MUST KNOW SAT English Hacks

For reading comprehension, make a prediction of the answer before looking at the choices. Then, eliminate answers that don't match your prediction. Look for contrasting words like 'but' to help form predictions.

The video introduces the 'adverb out' trick for subject-verb agreement questions. By substituting 'they' or 'she' (or 'he', 'it') into the answer choices, you can quickly identify the correct verb form. This hack works for most digital SAT questions, but if both 'she' and 'they' work, it's a verb tense question.

For modifier questions, identified by a comma before the blank and different grammatical subjects in the answer choices, use the 'front flip' hack. Take each answer choice and place it at the beginning of the sentence to see if it makes logical sense with the rest of the sentence.

When dealing with pronoun questions, find the antecedent. The 'sandwich skip' hack involves ignoring parenthetical information enclosed in dashes or commas to more easily locate the antecedent by working backward from the blank space.

For questions involving possessive nouns, add the words 'of the' to help determine if possession is indicated. This helps differentiate between possessive forms and plural forms, and whether an apostrophe is needed and where it should be placed (before or after 's').

Semicolons don't always act like periods. If a semicolon in the passage is followed by a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS), it indicates a complex list where items are separated by semicolons. Otherwise, semicolons usually function like periods.

If the only difference between two answer choices is a semicolon vs. a period, and there's no complex list, both should be eliminated. Colons require a complete independent clause before them and are commonly used to introduce lists after such a clause.

The word 'however' typically requires punctuation after it, usually a comma. If 'however' appears without punctuation in an answer choice, it can generally be eliminated, assuming other options are grammatically correct independent clauses.

Colons are 'clingy' and must be preceded by a complete sentence. A dash can sometimes replace a colon. If a list is introduced by a preposition (e.g., 'themes of'), no punctuation is needed before the list.

For grammar questions, read the entire sentence, not just the part with the blank space. The SAT often places distractors earlier in the sentence that work with wrong answer choices, and reading to the end often reveals comma splices or other errors.

Most of the time, you can ignore graphs in reading questions. Focus on supporting the claim provided in the question using evidence from the text. Only refer to the graph if the text alone doesn't provide enough information or if the question explicitly asks about specific data points.

Similar to graphs, notes (or additional information blocks) can often be ignored initially. Focus on matching the question's goal to the answer choices. Only consult the notes if multiple answer choices seem plausible from the main text.

When asked about passage structure, break the text into parts and summarize what happens in each. Start by identifying the main idea of the first sentence or paragraph to eliminate choices quickly.

Be wary of absolute language (e.g., 'always', 'never', 'exclusively', 'solely') in answer choices. Unless there's very strong and explicit evidence in the passage to support such an absolute claim, these choices are usually incorrect.