Rebekah Hendershot

Rebekah Hendershot

Grammar Errors: Part 1

Slide Duration:

Table of Contents

Section 1: The Essay
Essay Basics

14m 46s

Introduction
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
What Is An Essay?
0:28
Essayer = To Try, To Attempt
0:31
An Essay is An Attempt to Explain a Thought in Writing
0:44
Why Does the SAT Ask for an Essay?
1:11
Designed to Test Your Readiness for College
1:19
Also Tests Your Ability to Think on Your Feet and Express Your Thoughts Clearly
1:34
What They're Looking For
2:05
Good Writing
2:11
Good Content
2:57
The Prompt
3:35
Always the Same Form: An Excerpt Following By a Question
3:37
Sample Prompt
3:58
Essay Scoring
5:22
Two Readers Read Each Essay and Score It on A Scale from 1-6
5:51
Essay Readers Are Encouraged to be Forgiving and to Reward Students for Writing Well
6:16
Essay Readers Are Trained to Ignore Handwriting
6:34
Essay Scoring: 6
6:46
Essay Scoring: 5
7:42
Essay Scoring: 4
8:20
Essay Scoring: 3
9:03
Essay Scoring: 2
10:18
Essay Scoring: 1
11:19
Essay Scoring: 0
12:15
Tips for a Better Essay
12:25
Outline Before You Write
12:39
Use a Variety of Examples
12:56
Use Abstract and Concrete Nouns
13:49
The Essay Prompt

8m 6s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
The Prompt
0:28
Always the Same Form: An Excerpt Following By a Question
0:30
Sample Prompt
0:47
Why the Prompt is Horrible
1:30
No Opportunity to Prepare Before the Test
1:34
Timed Conditions
1:46
Your SAT Essay is a First Draft
2:03
Why the Prompt is Awesome
2:23
The Prompt Explains the Excerpt For You
2:27
Prompt Asks the Same Question in Two Ways
2:58
It's the First Section of the SAT
3:09
Readers Know This is Your First Draft
3:28
There is No Wrong Answer and No Penalty for Guessing
3:38
Three Ways to Answer the Prompt
3:55
Agree
4:08
Disagree
4:11
In the Middle - Scarecrow
4:14
Yes
4:18
No
4:47
Scarecrow
5:22
Tips for Acing the Prompt
6:31
Make Sure You Answer the Question You Were Asked
6:36
Pay Attention to the Language Used in the Excerpt
6:43
Outlining Your Essay

12m 20s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:09
Why Outline?
0:29
A Good Outline is Like a Road Map
0:58
An Outline Lets You Arrange Your Examples in the Best Possible Order
1:11
Outlining Helps You Remember Your Examples
1:26
Outlining Method 1: The Formal Outline
1:54
Outlining Method 2: The Informal Outline
4:35
Outlining in Action, Example 1
5:26
Thesis
6:17
Example 2
8:43
Outlining Tips
10:44
Read the Prompt Carefully
10:51
Practice Outlining
11:06
Don't Waste Time with Complete Sentences
11:39
Choose Examples That Can Be Jotted Down in a Few Words
11:50
Make Sure Your Outline Aligns with Yes/No/Scarecrow
12:07
Section 2: Grammar
Grammar Errors: Part 1

19m 49s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:09
Verbs
0:32
Subject-Verb Agreement
0:46
Issues With verb Tense
0:49
Singular Subjects take Singular Verbs
0:52
Examples
1:35
Collective Nouns Are Singular
2:47
Gerunds As Subjects Are Singular
3:20
Examples
3:31
Verb Tense Should Remain Consistent
4:32
Example
6:05
The SAT Likes to Switch Would and Will
6:33
Example
6:58
The SAT Likes to Switch Gerunds
7:22
Example
7:38
Pronouns
8:33
All Pronouns Must Agree with Their Antecedents in Number and Gender
8:35
Example
8:46
If a Sentence Uses 'One' or 'You' to Describe an Undetermined Person, It Must Not Switch Between the Two Terms
9:55
Example
10:16
Pay Attention to a Pronoun's Case
10:52
Examples
11:21
Adjectives vs. Adverbs
12:31
Adjectives Modify Nouns or Pronouns
12:40
Examples
13:17
Parallel Structure: Lists
14:26
When a Sentence Contains a List or Series of Items, Each Item Should Appear in the Format
14:37
Examples
14:47
Word Pairs
15:38
Correlative Conjunctions Are Always Paired Up a Certain Way
15:41
Example List of Words
15:53
Example Sentences
16:15
For Extra Grammar Help
19:16
Grammar Errors: Part 2

