How to Answer Questions in a SAT Punctuation Guide for ESL Students
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Enjoy this SAT punctuation guide that explains how to answer punctuation questions with these examples, guide on how to answer, and answers with explanations.
SAT Punctuation Guide
1. A supermoon happens at the closest point to Earth on the moon’s orbit. Also known as the perigee.
Choose 1 answer:
- A NO CHANGE
- B orbit also
- C orbit; also
- D orbit, also
How to answer question 1: the main sentence part (independent clause) has a connected and dependent clause, so
- it doesn’t need a new sentence, so not A
- but there is a different between the clauses, so not B it need some punctuation mark like a comma
- as a dependent not an independent clause, we don’t use a semicolon
- So comma is correct, D is the answer
2. Changing your lifestyle to; include more exercise may help decrease the occurrence of headaches.
Choose 1 answer:
- A NO CHANGE
- B to
- C to—
- D to:
How to answer question 2: the verb ‘include’ continues from ‘to’ so B (to include) is the answer, there is no punctuation mark (so not A, C or D)
3. On their “Strange American Foods Tour,” Ida and Jeff discovered three of the country’s oddest (and most delicious) desserts: deep fried Coke, bacon doughnuts, and cherpumple—three pies inside a cake.
Choose 1 answer:
- A NO CHANGE
- B desserts,
- C desserts;
- D desserts
How to answer question 3: Be careful assuming the dash might be separating an ‘inner clause’, lets check.
- a colon would be before a list, which it is, so strong candidate
- there is a lsit after desserts so it can’t be either a comma (B) or blank (D)
- a semicolon would be followed by a main / independent clause, which it is not. A is the answer.
4. While many people enjoy spicy foods not everyone can tolerate the heat.
Choose 1 answer:
- A NO CHANGE
- B foods, not
- C foods; not
- D foods. Not
How to answer question 4: This appears to be a normal independent dependent clause sentence.
- we know it is not A or D
- so the second clause is not independent by itself so it is not a semicolon, it is a comma, B is the answer.
5. In 2015, thieves stole some of Beauval Zoo’s most valued members-seven golden lion tamarins and ten silvery marmosets.
Choose 1 answer:
- A. NO CHANGE
- B. members; seven
- C. members, seven
- D. members seven
How to answer question 5:
- Thieves stole some of Beauval Zoo’s most valued members (the seven golden lion tamarins and ten silvery marmosets)
- So this is the example of when you can use the dash. The word members is then described by the ‘nonessential” clause at the end.
- It is not A or D, C needs the end to be able to act by itself, which it can’t, so A is the answer.
Full Answers for the Punctuation Questions
1
- (Choice A, Incorrect) This choice results in a sentence fragment after the period. This clause lacks a main verb and subject and cannot stand on its own as a sentence.
- (Choice B, Incorrect) This choice doesn’t provide necessary punctuation between the independent clause (“A supermoon happens at the closest point to Earth on the moon’s orbit”) and the nonessential element (“also known as perigee”).
- (Choice C, Incorrect) This choice doesn’t effectively punctuate the break between the independent clause (“A supermoon happens at the closest point to Earth on the moon’s orbit”) and the nonessential element (“also known as perigee”). Semicolons require independent clauses before and after them.
- (Choice D, Checked, Correct) This choice correctly combines the independent clause (“A supermoon . . . orbit”) and the nonessential element (“Also known as the perigree”) with a comma.
2
- (Choice A, Incorrect) This choice incorrectly uses a semicolon to join two parts of the sentence that aren’t independent clauses.
- (Choice B, Checked, Correct) This is the best choice. No punctuation should separate the preposition “to” from the verb “include”.
- (Choice C, Incorrect) This choice contains an unnecessary dash between a preposition and verb.
- (Choice D, Incorrect) This choice incorrectly uses a colon after a part of the sentence that isn’t an independent clause.
3
- (Choice A, Checked, Correct) This choice correctly uses a colon to link an independent clause and a list.
- (Choice B, Incorrect) This choice doesn’t effectively link the independent clause “Ida and Jeff . . . desserts” and the list that follows.
- (Choice C, Incorrect) This choice results in an incorrect use of a semicolon. What comes after the semicolon isn’t an independent clause, so we can’t use the semicolon here.
- (Choice D, Incorrect) This choice doesn’t effectively punctuate the break between the independent clause and the list that follows. Punctuation is necessary here.
4
- (Choice A, Incorrect) This choice creates an ungrammatical sentence. There are two separate clauses here (“While . . . foods” and “not . . . heat”), and there needs to be some kind of punctuation between them.
- (Choice B, Checked, Correct) This choice appropriately combines the dependent clause (“While . . . foods”) and the independent clause (“not . . . heat”) with a comma.
- (Choice C, Incorrect) This choice results in a sentence fragment before the semicolon. The first clause is a dependent clause thanks to the “while” at the beginning, so it can’t precede a semicolon.
- (Choice D, Incorrect) This choice results in a sentence fragment before the period. The first clause is a dependent clause thanks to the “while” at the beginning, so it can’t stand by itself as a complete sentence.
5
- (Choice A, Checked, Correct) This choice appropriately uses a dash to link the independent clause and the nonessential element that describes “members” (“seven golden lion tamarins and ten silvery marmosets”).
- (Choice B, Incorrect) This choice incorrectly uses a semicolon to link an independent clause with a nonessential element. Semicolons are used to link independent clauses to one another.
- (Choice C, Incorrect) This choice doesn’t effectively separate the aside that describes “members” from the rest of the sentence. Instead, it unnecessarily makes “member’s” possessive.
- (Choice D, Incorrect) This choice doesn’t effectively punctuate the break between the independent clause and the aside that describes “members” (“seven golden lion tamarins and ten silvery marmosets”).
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.
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