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Basics of Language
As you saw in our close study of the scoring rubric, sophisticated
use of language will raise your score.
Your essay score will primarily be based on the quality
of your critical thinking and your ability to present a strong argument.
But without some basic language skills, you won’t be able to convey
your thinking or argument. Your writing should be a clear window
that readers can look through to see your argument. What follows
are some key elements of language chosen not so much to prevent
mistakes but rather to give you as many options for communicating
your meaning as effectively, clearly, and engagingly as you can.
We’ve broken the basics of language into five main sections.
Each section relates to a specific feature of
the scoring rubric. Here’s a handy chart:
| Feature of Language | Feature of the Scoring Rubric |
|---|---|
| Verbs | Sentence structure, coherence, flow, grammar, and usage |
| Agreement | Coherence, flow, grammar, and usage |
| Modifiers and modification | Coherence, flow, sentence structure, grammar, and usage |
| Clause organization | Organization, coherence, flow, sentence structure, grammar, and usage |
| Usage | Vocabulary, grammar, and usage |
Verbs
Good writing depends on actions and chronology—who did
what to whom when? If you want to prevent your readers from getting
lost, make sure you drive them in the right direction.
Past vs. Present Perfect
The past tense signifies that something occurred
or existed in the past. It is indicated by an –ed at
the end of a word, or by an equivalent irregular form, such as flew or thought:
Barbara worked in New York long ago. |
This means that Barbara worked in New York at some definite point
in the past. She no longer works there.
The present perfect tense refers either to
something that began in the past and continues into the present
or something that occurred in the past but still has some bearing
on the present. It is indicated by using has/have plus
the –ed (or the equivalent irregular) form of a
verb:
Barbara has worked in New York before. |
Unlike the previous sentence, this sentence means that
Barbara worked in New York at some unspecified point
in the past.
Barbara has worked in New York for twenty years. |
This sentence means that Barbara started working in New
York at some point in the past, never stopped, and is still working
there in the present.
There are a few words that signal that the present perfect
rather than the past should be used. These signpost words are:
| Signpost Word | Example | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| ever | Bill has read novels ever since he retired. | Notice how this sentence uses both the present perfect and the past. Bill has read novels means that Bill started reading novels at some point in the past and still reads them in the present. [E]ver since he retired means that Bill started reading novels at a definite point in the past—when he retired. |
| never | Evan has never been one to restrain himself. | This means that at no point in the past—and up to the present moment—has Evan been able to control himself. A state of being that began at some indefinite point in the past has continued up to the present moment. |
| since | Since learning to swim, Ingmar has enjoyed the ocean. | Again, an action has occurred at some indefinite point in the past and continues to this day. |
| yet | The book hasn’t been written yet. | A particular state of being—that of not completing the book—has not occurred since some indefinite point in the past and continues not to occur up to the present moment. |
Past vs. Past Perfect
The past perfect tense (also known as “pluperfect”)
refers to something that began and ended before something
else occurred in the past. The past perfect tense is “more past
than the past.” It is indicated by using had plus
the –ed (or equivalent irregular) form:
Darwin had visited the Cape de Verde Islands before he visited the Galapagos Islands. |
This means that Darwin’s presence in the Cape de Verde
Islands preceded his presence in the Galapagos
Islands, which itself occurred in the past.
As a rule, if you have two actions that occurred in the
past, put the one that occurred deeper in the past in the past perfect
tense. The more recent action should be in the past tense.
If-clauses
What’s the difference between the following two sentences?
If I really study this book, I will raise my essay score. If I were the president, I would do things a lot differently. |
The first sentence states that if a condition is fulfilled
(really studying this book), then a particular action will result
(raising your essay score). The second sentence states something
that’s contrary to fact, something imagined that exists only in
thought. The person making that statement is not the
president, clearly, but is projecting himself into that person’s situation.
The first sentence is in the indicative mood;
the second sentence is in the subjunctive mood. (Again,
don’t worry too much about the names used here.)
The main point is the form of the second (subjunctive)
sentence. The if clause should never include a would verb; would is
used only in the second clause, which we’ll call the would clause:
| Incorrect | Correct | Comment on Correct Version |
|---|---|---|
| If you would have stayed longer, you would have had more fun. | If you had stayed longer, you would have had more fun. | If-clause is
in past perfect Would-clause is in present perfect |
Active Voice vs. Passive Voice
Voice is a feature of verbs that shows whether
the subject of a sentence is doing the action or having the action
done to it.