11m 2s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:09
Noun Agreement
0:31
Nouns Must Agree In Number When They Are Connected with Other Nouns By a Linking Verb
0:34
Example
1:07
Comparatives vs. Superlatives
1:46
Comparatives
1:53
Superlatives
2:05
Examples
2:20
Relative Pronouns
3:04
Who vs. Whom
3:10
Example
3:23
Which vs. That
3:47
Examples
4:18
Where vs. Which
4:59
Examples
5:14
Double Negatives / Double Positives
5:53
Don't Use More or Most with the Comparative or Superlative Form of an Adjective
6:16
Examples
6:29
Conjunctions
7:02
Continuers
7:10
Contradictors
7:23
Example
7:44
Cause-and-Effect Conjunctions
8:23
Example
8:37
Only One Conjunction Is Usually Necessary to Connect Two Clauses
8:58
Example
9:14
Redundancy
9:44
The SAT Occasionally Includes Redundant Phrases in Sentence
9:49
Example
10:06
For Extra Grammar Help
10:34
Grammar Errors: Part 3

12m 19s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:09
Sentence Fragments
0:28
A Sentence Must Contain Both a Subject and Verb
0:33
Example
0:59
Commas and Semicolons
1:25
Independent Clauses Are Clauses That Contain a Subject and Verb
1:33
To Join Independent Clauses, Use a Comma and A Coordinating Conjunction
1:41
Example
2:15
To Join Independent Clauses, Use a Semicolon Only
2:31
To Join Independent Clauses, Use a Semicolon and a Conjunctive Adverb
3:05
Example
3:19
To Join Independent Clauses, Review
3:42
Passive Voice
4:10
Active Construction
4:17
Passive Construction
4:21
Example
4:46
Sometimes the Passive Voice is Necessary to Correct a More Serious Error
5:23
Examples
5:35
Modifiers
6:47
Dangling Modifier
7:02
Example
7:13
Misplaced Modifiers
7:54
Example
8:15
Parallel Phrases
9:05
Conjunctions or Comparisons Must involve Elements Phrased in Parallel Ways
9:17
Example
9:25
The Subjunctive
10:07
Used to Express Needs, Requests, Suggestions, ad Hypothetical Situations
10:13
Major Distinction Between the Subjunctive Mood and Indicative Mood
10:46
Example
11:11
For Extra Grammar Help
11:45
Section 3: Practice Test
Answer Guide: Section 1 (Essay)

27m 48s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:14
The Prompt
1:07
Assignment
1:35
Outline
2:18
Essay
6:03
Answer Guide: Section 5 (Writing)

17m 23s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:11
Sentence Improvement
0:35
Question 1
0:36
Question 2
1:09
Question 3
1:55
Question 4
2:35
Question 5
2:50
Question 6
3:48
Question 7
4:20
Question 8
5:06
Question 9
5:44
Question 10
6:36
Question 11
7:10
Error Identification
7:36
Question 12
7:48
Question 13
8:09
Question 14
8:21
Question 15
8:48
Question 16
9:12
Question 17
9:29
Question 18
9:53
Question 19
10:06
Question 20
10:43
Question 21
10:54
Question 22
11:03
Question 23
11:52
Question 24
12:00
Question 25
12:25
Question 26
13:03
Question 27
13:25
Question 28
13:52
Question 29
14:19
Paragraph Improvement
14:40
Question 30
14:41
Question 31
15:02
Question 32
15:36
Question 33
15:58
Question 34
16:20
Question 35
16:52
Answer Guide: Section 10 (Writing)

8m 36s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:11
Sentence Improvement
0:28
Question 1
0:29
Question 2
1:07
Question 3
1:30
Question 4
1:49
Question 5
2:26
Question 6
3:22
Question 7
3:57
Question 8
4:30
Question 9
5:13
Question 10
5:51
Question 11
6:24
Question 12
6:53
Question 13
7:16
Question 14
7:51
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Lecture Comments (10)

1 answer

Last reply by: Professor Hendershot
Tue Oct 22, 2013 12:44 PM

Post by Jeffrey Tao on October 18, 2013

I'm not very sure about when to use "who" and when to use "whom". Is it correct to use "who: in an subjective case, and "whom" in an objective case? For example in the sentence, "Johnny, who is mean, hit his brother, whom is weak, is the way that I placed the "who" and "whom" correct? Johnny is the subject, so I gave him the who, and his brother is the object, so I gave him whom. Could you please let me know when to use which, and provide some example sentences?

1 answer

Last reply by: Professor Hendershot
Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:41 PM

Post by Abivarma Chandrakumaran on September 30, 2013

Wouldn't the sentence still make sense if it was the following.
"Katie dribbled the ball, and then shot it at the basket." Or is it necessary to add 'she' after 'then'?  

