The history of 
language although it may sound like a boring subject, is a treasure trove of historical, cultural, and psychological insights.
The Writing and Language Test consists of 44 multiple-choice questions that you’ll have 35 minutes to complete. The questions test a few select grammar, punctuation, and style topics. In this chapter, we’ll introduce you to the format of Writing and Language Test, the types of the questions and passages you’ll encounter, and the overall strategies you need to ace this section.
We would say no, but College Board seems to think the answer is yes. To that end, you will have 35 minutes to answer 44 multiple-choice questions that ask about a few select grammar, punctuation, and style topics. If you like to read and/or write, the SAT may frustrate you a bit because it seems to boil writing down to a couple of dull rules. But the next few chapters will introduce a method that keeps things simples for pro- and anti-grammarians alike.
One thing that can seem a little strange about the Writing and Language Test is that most of the questions are not technically, well, questions. Instead, most of the questions look something like this:
The history of
1. A) NO CHANGE
B) language, although it may sound like a boring subject
C) language, although it may sound, like a boring subject,
D) language, although it may sound like a boring subject,
How are you supposed to choose an answer when there’s no question?
Well, actually, what you’ll find throughout this chapter and the next two chapters is that you’re given a lot of information in this list of answer choices.
Look at these pairs, and you’ll see just what we mean. As you read through these pairs of answer choices, think about what each question is probably testing.
i. A) could of
B) could have
ii. A) tall, dark, and handsome
B) tall, dark, and, handsome
iii. A) let them in
B) let Sister Susie and Brother John in
iv. A) We arrived in Paris on a Sunday. Then we took the train to Nantes. Then we took the train to Bordeaux.
B) We arrived in Paris on a Sunday. Then we took the train to Bordeaux. Then we took the train to Nantes.
If you were able to see the differences in these answer choices, you’re already more than halfway there. Now, notice how the differences in these answers can reveal the question that is lurking in the heart of each list of answer choices.
i. The difference between the word “of” and “have” means that this question is asking, Is the correct form “could of” or “could have”?
ii. The difference between having a comma after the word “and” and not having one there means that this question is asking, How many commas does this sentence need, and where do they belong?
iii. The difference between “them” and “Sister and Susie and Brother John” means that this question is asking, Is “them” adequately specific, or do you need to refer to people by name?
iv. The difference between the order of these sentences asks, What order should the sentences be in?
Therefore, what we have noticed in these pairs of answer choices is something that may seem fairly simple but which is essential to success on the SAT.
At some point in English class, you’ve almost certainly had to do an exercise called “peer editing.” In this exercise, you are tasked with “editing” the work of one of your fellow students. But this can be really tough, because what exactly does it mean to “edit” an entire essay or paper when you aren’t given any directions? It’s especially tough when you start getting into the subtleties of writing and language, namely, whether a piece of grammar is definitely wrong or could merely be improved.
For example, look at these two sentences:
It was a beautiful day outside birds were singing cheerful songs.
It was a beautiful day outside; birds were singing cheerful songs.
You’d have to pick the second one in this case because the first has a grammatical error: it’s a run-on sentence. Or for the non-grammarians out there, you have to break that thing up.
Now, look at these next two sentences:
The weather was just right, so I decided to play soccer.
Just right was how I would describe the weather, so a decision of soccer-playing was made by me.
In this case, the first sentence is obviously better than the second, but the second technically doesn’t have any grammatical errors in it. The first may be better, but the second isn’t exactly wrong.
What made each of these pairs of sentences relatively easy to deal with, though, is the fact that you could compare the sentences to one another. In doing so, you noted the differences between those sentences, and you picked the better answer accordingly.
Let’s see how this looks in a real SAT situation.
Language is a living
document shows how people think and communicate.
2. A) NO CHANGE
B) document it shows
C) document that shows
D) document, which showing
Here’s How to Crack It
First, look at what’s changing in the answer choices. The word document remains the same in each, but what comes after it changes each time. This question is asking Which words will best link the two ideas in the sentence?
Choices (A) and (D) make the sentence incomplete, so eliminate them. Choice (B) creates a run-on sentence, so that should also be eliminated. Only (C) appropriately links the ideas without adding new errors.
Notice that the entire process started with asking, “What’s changing in the answer choices?” With that question, we figured out what was being tested, and we used POE to do the rest.
Let’s try another.
A community’s very soul, we might say, is communicated through
their language.
3. A) NO CHANGE
B) they’re language.
C) their languages.
D) its language.
Here’s How to Crack It
As always, start by figuring out what’s changing in the answer choices. One change is between the words their, they’re, and its, and there’s another change between the words language and languages. As such, this question is asking, What is the appropriate pronoun to use in this context, and just how many “languages” are we talking about?
Start wherever is easiest. In this case, it’s difficult to say for sure whether the sentence is talking about one language or about a bunch of languages, so start with the pronoun. What does it refer back to? In this sentence, the pronoun refers back to a community, which is a singular noun (even though it describes a lot of people). Therefore, the only possible answer that could work is (D), which contains the singular pronoun its.
Notice that you didn’t need to figure out whether the sentence is talking about one language or many languages. Sometimes fixing one problem will make others irrelevant!
