7 Tricks for Increasing Your Grammar Score
The SAT/ACT Grammar section...you either love it or you hate it. Regardless of your feelings about it, we think it’s one of the easier sections to improve on. We have 7 quick tips to help you increase your score.
1. Read As You Go
Instead of diving head first into the questions and trying to answer them without reading, you should read as you go through this section. Many of the questions are about grammar, but some also require you to comprehend the passage; you can’t comprehend it if you don’t read it!
2. Know the Grammar Rules
A popular strategy is to choose the answer that sounds the best. This may work sometimes, but unfortunately, just because something sounds good doesn’t mean it’s correct. For the grammar section, you need to know the 10 basic grammar rules. They are:
Avoid run-ons and fragments
Do not put commas before or after prepositions
Keep a short word count
Check for dangling modifiers
Watch out for idioms
Subject-verb agreement basics
Colons must follow complete sentences
Semicolons can correctly join complete thoughts
Avoid comma splices
Keep consistent verb tenses
3. Know the Question Types
There are 4 kinds of questions in the grammar section. The first is comma use, where you’ll be asked to determine the correct placement of a comma in the example sentence given. The next type of question you’ll encounter is parallelism and pronoun. These questions test your ability to use correct pronouns and align the words in a sentence. You’ll also see relevant information questions, which are comprehension-based. Transitional words and misplaced modifier questions ask you to determine which transition word best fits the sentence and to decide if a modifier is in the correct place. Finally, conciseness and word choice questions test your understanding of how to keep things short and sweet and your ability to use words correctly in a sentence.
4. Be Aware of Time
You don’t have all day to take the SAT/ACT, although it might feel that way. On the ACT, you’ll have about 45 minutes to complete the 75 questions in this section. On the SAT, you’ll have 35 minutes to answer 44 questions. Strategize accordingly.
5. Don’t Be Afraid of “No Change”
“No Change” will be an answer choice on most questions. It seems like a trap, but it’s not. If you really don’t think the sentence needs to be changed, select the “no change” option. Don’t overthink it.
6. Learn From Your Mistakes
Take the test once, review what you missed, learn the rules, and fix it next time. It’s as simple as that!
7. Keep It Concise
The wordier, the better is a common misconception. Throwing in extra, unnecessary words is nothing more than a distraction. Don’t be tricked into choosing the longest, most confusing answer choice. The overall style of the SAT/ACT is clear and concise; short and simple answer choices are often your best option.
Try out these 7 simple steps on the grammar section of your next test attempt. If you want more help honing in on your study strategy, contact us to see what we can do together.