- Passive The citizens were not notified.
- Active The mayor did not notify the citizens.
Note that the passive voice allows
a writer (or speaker) to dodge responsibility by hiding the identity
of the person executing the action. “Gee, the citizens just weren’t
notified. Oh, well. Such is life.” The active version of the sentence
names names and ascribes actions to a real, live person.
For that reason, the passive voice is most widely used
in politics, the business world, or in any other activity involving
a bureaucracy. Educators and stylists have been pushing for wider
use of the active voice: the SAT reflects this trend. As you may
have heard your English teacher say, verb your
way through your writing. Use active, focused, forceful verbs, not
the same weak passive verbs over and over again.
The active voice usually requires far fewer
words than the passive voice to convey the same idea:
- Passive The guitar was handed by the roadie to the rock star. (11 words)
- Active The roadie handed the guitar to the rock star. (9 words)
- Passive The investigation of the war crimes alleged to have been committed by the occupying forces was carried out by an international agency. (22 words)
- Active An international agency led the investigation of the occupying forces’ alleged war crimes. (13 words)
Notice in both examples how we replaced a form of to
be with a more active verb:
First example: was replaced by handed Second example: was replaced by led |
If your sentence contains a form of to be, be
on the lookout for an unnecessary passive construction. Concision
is the hallmark of good writing; the active voice is far leaner
than the bloated passive voice.
Agreement
If words don’t agree with one another in a sentence, meaning
is obscured. There are several types of agreement.
Subject/Verb Agreement
Life jackets is necessary. Rain are wet. |
It’s easy to see what’s wrong with these sentences. The
subjects of these sentences (life jackets and rain)
do not match their verbs (is and are, respectively). Life
jackets are plural, but is is singular; rain is
singular, but are is plural. Subjects and verbs
must match, or “agree.”
Life jackets are necessary. Rain is wet. |
Intervening Clauses and Phrases
The tricky thing for the essay is that you’re going to
want to vary your sentence structure. However, you need to vary
your sentences grammatically, but in such a way that doesn’t obscure
your meaning. So let’s look at some more complex sentences with
subject/verb agreement in mind.
The prescription of antidepressants, which is driven by the fact that medications are more likely to be covered by insurance than psychotherapy, often lead to burying the sources of depression. |
See the error? If not, get rid of the intervening clause:
The prescription of antidepressants often lead to burying the sources of depression. |
Can you see it now? If not, isolate the subject and verb:
|
||||||||||||||||
Antidepressants is not the subject—the prescription
of antidepressants is. Prescription is
singular; lead is the plural form of the verb.
You need the singular form of the verb to match the singular subject.
The correct version is:
The prescription of antidepressants, which is driven by that fact that medications are more likely to be covered by insurance than psychotherapy, often leads to burying the sources of depression. |
Hidden and Compound Subjects
Here’s another typical error you may commit when you try
to vary your sentence structure:
Inside the tank is a goldfish and a snail. |
Tricky! The subject is hidden here—it’s not the
tank. What if you flip the sentence around so that the
subject, which we’re accustomed to seeing at the beginning of a
sentence, comes first?
A goldfish and a snail is inside the tank. |
The is sticks out more when the sentence
is rewritten this way; it should be are. A
goldfish and a snail is a compound subject; compound subjects take
plural verbs. Only the word and can create a compound
subject. As well as, or, and along
with do not create compound subjects:
Rock and jazz are influential musical styles. Rock, as well as jazz, is an influential musical style. Rock, along with jazz, is an influential musical style. Rock or jazz is an influential musical style. |
Singular or Plural?
What’s wrong with the following sentence?
Neither of those two musical styles are as influential as blues. |
The problem is that neither, either, and none take
singular, not plural, verbs. The correction is:
Neither of those two musical styles is as influential as blues. |
Finally, watch out for nouns that seem plural but are
actually singular, such as:
The series of plays was very entertaining. The team was crushed by the loss. The couple finds life together to be challenging. |
Series, team, and couple are
singular nouns that refer to groups. Group, actually,
is another good example. By definition, a group has more than one
member, but a group itself is singular: one group; many groups.