Let’s think about the previous question a bit more. If someone said to you A community’s very soul, we might say, is communicated through their language, you probably wouldn’t hear that as wrong. That’s because the way we speak is often very different from the way we write. On the SAT, however, the test writers are more concerned with how we write and the stricter set of rules that go along with writing.
Therefore, the answer choices not only indicate what a particular question is testing, but can also reveal mistakes that you might not have otherwise seen (in the original sentence) or heard (in your head). In the previous question, for example, we might not have noted the mistake at all if we hadn’t looked at what was changing in the answer choices.
Try another example.
For all intensive purposes, any social, cultural, or historical study must start with an analysis of language.
4. A) NO CHANGE
B) For all intents and purposes,
C) For all intent’s and purpose’s,
D) For all intensive purpose’s,
Here’s How to Crack It
As always, start by checking what’s changing in the answer choices. In this case, this step is especially important because you can’t hear the error. People misuse this expression all the time because they so rarely see it written, and all four of the answer choices sound basically the same.
Now use POE. There’s no good reason to have apostrophes anywhere (there are neither contractions nor possessions), so eliminate (C) and (D). Then, if you’re still not sure, take a guess. The correct form of the expression is (B).
Notice that looking at the answer choices revealed an error that you might not have otherwise been able to see or hear. POE took you the rest of the way.
Once you have a sense of what the question is testing, POE can get you closer and closer to the answer. POE is especially helpful when you’re dealing with sentences that have lots of issues, like this one:
It may seem that how people speak is distinct from how
they are acting; however, there’s something that most historians will tell you is wrong.
5. A) NO CHANGE
B) they act, however, there’s something
C) they are acting, however, that’s something
D) they act; however, that’s something
Here’s How to Crack It
Check what’s changing in the answer choices. Here, there are three things changing: act and are acting, that’s and there’s, and a comma versus a semicolon. Lots of changes means lots of opportunity to use POE! Start with the difference you find easiest and work backward from there.
Start with the difference between that’s and there’s. The sentence does not mention a place, so the sentence can’t contain there’s, eliminating (A) and (B). Now, choose between the last two: they act is more concise and more consistent with the words people speak than is they are acting, which makes (D) better than (C).
Notice that you didn’t have to make a decision on the punctuation, and focusing on one thing at a time was easier than trying to decide whether all aspects of each answer choice are correct or not. POE saves the day!
Now that you know the strategy, try a more difficult question.
Your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary may be shaky, but you can learn a lot from some basic tenets of linguistics.
6. A) NO CHANGE
B) You’re knowledge of grammar or vocabulary might be shaky,
C) Your knowledge of grammar and vocabulary might be shakily,
D) You’re knowledge of grammar and vocabulary might be shaky,
Here’s How to Crack It
As always, check the answer choices first. In this case, here’s what’s changing: the answers are switching between your and you’re, and and or, and shaky and shakily. Do the easy parts first!
Start with the apostrophe. You’re is a contraction of you are, which doesn’t make sense in the context of the sentence; eliminate (B) and (D). The difference between (A) and (C) is shaky versus shakily. Your knowledge can’t be described as shakily, so eliminate (C). The answer has to be (A).
Remember, NO CHANGE is right sometimes! If you’ve done the other steps in the process and have eliminated all of the other choices, go ahead and pick (A)!
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the process we’ve been following:
Step 1: Check what’s changing in the answer choices.
Step 2: Figure out what the question is testing and let the differences in the answer choices reveal potential errors. (More on this later.)
Step 3: Use POE.
Step 4: If you can’t eliminate three answer choices, pick the shortest answer that is most consistent with the rest of the sentence.
The next few chapters will cover some of the more technical issues related to the Writing and Language Test, but this strategy will be used throughout. Try the drill on the next page to get the basics down.
The purpose of this drill is to practice identifying what each question is testing from only the answer choices. Check your answers on this page.
1. A) NO CHANGE
B) babies’ favorite bottles
C) baby’s favorite bottle’s
D) babies’ favorite bottles’
What’s changing in the answer choices?
What is this question testing?
2. A) NO CHANGE
B) did
C) does
D) have done
What’s changing in the answer choices?
What is this question testing?
3. A) NO CHANGE
B) Although
C) While
D) Because
What’s changing in the answer choices?
What is this question testing?
4. A) NO CHANGE
B) was notable for their
C) were notable for its
D) were notable for their
What’s changing in the answer choices?
What is this question testing?
5. A) NO CHANGE
B) beautiful, as in super pretty.
C) beautiful, like easy on the eyes.
D) beautiful.
What’s changing in the answer choices?
What is this question testing?
The Writing and Language Test on the SAT is 35 minutes long and contains 44 questions.
Many of the questions on the Writing and Language Test are not in traditional question form. Instead, you’ll be presented with a series of passages with underlined portions, and your job is to determine whether the underlined portion is correct or if it should be replaced with one of the given choices.
The first step is always to determine what’s changing in the answer choices. They not only tell you what a particular question is testing, but also reveal mistakes that you might not have otherwise noticed.
Use POE to get rid of incorrect answers and narrow down your options. If you can’t eliminate three choices, pick the shortest one that is most consistent with the rest of the sentence.