Overview: No Error
One of the ways English and grammar skills are tested on the SAT, ACT, and other standardized tests is to ask students to decide if a sentence has errors. Students are then asked to choose from alternatives, including the trap for the unwary, “No error”. It is a similar trap to its mathematical cousin, called “no solution.”
Errors in Spelling and Punctuation
The most obvious errors may be in spelling or punctuation. Watch for misplaced commas, obvious run on sentences that are joined by a comma splice, or lack of punctuation at the ends of sentences. Study a list of commonly misspelled words, and try not to rely on spell-checker to correct all errors in word processing. Also, study your own list of commonly misspelled words, as everyone has words that look wrong no matter how they are spelled.
Watch for Misplaced Adjectives and Adverbs
Another set of common errors are in the placement of adjectives and adverbs. Some questions ask students to choose the correct form of the adjective or adverb to complete a sentence. Suppose the sentence was “The pirate’s lair was hidden in the Caribbean, in a port safe from prying officials. Therefore, pirates could spend their booty in shore leave in the islands. The boisterous sounds and heartily voices of pirates in the saloons greeted sailors from far away, even before they entered port.” The error is in the word heartily, an adverb. An alternative to change it might be to hearty, for hearty voices.
Verbal Errors
Verbal errors include errors of tense and subject verb agreement. In some reading passages, the general time of the passage is first established. Somewhere in the passage, the verb tense will be changed so that it does not match the rest. For example, “Benedict Cumberbatch played the villain in the movie Star Trek: Into Darkness. He will play Khan Noonian Singh in an alternate universe. The actor also portrayed Sherlock Holmes in the most recent BBC adaptation of those works.” If the rest of the passage is in the past tense, a sentence in the middle is incorrect with future tense, even in science fiction (without proper preparation, that is).
Watch for Wordiness
Some test questions have alternatives that are more or less wordy. Usually the best selection is one that is the most direct without sacrificing meaning. For example, phrases such as “the fact that” and using passive voice add words that can be cut. Compare “The ball was hit by the boy” and “The boy hit the ball”.
Do you need to know more about how test questions on the SAT or ACT are scored? Learn more about how we are assisting thousands of students each academic year.
Test Prep Academy is the premier test prep and private tutoring company for college-bound students. Our highly qualified test prep tutors deliver one-on-one personalized instruction that fit our student’s busy schedule.
