SAT Writing : Identifying Other Phrase, Clause, and Sentence Errors

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Writing

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Identifying Parallel Structure Errors

Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.

Sarah did many things at the mall, including buying several pairs of socks, eating in the food court, and funNo error

Possible Answers:

several pairs of socks

No error

fun

eating

at the mall, including

Correct answer:

fun

Explanation:

The issue in this sentence is parallel construction. Each item in a list must be formatted in the same way, but in this sentence, two of these items are gerunds ("buying" and "eating") and the third is a noun ("fun"). So, "fun" contains the sentence's error. The sentence could be corrected by changing "fun" to "having fun."

Example Question #2 : Identifying Parallel Structure Errors

Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.

Clark bought a leather jacket, learned to ride a motorcycle, and listens to classic rock so that Jess would find him attractive and start talking to him. No error

Possible Answers:

talking

No error

listens

attractive

to ride

Correct answer:

listens

Explanation:

This sentence contains is an error in parallelism. The sentence lists three things that the subject, Clark, did:

1. bought a leather jacket
2. learned to ride a motorcycle
3. listens to classic rock 

These three phrases must have parallel structure. The first two phrases start with past-tense verbs, "bought" and "learned," so the last phrase should start with a past tense verb too. That means that to correct the sentence, "listens" should be changed to "listened."

Example Question #13 : Identifying Parallel Structure Errors

Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, who was the twenty-sixth president of the United States, enjoyed skinny-dipping, hiking, and wrote about history. No error

Possible Answers:

wrote

who

No error

skinny-dipping

enjoyed

Correct answer:

wrote

Explanation:

This sentence's error is faulty parallelism. The first two of the three things listed as Roosevelt's hobbies are presented in the form of gerunds, verbs that end ing "-ing" and act as nouns. The third hobby should follow the previous examples and be written as "writing about history" instead of "wrote about history."  

Example Question #2 : Identifying Parallel Structure Errors

Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.

Winning $10,000 would help Cherie build her cupcake business by providing the funds she needs for ingredients, rent, and to afford publicityNo error

Possible Answers:

by

to afford publicity

No error

help

winning

Correct answer:

to afford publicity

Explanation:

This sentence has an error in parallelism.

Here, the money Cherie would win would provide funding for three things: ingredients, rent, and publicity. Imagine the sentence this way:

"Winning $10,000 would help Cherie build her cupcake business by providing the funds she needs for [ingredients], [rent], and [to afford publicity]."

The three objects at the end of the sentence are what she needs funding for, so try expanding the sentence to see if it makes sense:

"providing the funds she needs for ingredients, (for) rent, and (for) to afford publicity."

The final prepositional phrase isn't necessary, since "for" already applies to "publicity." Instead, only the noun "publicity" is needed, as the other two objects are nouns, as well. The correct sentence should be:

"Winning $10,000 would help Cherie build her cupcake business by providing the funds she needs for ingredients, rent, and publicity."

Example Question #92 : Identifying Phrase, Clause, And Sentence Errors

Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.

Neither Betsy or Sofia could remember how to get to the Indian restaurant, so they had to go home and look up directions. No error

Possible Answers:

could remember

restaurant, so

No error

had to go home

or

Correct answer:

or

Explanation:

This sentence makes a mistake in parallelism. The conjunction that correctly goes with the conjunction "neither" is "nor," not "or." "Either" and "or" are used together, and "neither" and "nor" are used together. The rest of the sentence is correct as is.

Example Question #11 : Identifying Parallel Structure Errors

Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.

Important things to remember when adding fractions include creating a common denominator and reduce. No error

Possible Answers:

include

No error

when adding

to remember

reduce

Correct answer:

reduce

Explanation:

The forms of verbs used in a list need to agree for the sentence to use proper parallelism. Because the sentence begins its list of two items with "creating," "reduce" should be changed to "reducing" in order to match the form of "creating." So, the corrected sentence would read, "Important things to remember when adding fractions include creating a common denominator and reducing."

Example Question #12 : Identifying Parallel Structure Errors

Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.

The final three challenges in the obstacle course were to catch a rabbit, build it an enclosure, and leaping over the structureNo error

Possible Answers:

were

No error

final three challenges

leaping over the structure

it

Correct answer:

leaping over the structure

Explanation:

The elements in the list should have a parallel grammatical structure. Since the first two use infinitive verbs ("to catch . . . build"), the third should too. The corrected sentence reads, "The final three challenges in the obstacle course were to catch a rabbit, build it an enclosure, and leap over the structure."

Example Question #13 : Identifying Parallel Structure Errors

Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.

The evening's entertainment consisted of a jazz quartet, a juggler, and playing musical chairsNo error

Possible Answers:

evening's entertainment

consisted of

jazz

playing musical chairs

No error

Correct answer:

playing musical chairs

Explanation:

The three elements in the list should be formatted in the same way. Since the first two are just nouns without verbals, the third should be too. The corrected sentence reads, "The evening's entertainment consisted of a jazz quartet, a juggler, and a game of musical chairs."

Example Question #14 : Identifying Parallel Structure Errors

Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.

As an avid chef, Michelle is skilled at dicing tomatoes, baking a variety of pastries, and how to spice many different cuts of meat. No error

Possible Answers:

No error

how to spice

baking a variety

skilled at

As an avid chef, 

Correct answer:

how to spice

Explanation:

When phrases are enumerated in a list, it is important that the list use parallel structure—that is, it is important that all of the items in the list are presented in the same grammatical form. Here, two of the phrases use gerunds: "dicing" and "baking." We can't change those because they are not underlined, so the phrase "how to spice" should instead be changed to the gerund "spicing."

Example Question #21 : Identifying Phrase, Clause, And Sentence Errors

Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.

Constructing a complex model is not always easy; it requires dexterity, precision, and most of all being patient. No error

Possible Answers:

No error

precision, and

easy; it

Constructing

being patient

Correct answer:

being patient

Explanation:

This sentence contains an error in parallel structure because it does not phrase all of the items in its list consistently. The first two items in the list are nouns ("dexterity" and "precision"), but the third item in the list is a gerund phrase ("being patient"). You could correct this error by replacing "being patient" with "patience."

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