8 Digital SAT® Grammar Rules Students Should Be Taught First
If you teach SAT® Reading & Writing, you already know this: students don’t lose points because they “don’t know grammar.” They lose points because they can’t recognize a few repeatable patterns fast enough to choose the cleanest edit and the “best” answer.
So here are 8 high-frequency rules, each broken into a quick check, a simple fix, and a tiny drill you can reuse all year.
How to use this post with your clients:
Pick 2 rules per week; keep them in rotation and revisit them regularly.
Keep an error log with rule names (students remember categories).
When a student asks “why?”, give them the quick check first. Save the deeper explanation for later—if they actually need it.
Rule #1: Sentence Boundaries (don’t “glue” two sentences)
Rule: If you have two complete sentences, you can’t connect them with only a comma.
Quick check: Can each side stand alone as a complete sentence?
Fix: Choose one:
period
semicolon
comma + FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
Examples:
❌ The practice test was hard, my student stayed calm.
✅ The practice test was hard, but my student stayed calm.
✅ The practice test was hard; my student stayed calm.
60-Second Drill: Give 5 “comma splice” sentences. Your student must fix each one in two different ways (period version + FANBOYS version)
Rule #2: Essential vs. Nonessential Info (comma “bookends”)
Rule: If a phrase is extra (nonessential), it gets commas; if it’s required (essential), it doesn’t.
Quick check: Remove the phrase. Does the sentence still clearly say what it needs to say?
Fix:
Extra info → set it off with commas (or em dashes).
Required info → no commas.
Examples:
❌ Students, who miss two weeks, need a reset. (Reason: This implies all students missed two weeks.)
✅ Students who miss two weeks need a reset.
✅ My student, who missed two weeks, needs a reset.
60-Second Drill: Have your student read a sentence out loud and say “delete it” whenever they hear extra info. Then add comma bookends around that chunk.
Rule #3: No-Comma Traps (three spots students mess up constantly)
Rule: Don’t put commas where the sentence is trying to keep something together.
Quick check: Is the comma separating something that should stay connected?
Fix: Remove the comma (unless you’re setting off truly nonessential info).
3 Traps + Examples:
1. Subject ↔ verb
❌ The list of rules, is short.
✅ The list of rules is short.
2. Verb ↔ object
❌ The tutor reviewed, the answers.
✅ The tutor reviewed the answers.
3. Preposition ↔ object
❌ The student practiced in, the library.
✅ The student practiced in the library.
60-Second Drill: Show 6 sentences with one comma each. The student’s job is only to answer: “delete or keep.”
Rule #4: Subject–Verb Agreement (find the real subject)
Rule: The verb must match the main subject, not the nearest noun.
Quick check: Cross out prepositional phrases (of, with, in, along with, etc.). What’s the subject now?
Fix: Make the verb match that subject (singular vs. plural).
Examples:
❌ A set of strategies work well.
✅ A set of strategies works well.
❌ The answers to these questions is tricky.
✅ The answers to these questions are tricky.
60-Second Drill: Underline the subject once. Circle the verb once. Student says “S or P” (singular/plural) for each—no rewriting required.
Rule #5: Pronouns Must Match and Be Clear
Rule: A pronoun must match its noun (number) and point to one clear antecedent.
Quick check: Replace the pronoun with the noun. Does it still make sense and stay unambiguous?
Fix:
Match number (student/student’s vs. students/their).
If unclear, repeat the noun or rewrite the sentence for clarity.
Examples:
❌ If a student wants to improve, they should track errors. (Reason: SAT® often treats this as a mismatch.)
✅ If students want to improve, they should track errors.
✅ If a student wants to improve, that student should track errors.
❌ When Maeve texted Ava, she was stressed. (Ask: Who is “she”?)
✅ When Maeve texted Ava, Maeve was stressed.
60-Second Drill: Make a “pronoun swap” game: the student must replace every pronoun with the intended noun—if it sounds awkward, the sentence needs revision.
Rule #6: Verb Tense Consistency (keep the timeline steady)
Rule: Stay in one tense unless the meaning clearly demands a shift.
Quick check: Circle all verbs. Do they live in the same time frame?
Fix: Align the verbs with the same timeline (or make the time shift explicit).
Examples:
❌ Yesterday, the student walks into tutoring and asks for a retake.
✅ Yesterday, the student walked into tutoring and asked for a retake.
❌ The student finishes the section and had checked the answers.
✅ The student finished the section and checked the answers.
60-Second Drill: Give 5 sentences with one “odd tense out.” The student only has to circle the odd verb and change it.
Rule #7: Modifiers Go Next to What They Describe
Rule: Place descriptive phrases right next to the word they’re describing—or the SAT® will treat it as wrong/awkward.
Quick check: Ask, “Who/what is doing this?” If the sentence answers incorrectly, the modifier is misplaced/dangling.
Fix: Move the modifier or add the correct subject.
Examples:
❌ After reviewing the passage, the answer seemed obvious. (Who reviewed?)
✅ After reviewing the passage, the student found the answer obvious.
❌ Running late, the test was stressful. (The test is running late?)
✅ Running late, the student found the test stressful.
60-Second Drill: Student highlights the modifier, then draws an arrow to the word it describes. If they can’t draw a clean arrow, revise.
Rule #8: Parallel Structure (lists and comparisons must match)
Rule: Items in a list (or paired comparison) should share the same grammatical form.
Quick check: Put a box around each item in the list. Do the boxes look the same (noun/noun/noun or verb/verb/verb)?
Fix: Rewrite so each item listed or compared matches the same pattern.
Examples:
❌ The student was confident, focused, and had energy.
✅ The student was confident, focused, and energized.
✅ The student showed confidence, focus, and energy.
❌ The SAT rewards clarity more than being fast.
✅ The SAT rewards clarity more than speed.
✅ The SAT rewards being clear more than being fast.
60-Second Drill: Give 5 lists. Student’s job: make every item start the same way (all verbs, all nouns, etc.).
A Simple Weekly Grammar Rule Rotation
Week A: Boundaries + commas (Rules 1–3)
Week B: Agreement/clarity (Rules 4–6)
Week C: Style/structure (Rules 7–8)
Then repeat for maintenance and speed—while tracking errors by rule name.
If your students can run these 8 SAT® grammar quick checks reliably, they’ll catch a huge percentage of grammar issues on the test without getting stuck in overthinking. The goal isn’t “perfect grammar.” It’s fast, accurate editing decisions—over and over—under real SAT® timing.
Want to make grammar easier to teach consistently? At Clear Choice, we build tutor-ready SAT® Reading & Writing resources that are designed for quick instruction, targeted practice, and ongoing review. If you want a plug-and-play structure you can brand and use with your clients, take a look at what Clear Choice can offer.