Improving Sentences - SAT Writing

The original sentence is wordy and awkward. The correct answer is concise, active, and clear.

Sentences rarely start with “being.” Furthermore, "having passed" conveys the timing and cause of events with more precision.

The sentence begins by using the pronoun "you," but then switches to using the pronoun "one." These should be kept consistent.

The use of "myself" in the sentence is incorrect. "Myself" is a reflexive pronoun, meaning it needs an earlier first person pronoun to refer back to. The appropriate word in this situation is just "me," and that is the only issue with the sentence; therefore, "brought to me" is the correct answer.

The use of the reflexive pronoun "yourself" is incorrect in this sentence, as it has no previous "you" to refer back to. "Yourself" needs to simply be replaced by "you," making "reviewed by you" the correct answer choice.

"Team" is a singular word, so "them" must be replaced by a singular possessive pronoun.

The use of "making," a participle means the sentence has no verb, as a participle needs some form of "to be" to function as a full verb; therefore, a complete verb form needs to be used, and has to match the past tense usage of "tried." This makes the correct answer choice "made mistakes."

The use of the patriciple form "having" is incorrect in the sentence, as the participle cannot stand on its own as the verb of the sentence. The word needs to be changed, and must match the later use of the past tense construction "that they could not." The correct answer, therefore, is "the man had issues."

The use of "telling" in the sentence is strange and confusing, as the participle form appears to modify "ready." To appropriately explain what the father was "ready" for, an infinitive, which gives a sense of action; therefore, the correct answer choice is "to tell a joke."

It is unclear if the “him” refers to John or Michael. The correct answer makes it clear with whom I side.

It is unclear if the “him” refers to Kennedy or Nixon. The correct answer makes it clear with whom I agree.

The use of the pronoun "them" in this sentence is confusing, as it is unclear who "them" is referring. "Them" needs to be changed to something more concrete. Only one answer choice, "never allowing people to see him," does this, which makes it the correct answer choice.

The use of the simple objective pronoun "him" in the sentence is odd and confusing, as it is unclear who exactly that usage is referring to. The pronoun should be changed to the reflexive pronoun, "himself." Therefore, the correct answer choice is "He always tried to send a copy of each newsletter to himself for his records before he sent it to the rest of his colleagues."

The use of "him" as the object of the sentence is extremely confusing, as it could refer to the subject or the "guru." To clarify this issue, the reflexive pronoun can be used to refer back to the subject of the sentence. The answer choice that appropriately uses the reflexive pronoun is "began to make improvements in himself."

The use of "him" at the end of the sentence is confusing. With the subject of the sentence being the third person pronoun, the object can be the reflexive pronoun and refer back to the subject. Therefore, the correct answer choice is "to the point of ignoring himself."

The use of "him" in the underlined portion of the sentence is confusing, and needs to more clearly refer to a specific individual. The use of the reflexive pronoun can make it clear that the pronoun refers to the "commanding officer." The only answer choice that uses the reflexive pronoun is "which caught up with the entire unit and himself."

The use of the simple pronoun "him" is confusing in this sentence, as it is unclear exactly who the pronoun refers to, the subject or some other person. The best way to clear this confusion up is by using the reflexive pronoun "himself" to refer back to the subject. Thus, the correct answer choice is "to pamper himself with nice meals on the road."

The use of "him" as the object of the dependent clause in the sentence is confusing, as it is unclear if it refers to the subject of the sentence or to someone else. This confusion can be cleared up by using the reflexive pronoun that can refer back to the subject, "himself." Therefore, the correct answer choice is "enough left over so he can pay himself."

The use of "him" as the object of the sentence is confusing, as it is unclear who exactly is being referred to. As the only person mentioned in the sentence is the subject, the final pronoun needs to be the reflexive pronoun, so that it can refer back to the subject. Therefore, the correct answer choice is the only one that uses a reflexive pronoun, "an extra copy of every article for himself."

The use of "him" at the end of the sentence is confusing and awkward, as it is not clear to whom the pronoun is referring. Changing the simple pronoun to a reflexive pronoun allows the pronoun to refer back to the subject of the sentence clearly. Thus, the correct answer choice is "that only benefitted himself."