So. Many. Grammar. Rules.

We’ll cover them all.

SAT Writing Test Overview

 
SAT Writing Language Questions

Length / Questions

Students are given 44 questions over 35 minutes to complete the SAT Writing / Language test. The test contains four passages. Each passage will include 11 questions.

SAT Writing Language Passages

Passages

The test will contain four passages: One passage on a career-related topic and one passage each in the humanities, history/social studies, and science. Each passage will be 400 - 450 words.

SAT Writing Language Categories

Categories

Writing and Language questions can be sorted into two general categories: (1) Expression of Ideas and (2) Standard English Conventions.

SAT Writing / Language Test Categories

 
SAT Expression of Ideas

Expression of Ideas

Expression of Ideas questions focus on the rhetorical elements of passages. These questions deal with improving the substance and quality of the writer’s message. Students will be asked to revise passages to improve the development of the topic, the organization of information and ideas, and the effectiveness of the language use.

SAT Writing / Language Test contains 24 such questions

 
SAT English Convention

Standard English Conventions

These questions focus on recognizing and correcting grammar, usage, and mechanics problems in passages. Specifically, you’ll find sentence structure (such as runon or incomplete sentences), usage (such as lack of subject-verb or pronoun-antecedent agreement), and punctuation (such as missing or unnecessary commas) questions.

SAT Writing / Language Test contains 20 such questions

 

Worthington Prep’s 32 Writing Concepts

 

Expression of Ideas

  • Relevance / Purpose

  • Sentence and Paragraph Order

  • Infographics

  • Shorter is Better

  • Combining / Separating Sentences

  • Topic Sentences, Conclusion

  • Transitions

  • Odds / Ends

Punctuation

  • Relative Clauses

  • Prepositional Phrases

  • Idioms

  • Subject-Verb Agreement

  • Modifiers

  • Run-Ons

  • Fragments

  • Parallelism: Lists

Punctuation

  • Parallelism: Pairs

  • Parallelism: Faulty Comparisons

  • Parallelism: Lists

  • Pronoun Reference

  • Commas, Dashes, Colons

  • Apostrophes

  • Word Choice

  • Redundancy

Punctuation

  • Relative Clauses

  • Prepositional Phrases

  • Idioms

  • Subject-Verb Agreement

  • Modifiers

  • Run-Ons

  • Fragments

  • Who vs. Whom

Are you ready to put in the time and effort to get a really high SAT score?