Master Digital SAT Punctuation Practice Questions with Answers for ESL Students
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Digital SAT punctuation practice questions with answers for students to prepare for the SAT test.
Practice questions (set 1)
1. Jill Solloway, the creator of Transparent, likens directing to playing with dolls.
Choose 1 answer:
- A NO CHANGE
- B Transparent. Likens
- C Transparent likens
- D Transparent; likens
2. Know your “baguas” and eliminate clutter: these are the basics, of Feng Shui home design.
Choose 1 answer:
- A NO CHANGE
- B basics
- C basics;
- D basics—
3. Kudzu is an invasive plant species in the American South, that climbs shrubs and trees and kills by heavy shading.
Choose 1 answer:
- A NO CHANGE
- B South;
- C South
- D South—
4. Even though its crocodilian jaws are fragile and incapable of eating a large animal, the Gharial still evokes a powerful emotion, terror.
Choose 1 answer:
- A NO CHANGE
- B emotion
- C emotion—
- D emotion;
Previous practice questions (set 2)
- In 1727, dramatist Lewis Theobald presented a new play, Double Falsehood, at a London theater. Theobald claimed that his drama was based on a little-known play by William Shakespeare, Cardenio. Many, including poet Alexander Pope, were ______ historians have determined that Shakespeare’s company did perform a play called Cardenio in 1613.
- A skeptical
- B skeptical but
- C skeptical,
- D skeptical, but
- Santa Clara Pueblo artist Roxanne Swentzell’s sculpture Mud Woman Rolls On consists of five human figures made of clay and plant fiber and arranged in descending size; each figure holds the smaller one in front of it. The arrangement of the figures, according to ______ represents her idea that “we all come from the Earth, generation after generation.”
- A Swentzell,
- B Swentzell:
- C Swentzell
- D Swentzell—
- In 2008, two years after the death of science fiction writer Octavia Butler, the Huntington Library in ______ received a collection of more than 8,000 items, including Butler’s private notes, research materials, manuscripts, photos, and drawings. Today, the Octavia E. Butler Collection is one of the most researched archives at the library.
- A California
- B California,
- C California:
- D California—
- Humans were long thought to have begun occupying the Peruvian settlement of Machu Picchu between 1440 and 1450 CE. However, a team led by anthropologist Dr. Richard Burger used accelerator mass spectrometry to uncover evidence that it was occupied ______ 1420 CE, according to Burger, humans were likely inhabiting the area.
- A earlier, which in
- B earlier. in
- C earlier. In
- D earlier in
- In 2022, mountain guide Phil Henderson led the Full Circle expedition, a team of ______ that became the first all-Black team of climbers to summit Mt. Everest and that works to promote diversity and representation in outdoor adventure sports.
- A mountaineers;
- B mountaineers and
- C mountaineers
- D mountaineers,
- Nine months before Rosa Parks made history by refusing to comply with the segregated seating policy on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, a fifteen-year-old Montgomery girl named Claudette Colvin was arrested for the same ______ to some historians, Colvin’s arrest led to Parks’s action and eventually to the desegregation of Montgomery’s bus system.
- A offense according
- B offense, according
- C offense. According
- D offense and according
- Cadillac Ranch is an art installation in Amarillo, Texas that was created in 1974 by a group of artists called Ant Farm. It consists of ten half-buried Cadillac cars that have been placed nose-down in the ground, all lined up in a row. The installation, visible from Route 66 and the newer and busier ______ has become a popular tourist attraction and an iconic symbol of Americana.
- A Interstate 40;
- B Interstate 40,
- C Interstate 40
- D Interstate 40—
- The 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three pioneers in the field of click chemistry: two- time Nobel Laureate Barry Sharpless, who coined the term “click chemistry” in 1998; Carolyn Bertozzi, founder of The Bertozzi Group at ______ and Morten Meldal, a professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
- A Stanford;
- B Stanford,
- C Stanford
- D Stanford:
LESSON 6
Digital SAT Grammar
9 steps to go from starter to understanding the digital SAT questions, improving your knowledge, skills and ability to do your best in the SAT text.
The latest SAT grammar lesson focused on apostrophes used in possessive nouns and inside sentence punctuation.
Answers to practice questions (set 1)
1
- (Choice A, Checked, Correct) This choice appropriately connects the subject of the sentence (“Jill Soloway, the creator of Transparent“) to the clause that includes the main verb of the sentence (“likens”) with a comma.
- (Choice B, Incorrect)This choice results in two sentence fragments: one that has no main verb (“Jill Soloway, the creator of Transparent) and one that has no subject (“likens directing to playing with dolls”).
- (Choice C, Incorrect) This choice doesn’t effectively punctuate the break between two fragments (“Jill Soloway, the creator of Transparent, ” and “likens directing to playing with dolls”).