Noun/Number Agreement
All people enjoy maintaining their yard. |
You might think this sentence is OK, but it’s incorrect.
As written, it means that every single person currently alive, as
well as all persons that have ever lived, enjoy maintaining the one
yard they’ve all shared! That’s a big yard.
Nouns have to agree in number—start with plural, end with
plural; start with singular, end with singular. This sentence should
be:
All people enjoy maintaining their yards. |
Here’s another common mistake to avoid:
Bob, Jim, and Neil are planning to give up music in order to become a writer. |
How can three people, Bob,
Jim, and Neil, become one writer? Well,
they can’t:
Bob, Jim, and Neil are planning to give up music in order to become writers. |
Countability
Another common error involving nouns is what we call countability.
Look at the following sentences:
I have many disappointments. You would be wise to show less hatred toward others. |
Both sentences are correct. Disappointments are
something one could count; disappointments are
discrete entities like puppies or galaxies or staplers. Hatred,
however, cannot be counted; hatred is an abstract
state of being, as are oppression, liberty,
and apathy. Concrete entities—air and water,
to name two—can be noncountable as well. (Putting on airs
and parting the waters are figuratively
countable uses of these noncountable nouns.)
Countability is most often indicated via the less/fewer and number/amount pairings.
Here’s a handy chart:
| Noun | Countable? | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| happiness | No | less | Why aim for less happiness than you can achieve? |
| virus | Yes | fewer | There are fewer viruses than bacteria. |
| fear | No | less | The less fear we feel, the better we are able to think. |
| joke | Yes | fewer | If you told fewer jokes, the class could make more progress. |
| computer | Yes | number | The number of home computers has skyrocketed in the past twenty years. |
| courage | No | amount | The amount of courage a leader inspires is a telling measure of his value. |
| flower | Yes | number | I have a number of flowers on my kitchen table. |
| joy | No | amount | The value of one’s life is proportional to the amount of joy in it. |
Pronoun/Number Agreement
Did everyone forget to bring their raincoat with them? |
The question above is grammatically incorrect.
Everyone is singular, strange as that
may seem. You might think that everyone refers
to a collection of people, but it refers to each individual in a
collection of people—everyone.
To highlight this error, substitute the equivalent phrase each
of you into the sentence:
Did each of you forget to bring their raincoat with them? |
The pronoun their is plural, but it refers
back to a singular subject, each of you—or, in
the previous sentence, everyone. The proper form
is:
Did everyone forget to bring his or her raincoat with him or her? |
Yes, this is cumbersome, but correct.
The following words behave just like everyone: anyone,
no one, nobody, every, each.
Check out this sentence:
Spacely Sprockets reported today that their workforce had accepted management’s demands. |
Sprockets may be plural, but presumably
there is only one company called Spacely Sprockets. If
it’s a single company, it requires a singular pronoun:
Spacely Sprockets reported today that its workforce had accepted management’s demands. |
Pronoun Shift
Watch out for pronoun shift too:
- Incorrect If you start with a particular pronoun, one shouldn’t shift to another later on in the sentence.
- Correct If one would like to do as well as one can on the essay, one should keep this common error in mind.
- Correct That way, you will be happy with the score you receive.
Ambiguous and Vague Pronouns
Ambiguous pronouns lack a clear antecedent; vague pronouns
lack an antecedent altogether. Antecedent refers to
the noun (or pronoun) that a pronoun refers to (ante meaning
“before” in Latin).
In the following sentence, the pronoun is bolded:
Donna told Marie about her knitting. |
Whose knitting are we talking about, Donna’s or Marie’s?
They’re both women, so it’s impossible to tell. Replace her with
either Donna’s or Marie’s and
you’ve solved the problem:
Donna told Marie about Donna’s knitting. |
or
Donna told Marie about Marie’s knitting. |
Be on the lookout for all kinds of ambiguities. Look at
the following sentence:
Mike gave his brother a bass amplifier that he used every chance he could get. |
This seems less ambiguous because we tend to interpret
the sentence according to our experience and expectations: “Mike’s
a nice guy; he gave his brother a bass amp. That brother used that
amp every chance he could get. How touching!”
