SAT Writing and Language Test

The next section of the SAT I'll be tackling is the Writing and Language Test. This test is multiple choice and has much to do with grammar and writing style. Have no fear though, The Black Book: The Most Effective SAT Strategies Ever Published has all the information you'll need on how to answer problems and common patterns you'll see.

In the Writing and Language Tests there are questions that ask you to identify sentence errors and correct them. These questions solely focus on the grammar of the sentence. Mike Barrett says that something helpful to do when analyzing a sentence is to mark how words are related together in the sentence you are correcting (244). This was extremely helpful for me when I had to find the correctly conjugated verb for certain nouns/pronouns, as many sentences contained extra information between that could confuse me.


Clearly marking the subject (students) allowed me to know that the verb has to be plural (has becomes have).

Improving a sentence is also tested in the Writing and Language Test. These questions improved with an answer choice that is both grammatically and stylistically correct. So how do you know if the style is correct? This books states that a correct answer choice will fulfill certain patterns:
"Here are the 3 patterns:

1. Shorter is better, all other things being equal.
2. Fewer words ending in '-ed' or '-ing' is better, all other things being equal.
3. Fewer words that are under 5 letter long ('that,' 'and,' 'as,' 'in,' 'by,' 'how,' and so on) is better, al other things being equal." (Barrett 274)

I believe Barrett meant that the most concise answer choice is the correct answer. Remembering this during the test really helped me choose an answer when I came across multiple answer choices that seemed correct.


Grammar has never been my strong suit, so I really think the SAT Prep Black Book: The Most Effective SAT Strategies Ever Published helped me achieve the score I got on the practice test I took.

Do you have any other tips on how to find errors and improve a sentence?

Barrett, Mike. SAT Prep Black Book: The Most Effective Strategies Ever Published. San Bernardino: M. Barrett, 2013. Print.