposed to modify the verb "looked" so it should take the adverb form, "closely." It's easy to misread this sentence because of the expression "taking a close look," in which the word "close" now modifies the noun, "a look," and so is in the correct adjective form.

In the second example, the adjective "steady" should be the adverb "steadily" because it modifies the verb "worked." Here again, if you weren't on the lookout for this type of error, you can see how it would be possible to miss it entirely (just like diction errors).

Related Errors

If this type of error tends to trip you up, you should also review the following category:

• diction errors

Page 9 Category:
Verb Tense Errors

Illustrative Sentences

• After months of campaigning the councilmember finally had enough support for her proposal, so she calls for an immediate vote.
• The marathoner paused briefly in the race to drink a few sips of water after he had ran the first half at a record-setting pace.
• If both parties would have known how long and difficult the conflict was likely to be, the earlier settlement talks might have been more fruitful.

We tend to think of tenses in terms of past, present, and future, but in fact variations of these tenses arise depending on when the action takes place relative to other events. Consider the following examples and you'll see that different situations would require different tenses.

Present Tenses

• I clean up my room.
• I am cleaning up my room.
• I have cleaned up my room.
• I have been cleaning up my room.

Past Tenses

I cleaned up my room.
• I was cleaning up my room.
• I had cleaned up my room.
• I had been cleaning up my room.

Future Tenses

• I will clean up my room.
• I will be cleaning up my room.
• I will have cleaned up my room.
• I will have been cleaning up my room.

A sentence can contain more than one tense. (Because I was sick yesterday I am studying for a make-up test that I will take tomorrow.) If so, however, these tenses must be consistent with each other. In the first example, the past tense switches inconsistently with the present.

In the second example, the correct form of the past tense would be "had run." Occasionally the SAT will include a tense of an "irregular" verb like "to run." There are too many irregular verbs to list here, but usually your ear will be reliable detecting any such tense errors (a notable exception to our general caution about relying on your ear on the proofreading questions).

The verb phrase "would have" in the third example is used to construct conditional forms, as in the sentence, I would have called you if I hadn't lost your phone number. In this sentence, however, a past tense is required. The correct version of this sentence would have been, If both parties had known . . .

You don't have to memorize dozens of verb tenses. Just read carefully and realize that this error does show up once or twice on a test.

Related Errors

If this type of error tends to trip you up, you should also review the following category:

• sentence fragments or run-ons

Page 10 Category:
Sentence Fragments or Run-ons

Illustrative Sentences

• The supportive words of the teacher offering little consolation to the despondent athlete who had been disqualified on a technicality.
• Although the two poets wrote about similar themes and used similar techniques.
• Since the migration patterns of many bird and other species were altered dramatically by greatly increased sunspot activity.
• The gymnastics coach told the audience of aspiring gymnasts that it takes ten years for athletes to develop their full potential, they should start serious training as early as possible.

In informal writing a sentence fragment is sometimes used for emphasis, but on the SAT Writing Test sentence fragments are always incorrect. The basic grammatical principle is that every sentence requires a subject and a verb, and that sentence fragments lack one or both.

The tricky thing about sentence fragments is that if you read one too quickly, you may not notice that it is indeed a fragment. In the first example, simply changing a single word—"offering" to "offered"—would have transformed the fragment into a complete sentence.

The second and third examples are clauses that cannot stand on their own; they just hang there, incomplete. Although the poets had some things in common—what? Since the migration patterns were altered—what? Notice that deleting the first word of the second or third example would have transformed either into a complete sentence.

A sentence fragment, then, is incomplete; it cannot stand on its own. A run-on sentence has the opposite problem: it consists of two or more parts, either one of which could stand on its own.

The fourth example is a run-on sentence. If we replaced the comma with a period, the two clauses could stand as complete sentences. We'll discuss how to repair run-on sentences in the next section.

Sentence fragments and run-ons should not be difficult to spot now that you know to be on the lookout for them.

You know you shouldn't read proofreading and editing questions casually and that you need to break them down word by word and phrase by phrase. Analyzing sentences in this way presents its own danger, however: getting so caught up in the parts of the sentence that you lose sight of its meaning as a whole.

You will usually need to read each proofreading sentence at least twice. The first time you chop the sentence down, making your way through it word by word and phrase by phrase. The second time, after you've analyzed all its parts, make sure you put them back together again and read through the entire sentence as you would normally.

Related Errors

If this type of error tends to trip you up, you should also review the following categories:

• transition or punctuation errors
• verb tense errors
• diction errors

Page 11 Category:
Transition or Punctuation Errors

Illustrative Sentences

• Many students are intimidated by math, they do not realize that solving problems is a lot like following simple recipes.
• Discount coupons are accepted at the store's Manhattan location, and they are not accepted at the store's New Jersey locations.
• The summer program offered intensive immersion sessions in the following languages, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and even Latin and ancient Greek.
• The principle is this, all contestants should be given an equal opportunity to prepare for the science fair.

Sentence fragments and run-on sentences can be fixed with proper punctuation and by transitional words or phrases. I've included punctuation and transitional words together because they both serve the same function: indicating the transition between ideas and sentences.

You may have recognized after our previous discussion that the first example is a run-on sentence. When two halves of a sentence can both stand on their own, a comma is not the correct punctuation. The comma here should be replaced by either a period or a semicolon. Since most of the proofreading questions involve single sentences, providing a semicolon is the typical solution to this error. On the SAT Writing Test, the semicolon is used primarily to link two independent thoughts.

The second example illustrates a transition error. The word and should be but because the second clause introduces an idea contrary to that in the first clause. We can revise this sentence in two primary ways, so please examine the following sentences closely:

Discount coupons are accepted at the store's Manhattan location, but they are not accepted at the store's New Jersey locations.

Discount coupons are accepted at the store's Manhattan location; they are not, however, accepted at the store's New Jersey locations.

Notice that the subtle but important change from but to however requires that we switch from a comma to a semicolon. The rationale for this grammatical point is too complicated for our purposes, so just notice the difference. You will not be asked to choose between these two solutions; all you need to do is recognize that both solutions are acceptable.

The third and fourth examples illustrate situations in which a colon is required. A colon is used to introduce specific information discussed earlier in a sentence, or to clarify the first half of the sentence. The correct versions of these sentences would be the following:

The summer program offered intensive immersion sessions in the following languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and even Latin and ancient Greek.

The principle is this: all contestants should be given an equal opportunity to prepare for the science fair.

Errors requiring the use of a colon do not appear often on the proofreading questions, but it's an easy concept, so it was worth covering quickly.

Related Errors
If this type of error tends to trip you up, you should also review the following category:

• sentence fragments or run-ons