- (Choice D, Incorrect) This choice contains an ungrammatical use of a semicolon, which doesn’t effectively punctuate the break between two sentence fragments. Semicolons require independent clauses before and after them.
2
- (Choice A, Incorrect) This choice contains an unnecessary comma between the noun complement “basics” and the preposition “of”.
- (Choice B, Checked, Correct) This is the best choice. No punctuation should separate the noun complement “basics” from the preposition “of”.
- (Choice C, Incorrect) This choice incorrectly uses a semicolon to link two parts of the sentence that aren’t independent clauses.
- Choice D, Incorrect) This choice contains an unnecessary dash between the noun complement “basics” and the preposition “of”.
3
- (Choice A, Incorrect) This choice contains an unnecessary comma that awkwardly breaks up the sentence.
- (Choice B, Incorrect) This choice contains an unnecessary semicolon. What follows after the semicolon should be an independent clause, but that’s not the case here.
- (Choice C, Checked, Correct) This is the best choice; no punctuation is needed before the adjective clause.
- (Choice D, Incorrect) This choice contains an unnecessary dash before the adjective clause.
4
- (Choice A, Incorrect) This choice doesn’t effectively set off the emphatic last word of the sentence.
- (Choice B, Incorrect) This choice doesn’t effectively set off the emphatic last word of the sentence.
- (Choice C, Checked, Correct) This choice appropriately uses a dash to set off a nonessential element: the emphatic last word of the sentence.
- (Choice D, Incorrect) This choice doesn’t effectively set off the emphatic last word of the sentence.
Answers to previous practice questions (set 2)
- In 1727, dramatist Lewis Theobald presented a new play, Double Falsehood, at a London theater. Theobald claimed that his drama was based on a little-known play by William Shakespeare, Cardenio. Many, including poet Alexander Pope, were ______ historians have determined that Shakespeare’s company did perform a play called Cardenio in 1613.
- A skeptical
- B skeptical but
- C skeptical,
- D skeptical, but
- Santa Clara Pueblo artist Roxanne Swentzell’s sculpture Mud Woman Rolls On consists of five human figures made of clay and plant fiber and arranged in descending size; each figure holds the smaller one in front of it. The arrangement of the figures, according to ______ represents her idea that “we all come from the Earth, generation after generation.”
- A Swentzell,
- B Swentzell:
- C Swentzell
- D Swentzell—
- In 2008, two years after the death of science fiction writer Octavia Butler, the Huntington Library in ______ received a collection of more than 8,000 items, including Butler’s private notes, research materials, manuscripts, photos, and drawings. Today, the Octavia E. Butler Collection is one of the most researched archives at the library.
- A California
- B California,
- C California:
- D California—
- Humans were long thought to have begun occupying the Peruvian settlement of Machu Picchu between 1440 and 1450 CE. However, a team led by anthropologist Dr. Richard Burger used accelerator mass spectrometry to uncover evidence that it was occupied ______ 1420 CE, according to Burger, humans were likely inhabiting the area.
- A earlier, which in
- B earlier. in
- C earlier. In
- D earlier in
- In 2022, mountain guide Phil Henderson led the Full Circle expedition, a team of ______ that became the first all-Black team of climbers to summit Mt. Everest and that works to promote diversity and representation in outdoor adventure sports.
- A mountaineers;
- B mountaineers and
- C mountaineers
- D mountaineers,
- Nine months before Rosa Parks made history by refusing to comply with the segregated seating policy on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, a fifteen-year-old Montgomery girl named Claudette Colvin was arrested for the same ______ to some historians, Colvin’s arrest led to Parks’s action and eventually to the desegregation of Montgomery’s bus system.
- A offense according
- B offense, according
- C offense. According
- D offense and according
- Cadillac Ranch is an art installation in Amarillo, Texas that was created in 1974 by a group of artists called Ant Farm. It consists of ten half-buried Cadillac cars that have been placed nose-down in the ground, all lined up in a row. The installation, visible from Route 66 and the newer and busier ______ has become a popular tourist attraction and an iconic symbol of Americana.
- A Interstate 40;
- B Interstate 40,
- C Interstate 40
- D Interstate 40—
- The 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three pioneers in the field of click chemistry: two- time Nobel Laureate Barry Sharpless, who coined the term “click chemistry” in 1998; Carolyn Bertozzi, founder of The Bertozzi Group at ______ and Morten Meldal, a professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
- A Stanford;
- B Stanford,
- C Stanford
- D Stanford:
END OF THE LESSON
Related Articles
- How to answer punctuation questions in the digital SAT test
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AQ Commas, Colons, Dashes for SAT Reading and Writing Punctuation Rules
Q: How can I effectively practice SAT punctuation questions?
