Sentence Correction

• Subject and verb must agree in number
  - find the subject and the verb through filler
  - verb might come before subject, ask what?
  - identify each subject and verb in the underlined part and pair them
• Unusual subjects
  - compound subjects - and means plural (two things)
  - collective nouns (i.e. group, team) are singular
  - verbals that function as nouns (gerunds aka -ing words or infinitives) are singular
• Fragments
  - looks like a complete sentence, but doesn't express a complete thought
  - check to see that the sentence has a main verb
• Run-on sentence
  - combines two sentences that could stand on their own without proper punctuation, must be separated by a semicolon or a comma and a fanboys word:
  For
  And
  Nor
  But
  Or
  Yet
  So
  - Make sure there are full sentences on both sides of these conjunctions
• Pronouns
  - have to refer to a specific antecedent
  - must agree in number with the antecedent
  - both is plural; each is singular
  - watch out for answer choices that introduce new pronouns
• Modifiers
  - When a sentence starts with a modifier, the object that it is modifying should be the first word after the comma
  - Modifiers should be close to what they modify
• Verb tense indicates the time of verb's action
  - Auxiliary verbs express more complex tenses:
    Past perfect (had) - event in the past preceding another event in the past, (X had before Y was)
    Present perfect (has) - started in the past continuing to present (doesn't need to continue to into the future)
  - Actions in the same time frame should be expressed in the same tense
  - Keywords: as, until, before, since
• Parallel construction:
  - Lists
  - Correlative conjunction: not only.. but also, neither.. nor.. 
  - Comparisons and contrasts - unlike, just as...so, like, as...as, than.., compared with.., in contrast..,
  - "like..., word directly after the comma" 
  - Make sure items are logically comparable

Checklist

• Phrases and clauses
  Find subject and main verb of sentence
  Do subject and verb agree in number?
  Is the sentence a fragment?
  Do phrases/clauses create wordiness?
• Lists 
  Is each item parallel?
• Verbals
  Do verbals violate parallelism?
  Any misplaced/dangling modifiers?
  Are verbals wordy/awkward?
• Pronouns
  Match pronouns to antecedents
  Does each pronoun have one ant.?
  Do pronouns and ant. agree? 
  Is pronoun unnecessary and wordy?
• Comparisons
  Identify items that are compared
  Are items logically able to be compared?
  Are compared items parallel?
  Are comparison idioms correct?
• Quantity Words
  Is correct word used (e.g. fewer/less)? Any redundancy in quantity words?
• “Tell” Words“
  Had” / “if” – tense errors?
  “Being” / “having been” – wordiness?
  Passive verbs – awkward style?
  “There are” / “there is” – wordiness?