That’s all well and good, except that it is possible that
Mike gave his brother a bass amp and that Mike, not his brother,
used it every chance he got. Maybe Mike’s a selfish brother. Maybe
Mike’s brother hated the amp. The point is, we’ve got an ambiguous
pronoun (he), and that obscures meaning.
Now, what’s wrong with the following sentence?
They say that global warming will only get worse. |
On its own, the they in this sentence
has no antecedent at all. There are many ways to rewrite this sentence;
here’s one option:
A panel of expert climatologists says that global warming will only get worse. |
Now you have a clear statement. Note, however, that if
the original sentence had been embedded in a paragraph, it would
be clear who they refers to:
The world’s scientific experts agree. They say that global warming will only get worse. |
Context is everything; in this context, they has
a clear antecedent: the world’s scientific experts.
Modifiers and Modification
Modifying Words
A modifier is a word or a phrase that describes
another word or phrase. The most familiar examples are adjectives and adverbs.
Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns; adverbs describe verbs, adjectives,
or other adverbs.
Here are some examples:
Adjectives The loud noise shocked us. The fruitful hypothesis led to interesting experiments. Adverbs Al spoke convincingly. Stephen fought viciously. |
A common error is using an adjective when an adverb is
required. For example, why is the following sentence incorrect?
I take that remark serious. |
Serious is an adjective modifying take, which
is a verb. That’s a no-no; it should be:
I take that remark seriously. |
You should also strive to use the proper form of an adjective.
Adjectives can take three forms, as you can see in the following
chart:
| Descriptive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| hot | hotter | hottest |
| dull | duller | dullest |
| complex | more complex | most complex |
| good | better | best |
| bad | worse | worst |
Most adjectives follow the forms exemplified by hot and dull. Some,
like complex, require more for
the comparative and most for the superlative. Good and bad, and
some others, are irregular.
Consider the following sentences.
Of the three cars, that one is cheaper. That car is cheapest than this one. |
Both are incorrect. The comparative form should
be used with two objects; the superlative with three or more objects.
The sentences should be:
Of the three cars, that one is cheapest. That car is cheaper than this one. |
Modifying Phrases
Phrases can act as modifiers too, and this is where things
get a little trickier. Mastering this concept will greatly improve
your essay.
Roaring into the Florida sky, the space shuttle awed the spectators. |
The phrase roaring into the Florida sky is
a unit that modifies the space shuttle. But what
if we wrote the sentence as follows?
Roaring into the Florida sky, the spectators were awed by the space shuttle. |
What this second sentence is saying is that the
spectators were roaring into the Florida sky. That
would truly be an awe-inspiring sight!
This is the storied dangling modifier. The
modifier roaring into the Florida sky dangles off
the front of the sentence, unconnected to the space shuttle,
the phrase it modifies.
Some other examples of dangling modifiers follow; they
can be pretty funny once you recognize the error:
- Incorrect Smoking a big cigar, the baby was admired by its father.
- Comment There’s very little chance that any baby would be precocious enough to smoke a cigar.
- Correct Smoking a big cigar, the father admired his baby.
- Incorrect Playing drums for too long, there is a chance of injury.
- Comment This modifier is dangling by a thread—what could playing drums for too long modify in this sentence?
- Correct If you play drums for too long, you risk injury.
- Incorrect Swearing in frustration, my computer continually crashed as I rushed to complete my paper.
- Comment Was the computer doing the swearing? I don’t think technology is quite there yet!
- Correct Swearing in frustration, I rushed to complete my paper as my computer crashed continually.
- Incorrect To get a high score on the essay, a lot of material needs to be mastered.
- Comment We’re missing the noun that needs modification—who needs to master a lot of material?
- Correct To get a high score on the essay, test-takers need to master a lot of material.
Another frequent writing error that obscures meaning is
the misplaced modifier. Here’s an example:
The teacher posted the grades for the students earned on the midterm. |
In this sentence, the phrase earned on
the midterm seems to modify the students,
when it should modify the grades. This is confusing;
here’s a rewrite:
The teacher posted the grades earned on the midterm for the students. |
Clause Organization
A clause is a group of words that has a subject
and a predicate. Sentences can have one clause or many clauses.
Clauses are the building blocks of sentences and are very
important units of meaning; essentially, they create a logical flow.
