SAT Grammar Question Bank
TLDR
Your Complete SAT Grammar Question Bank: How to Master Every Question Type
TLDR:
- The Writing section has 44 questions across four passages—you get 35 minutes total.
- About 60% test grammar rules; 40% test rhetorical decisions and logic.
- Targeted practice on your weak spots beats memorizing rules by a mile.
- Most students plateau around 650 without fixing their specific error patterns.
The SAT Grammar Section Tests Patterns, Not Rules
Here's what most test prep books won't tell you: the SAT doesn't care if you can recite grammar terminology. Last month, I worked with a student who could define every comma rule but still missed punctuation questions. She'd tell me about restrictive versus non-restrictive clauses, then immediately place a comma between a subject and verb. The difference between knowing and scoring? She hadn't learned to recognize how the SAT actually tests those concepts.
The Writing and Language section gives you 35 minutes to answer 44 questions spread across four passages. Each passage contains 11 questions that test your ability to improve sentences and make rhetorical decisions. The passages cover careers, history, humanities, and science—but the grammar patterns stay remarkably consistent test after test.
Standard English Conventions: Where Most Points Are Won or Lost
About 26 questions on each test fall under Standard English Conventions. These are the "grammar rules" questions, though calling them that oversimplifies what's happening.
Sentence Structure Questions Appear in Every Single Passage
Fragment and run-on questions show up 4-6 times per test. The SAT loves testing whether you can identify complete thoughts and how to connect them properly. You'll see patterns like:
- Comma splices disguised with transition words
- Fragments that start with subordinating conjunctions
- Run-ons hidden in longer sentences with multiple clauses
One student I worked with kept missing these because she'd add conjunctions everywhere "just to be safe." That strategy backfired—she was creating dependent clauses that couldn't stand alone. Once she learned the three legitimate ways to connect independent clauses (period, semicolon, or comma + coordinating conjunction), her accuracy jumped from 60% to 95% on these questions.
Punctuation Questions Follow Predictable Formats
Expect 6-8 punctuation questions per test. The SAT recycles the same scenarios:
Comma questions test whether you can identify non-essential clauses, separate items in lists, and avoid placing commas between subjects and verbs. Warning: if you're using the "pause method" (putting commas where you'd pause while reading), stop immediately. That method fails on at least 30% of SAT comma questions.
Apostrophe questions appear 2-3 times per test and check three things: possessives, contractions, and plural forms. The SAT particularly loves testing possessive its vs. contraction it's because even strong writers miss this one under time pressure.
Colon and semicolon questions test whether you understand that both require an independent clause before them (with rare exceptions for colons introducing lists).
Agreement Questions Require Careful Subject Identification
Subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement questions show up 5-7 times per test. These seem straightforward until the SAT places five words between the subject and verb or uses tricky collective nouns.
The most common trap: prepositional phrases between subjects and verbs. "The collection of stamps are valuable" sounds right to many students because "stamps" is plural. But "collection" is the subject, making "is" correct.
Pronoun agreement questions test similar logic. You need to identify what the pronoun refers to and ensure they match in number. The SAT loves ambiguous pronouns where "it," "they," or "their" could logically refer to multiple nouns.
Modifier Questions Catch Even Advanced Students
Dangling and misplaced modifiers appear 2-4 times per test. The rule is simple: the modifier must be next to what it's modifying. The execution is harder.
"Walking to school, the rain started pouring." Who was walking? The sentence says the rain was, which is nonsense. You need: "Walking to school, I got caught when the rain started pouring."
Conventional Expression and Word Choice Round Out the Grammar Questions
These questions test idioms, word choice, and standard phrases. There's no systematic way to study for them—you either know that "regard for" is correct (not "regard of") or you don't. The good news: these make up only 2-3 questions per test.
Expression of Ideas: The "Reading Comprehension Meets Grammar" Questions
The remaining 18 questions test rhetorical skills. You need to understand what the passage is saying and make decisions about organization, development, and effective language use.
Transition Questions Test Logical Relationships
Expect 3-4 questions asking you to choose the right transition word or sentence. These require reading the sentences before and after to understand the logical relationship: Are we showing contrast? Cause and effect? Adding similar information?
About 68% of students pick transitions based on what "sounds good" rather than what the logic demands. If the previous sentence says students struggle with time management and the next sentence explains that they take too many activities, you need a cause-and-effect transition ("As a result," "Consequently"), not a contrast word ("However," "Nevertheless").
Adding and Deleting Information Questions Require Purpose Analysis
You'll see 3-5 questions asking whether to add or delete a sentence. The answer depends entirely on the paragraph's purpose and whether the information is relevant and non-redundant.
The SAT always provides reasoning in the answer choices. Eliminate choices with faulty reasoning first, even if you're unsure about the yes/no part. If a choice says "Yes, because it provides a transition," but the sentence doesn't transition anywhere, that reasoning is wrong regardless.
Organization Questions Test Paragraph and Sentence Placement
These questions (2-3 per test) ask where a sentence should go or how to order sentences within a paragraph. You need to follow the logical flow and look for transition words or references that indicate sequence.
Pronouns are your friend here. If a sentence starts with "This discovery," it must come after a sentence describing a discovery. If it starts with "These critics," you need to find where critics were first mentioned.
Precision and Concision Questions Require Ruthless Editing
The SAT wants the clearest, most concise option that maintains the original meaning. When you see four options that all seem grammatically correct, choose the shortest one that doesn't lose important information.
Watch out for redundancy. "Past history," "advance planning," and "end result" are all redundant—the first word already contains the second word's meaning.
How to Build Your SAT Grammar Question Bank Practice Strategy
Doing random practice questions won't move your score much. You need a targeted approach based on your specific weaknesses.
Start with Diagnostic Work to Identify Your Gaps
Take a full-length practice test (use official College Board tests only) and categorize every grammar question you miss. Don't just note the question number—write down the specific concept tested. After reviewing 2-3 tests, patterns will emerge.
Most students have 3-4 question types that account for 70% of their errors. Those are your priorities. A student who misses every modifier question but aces punctuation should spend their time differently than someone with the opposite pattern.