1 answer

Last reply by: Professor Hendershot
Sat Jul 13, 2013 1:13 AM

Post by Alex Moon on July 12, 2013

Can I say "During the nineteenth century, Charles Dickens had been renowned as a great novelist"?

1 answer

Last reply by: Professor Hendershot
Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:01 AM

Post by Rajendran Rajaram on March 10, 2013

Hi Hendershot,
I'm confused of your sentence" Either you leave or I do.". Shouldn't that be, Either you leave or I will.
Tanks,

1 answer

Last reply by: Professor Hendershot
Tue Feb 26, 2013 1:02 AM

Post by Ryan Louzati on February 26, 2013

Hi Rebekah,
I'am little confused at this sentence " every day I wake up, make a cup of coffee, and I read the newspaper.". These three habits are independent clauses, so isn't like should be a subject in each one of them, and a specially when we have a comma.
Thanks,

Grammar Errors: Part 1

  • Verbs
    • The two most common types of verb questions that appear on the SAT grammar section are:
    • subject-verb agreement
    • issues with verb tense and form
    • Singular subjects take singular verbs; plural subjects take plural verbs.
    • Watch for third-person forms. Third-person singular verbs end in –s; third-person plurals do not.
    • The verb will probably be separated from the subject by a phrase. It may also be reversed, or controlled by a compound subject.
    • Collective nouns are singular.
    • “A number of” anything is plural.
    • “The number of” anything is singular.
    • “Each” is singular.
    • “(Every) one” is singular.
    • Gerunds as subjects are singular.
    • Verb tense should remain consistent throughout the sentence.
    • When a sentence contains a reference to date or time, check all verb tenses first!
    • If an SAT sentence is set in the past and describes a completed action, use the simple past tense, not the present perfect.
    • The SAT likes to switch would and will. When you see one underlined, switch it with the other and see if it works better. Remember, will goes with present-tense verbs and would with past-tense ones.
    • Would generally shouldn’t appear in a sentence beginning with if.
    • The SAT likes to switch gerunds (-ing verbs that act like nouns) with infinitives (“to” verbs). Switch them back, and add a preposition to a gerund if necessary.
  • Pronouns
    • All pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number and gender.
    • If a sentences uses “one” or “you” to describe an undetermined person, it must not switch between the two terms.
    • Pay close attention to a pronoun’s case–especially whether it’s being used as a subject or an object.
    • This is especially true with compound subjects and compound objects!
  • Adjectives vs. Adverbs
    • Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns.
    • Adverbs modify adjectives, verbs, or other adverbs.
    • Adjectives can modify nouns via a linking verb.
  • Parallel Structure: Lists
    • When a sentence contains a list or series of items, each item should appear in the same format.
  • Word Pairs
    • Some sets of conjunctions (called correlative conjunctions) are always paired up a certain way: Either/or, Neither/nor, Not only / but also, Both / and, As / as, Between / and, So (such) / that, More (less) / than, Just as / so, From / to, At once / and, No sooner / than
  • For Extra Grammar Help
    • See Erica Meltzer’s The Ultimate Guide to SAT Grammar
    • Watch our English Grammar course.
    • Essays not written on the essay assignment will receive a score of zero.
  • Recommended supplementary material to view SAT questions featured in lesson answer guides: The Official SAT Study Guide by the College Board.

Grammar Errors: Part 1

Lecture Slides are screen-captured images of important points in the lecture. Students can download and print out these lecture slide images to do practice problems as well as take notes while watching the lecture.

  • Intro 0:00
  • Lesson Overview 0:09
  • Verbs 0:32
    • Subject-Verb Agreement
    • Issues With verb Tense
    • Singular Subjects take Singular Verbs
    • Examples
    • Collective Nouns Are Singular
    • Gerunds As Subjects Are Singular
    • Examples
    • Verb Tense Should Remain Consistent
    • Example
    • The SAT Likes to Switch Would and Will
    • Example
    • The SAT Likes to Switch Gerunds
    • Example
  • Pronouns 8:33
    • All Pronouns Must Agree with Their Antecedents in Number and Gender
    • Example
    • If a Sentence Uses 'One' or 'You' to Describe an Undetermined Person, It Must Not Switch Between the Two Terms
    • Example
    • Pay Attention to a Pronoun's Case
    • Examples
  • Adjectives vs. Adverbs 12:31
    • Adjectives Modify Nouns or Pronouns
    • Examples
  • Parallel Structure: Lists 14:26
    • When a Sentence Contains a List or Series of Items, Each Item Should Appear in the Format
    • Examples
  • Word Pairs 15:38
    • Correlative Conjunctions Are Always Paired Up a Certain Way
    • Example List of Words
    • Example Sentences
  • For Extra Grammar Help 19:16
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