How clauses and phrases are positioned and the punctuation used
to connect them generates the flow that all good writing must have. Varying
your clause structure will be greatly rewarded on the essay.
The following sentence has three clauses, each
of which is underlined:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
The words that are not underlined are the all-important
connections between the clauses. They guide the reader from clause
to clause, and essay-readers will reward your ability to choose
these words appropriately. Appropriate connections require that
you follow logic as well as grammar. As much as any feature of
language, their proper use creates the flow so valued by the essay-readers.
In the sentence above, when lets the
reader know that what shocked most of Einstein’s peers is about
to be announced. Furthermore, since when is a temporal
word, you know that something specific happened at some specific
point in time. Because lets you know that the reason
why his peers were so stunned is about to be revealed.
Logical flow is most obviously transmitted by signpost words,
which often link paragraphs. English has many such guide words and
phrases. Here’s a handy list of some common ones; be sure you can
use them properly:
| and | even | so |
| also | for | still |
| although | however | thus |
| as well as | moreover | therefore |
| because | nevertheless | though |
| but | no less than | yet |
| consequently | or | |
| despite | otherwise |
The Weak And
One common feature of poor clause connection is “the weak and.”
Think about it: what does and mean? It’s pretty
much the word version of the + symbol. And denotes
addition or the mere presence of two equivalent things at the same
time or in the same place:
Frank likes beans and Mongo likes cheese. |
You feel like shrugging your shoulders and saying, “Well,
Frank likes his beans; Mongo likes his cheese. To each his own,
I guess.” And doesn’t lead the
reader anywhere. It makes no causal connection. It stops the flow
dead in its tracks.
The following sentence has the same problem:
Darwin’s theory of natural selection shocked Victorian England and a pillar of Victorian culture had been that a benevolent deity had specially created all species. |
Huh? You know that this sentence just cries out for causation;
substitute because for and to
make this sentence flow:
Darwin’s theory of natural selection shocked Victorian England because a pillar of Victorian culture had been that a benevolent deity had specially created all species. |
Commas, Semicolons, and Colons
A related and much-misunderstood concept is the use of commas, semicolons,
and colons. These punctuation marks act as connection
words: they’re shorthand for certain types of connections between
clauses. They’re critical both for logical flow and for sentence
structure variety.
If a period is a “full stop,” and a comma is a “pause,”
then a semicolon is somewhere in between, but closer to a full stop.
Use it to separate two clauses that could stand alone as sentences:
All music gives me some amount of joy; some types of music give me more joy than others. All music gives me some amount of joy. Some types of music give me more joy than others. |
Use a colon either to “announce” a list or to magnify
or exemplify what preceded the colon:
You’ll need a few key items on test day: a number-two pencil, a calculator, and a sweater. Most of the troublemakers in my class are actually gifted students: Kim, for example, consistently receives high scores on aptitude tests. Often what we consider “traditional” cuisine is really a recent invention: until Columbus, for example, Italian food lacked tomatoes. |
Like semicolons, colons can separate clauses that can
stand alone. However, if you use a colon, you’ll be stressing that
the clause after the colon follows sequentially from the phrase
that precedes the colon:
All music gives me some amount of joy; some types of music give me more joy than others. All music gives me some amount of joy: some types of music give me more joy than others. |
The first sentence indicates that the speaker gets some
amount of joy from any type of music, but, as an almost statistical
point, that some types of music give him more joy than others. The
second sentence places more emphasis on the fact that select types
of music give him more joy than others.
Comma Issues
Commas are the hardest of all punctuation marks to master.
Don’t fret—just concentrate on avoiding the most common error: the
misuse of that and which. When
in doubt, use that. If you think you must use which, use
a comma to set off the which clause:
The tree that I like to climb the most is in my best friend’s backyard. The tree I loved, which the town just cut down, was in Roosevelt Park. |
Another common error is the comma splice.
(These are also known as “fused sentences” and “run-on sentences.”)