A: Use official SAT practice tests, focus on questions related to commas, colons, semicolons, and dashes, and review explanations for each answer. Repetition and review help solidify your understanding.
Q: What is a good strategy for identifying punctuation errors in SAT questions?
A: Read sentences carefully, check if punctuation correctly separates clauses or introduces elements, and consider whether changing the punctuation improves clarity and grammatical correctness.
Q: How do I know which punctuation mark to use in a sentence?
A: Determine the relationship between the sentence parts—use a comma for simple lists, a colon to introduce explanations, a semicolon for closely related independent clauses, and a dash to add emphasis or an abrupt break.
Q: Can you give an example of a sentence with correct punctuation for practice?
A: “She has three favorite hobbies: reading, hiking, and painting.”
Q: What types of practice questions will help me prepare for SAT punctuation questions?
A: Practice questions involving correcting punctuation errors, choosing the correct punctuation mark, and understanding punctuation rules in context are most helpful.
Q: How can I better understand the function of punctuation in complex sentences?
A: Break sentences into smaller parts, identify clauses, and see how punctuation connects or separates those parts to clarify meaning.
Q: Are there specific punctuation rules I should memorize for the SAT?
A: Yes, memorize rules for commas (lists, introductory elements), semicolons (joining related clauses), colons (introductions), dashes (emphasis), and quotation marks (dialogue or citations).
SAT Writing Practice Questions: Punctuation Between Clauses
These free practice questions test your knowledge of standard English conventions that appear frequently on the digital SAT reading and writing section. Each question mirrors what’s tested on the SAT® and helps you master the punctuation rules you need to know for college admissions success. Work through these SAT grammar practice problems to identify the correct answer choice for connecting clauses appropriately.
Practice Questions: Connecting Independent and Dependent Clauses
Question 1: The students finished their essays early (;/,/.) they decided to review their work before submitting. These are two complete sentences that need appropriate punctuation. A comma creates a comma splice error. The correct answer uses a semicolon to connect two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.
Question 2: Although the test was challenging (/,) most students performed well on the writing section. This connects an independent clause with a dependent clause that starts with “Although.” Place a comma after the dependent clause “Although the test was challenging” to separate it from the complete sentence that follows.
Question 3: The library offers free SAT prep resources (:/;) books, practice tests, and tutoring sessions. Use a colon after a full sentence when introducing items in a list. Colons can be used to connect two complete thoughts when the second part explains or elaborates on the first.
FANBOYS and Comma Rules: Two Complete Thoughts
Question 4: Students must bring identification to the test (/,) and they should arrive thirty minutes early. When using FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to connect two independent clauses, place a comma before the coordinating conjunction. The correct answer is “identification to the test, and they should arrive.”
Question 5: The writing and language section tests grammar rules (/,) but many students find the boundaries questions challenging. This connects two complete sentences with the coordinating conjunction “but.” Follow comma rules by placing the comma before “but” when joining two independent clauses.
Question 6: She studied punctuation extensively (/,) yet she still struggled with comma splice errors on test prep materials. Use the coordinating conjunction “yet” with a comma to connect these two complete thoughts. The College Board tests this type of sentence connection frequently in the English section.
Appositives and Extra Information: Commas Around Modifying Elements
Question 7: My teacher (,) Mrs. Rodriguez (,) explained the Oxford comma rule during class. The appositive “Mrs. Rodriguez” provides extra information about “my teacher” and should be surrounded by commas. This pair of commas follows the same pattern as parenthesis or dashes when setting off non-essential information.
Question 8: The SAT (,) which is administered by the College Board (,) includes a comprehensive writing section. This relative clause provides additional information about the SAT. Use commas to separate this extra information from the main clause, just like commas around any non-essential modifier.
Question 9: Students preparing for college admissions (,) especially those taking the SAT and ACT (,) should practice these punctuation rules. The phrase “especially those taking the SAT and ACT” is extra information that interrupts the main clause. It should be followed by a comma on both sides, creating a grammatically correct sentence structure.
Advanced Punctuation: Colons, Dashes, and Series
Question 10: The test covers three main areas (/:/,) reading comprehension, writing skills, and mathematical reasoning. After a complete sentence, use a colon to introduce a list of items. This demonstrates proper use of types of punctuation that connect two clauses effectively.
Question 11: The most challenging topics (—/,) grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure (—/,) require extensive practice. Dashes are used like commas or parentheses to set off extra information. This pair of dashes creates emphasis while maintaining the grammatically correct flow of the sentence.
These questions test the boundaries between clauses and help you master the College Board’s standards for appropriate punctuation in academic writing during the college admissions process.