You’ll come across four different types of Improving Paragraphs questions. Though the specifics of each question are crucial to understand, it’s just as important to know that all four types of question share one general rule: Unlike Identifying Sentence Errors and Improving Sentences, Improving Paragraphs questions do not focus on grammar. Here’s what they do focus on:

This makes sense because Improving Paragraphs questions take a broader view on writing. These questions also focus on an entire passage of writing, not just on one sentence. Therefore, Improving Paragraphs questions usually approach problems at the paragraph or sentence level, which means the big picture tends to matter most. They definitely cover sentence improvement, but they do that within the context of the overall thrust or purpose of the paragraph.

Here are the four different types of Improving Paragraphs questions plus a quick explanation of each. We go over them all up close, including examples, later in the chapter.

Sentence Revision questions, the most common question type in this section, require you to change and improve an entire sentence or a portion of one. Revision questions ask you to pick a word that should be added to clarify the meaning of a particular sentence or to choose a multiple-choice answer that would most effectively revise a flawed phrase.

Sentence Addition questions ask you which sentences or phrases should be added to the passage in order create a smoother transition or to clarify meaning. These questions require you to take into account the meaning of the overall passage and how the paragraphs transition into or relate to one another.

Sentence Combination questions present you with two sentences and ask you to pick the best way to join them. A semicolon? A conjunction? Which conjunction? The skills you picked up in our section on Conjunctions, Coordination and Subordination and the chart of conjunction words will be particularly useful on Sentence Combination questions.

Essay Analysis questions require you to take a deeper, more critical look at the essay. They ask you to pick the sentence that best sums up the essay or to identify how a particular sentence functions within the essay as a whole. These questions test your understanding of the mechanics of essays, which means how essays are built from the ground up. We cover everything you need to know about essays for the SAT in our chapter on the SAT essay (see page ).