The grammar rules the Digital SAT actually tests

Sentence boundaries

The most common punctuation question on the test. Read what is before the punctuation and what is after it, and decide whether each side could stand alone as a sentence.

• Complete + complete: use a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus and, but, or, so, for, nor, yet.
• Complete + incomplete: use a comma, a colon, or a dash.
• Never join two complete sentences with only a comma.
• A colon must have a complete sentence in front of it.

Subject-verb agreement

The test hides the subject behind a long descriptive phrase. Cross out everything between the subject and the verb and the answer becomes obvious. Watch for subjects that come after the verb in sentences beginning with 'there are' or 'among the findings'.

Pronouns and apostrophes

• Its is possessive. It's means it is.
• Their is possessive, there is a place, they're means they are.
• Singular owner: apostrophe before the s. Plural owner ending in s: apostrophe after.
• A pronoun must clearly point to one specific noun. If two nouns could fit, the choice is wrong.

Modifiers

When a sentence opens with a descriptive phrase followed by a comma, the very next noun must be the thing being described. 'Built in 1890, the architect...' is wrong, because the architect was not built in 1890. Check the noun immediately after the comma every single time.

Transitions

Cover the transition and decide the relationship between the two sentences yourself: continue, contrast, cause, example, or sequence. Then pick the word that matches. Do not pick by which one sounds most academic — however and therefore are chosen wrongly more than any other pair on this test.

Rhetorical synthesis

You are given bullet notes and a stated goal, such as 'emphasise a difference between the two studies'. The correct choice is the one that achieves that exact goal, even if another choice is more elegant or includes more facts. Underline the goal before you read the choices.