Basically, don’t use a comma where a period or semicolon is required,
as in the following incorrect sentence:
The essay is not the place to stretch the rules of grammar, avoid comma splices. |
Fix this with a semicolon, colon, or period:
The essay is not the place to stretch the rules of grammar; avoid comma splices. |
or
The essay is not the place to stretch the rules of grammar: avoid comma splices. |
or
The essay is not the place to stretch the rules of grammar. Avoid comma splices. |
Watch out for sentence fragments, too. A
fragment occurs when a dependent clause, which cannot stand on its
own, is forced to do so. These clauses often contain gerunds (-ing constructions)
or infinitives:
Proceeding to the next step. To unite the two parties. |
Sentences need both a subject and a predicate. Don’t use
fragments on purpose—again, the essay is not the place to take chances.
Comparisons
In this section, we’ll explore two other crucial
features of clause structure.
What’s wrong with the following sentence?
Like England, parliaments have been adopted in other countries. |
What exactly is being compared here? England and parliaments or England and other
countries? Right, England and other
countries. This is a perfect example of how imprecise use
of language will obscure your meaning and lower your subscore.
To fix this, put the two things being compared next to
each other:
Like England, other countries have adopted parliaments. |
Also note the passive construction of the first, incorrect
sentence. You’ll find that these errors compound and entail each
other. Luckily, fixing one often leads to fixing others automatically!
Another, trickier, example:
Like classical economics, Darwin focused on individuals. |
It doesn’t make sense to compare classical economics to Darwin. You’re comparing
an area of study to a person. You must always compare like with
like. Here are some ways to fix this problem:
Like classical economics, Darwinian evolution focused on individuals. Like classical economists, Darwin focused on individuals. |
As you strive to vary your sentence structure, watch out
for the long intervening clause!
Like classical economics, which is still the reigning orthodoxy, Darwin focused on individuals. |
It doesn’t matter how long the intervening clause is—this
is still incorrect. While it’s a good idea to vary your sentence
length, be on the lookout for agreement and comparison errors.
Like vs. As
Another key concept is the difference between like and as.
Use like to compare nouns (persons,
places, things, or ideas):
That man looks like Mick Jagger. |
Use as to compare verbs:
That man sings soulfully, just as Mick Jagger does. |
Parallelism
Parallel structure is not only a sign of good writing,
but it also serves to vary your sentence structure, carry your argument
forward, and clarify your meaning. It’s also easy to grasp and use.
First, certain stock phrases have to follow
a certain form. Look at this chart:
| Form | Example |
|---|---|
| neither/nor | That cyclist has neither the equipment nor the endurance to attempt a 100-mile ride. |
| either/or | You can have either a bagel or a donut. |
| not only/but also | Writing a successful essay requires not only good argumentation but also effective use of language. |
| the more/the more | The more you eat, the more weight you’ll gain. |
| the less/the less | The less pollution we breathe, the less chance we’ll have of becoming ill later in life. |
| both/and | Both ants and bees cooperate so closely that they could be considered “superorganisms.” |
| if/then | If you want a high score on your essay, then study this book and practice. |
These forms should always be maintained: don’t write neither/or or not only/but.
Second, learn to apply parallelism properly. Look at this
sentence:
I walk a lot, but on the other hand, I seem to spend a lot of time sitting on the couch. |
You have the other hand, but where’s
the first hand? This sentence is not parallel. To fix it, write:
On the one hand, I walk a lot, but on the other hand, I seem to spend a lot of time sitting on the couch. |
What’s wrong with the following sentence?
Not only do I like to swim, but I also like water-skiing. |
The verb in the first clause is an infinitive, to
swim. But the verb in the second part is a gerund, water-skiing.
Fix it in one of two ways:
Not only do I like to swim, but I also like to water-ski. Not only do I like swimming, but I also like water-skiing. |
The need for parallel structure arises in series as well.
The following sentence is incorrect:
Jane likes knitting, boxing, and to read. |
Again, you have two ways to fix this:
Jane likes knitting, boxing, and reading. Jane likes to knit, to box, and to read. |
Another kind of parallelism mistake is the following:
Composing with a computer is better than when you compose with pen and paper. |
To fix this, make sure your verbs are in the same form:
Composing with a computer is better than composing with pen and paper. |
As usual, pay special attention to sentences you write
that have long intervening clauses:
Composing with a computer, which allows you to hear what you’re composing as you work, is better than when you compose with pen and paper. |
Change when you compose to composing, just
as we did in the previous incorrect sentence.
Usage
Word Choice
Word choice is a key feature of the scoring
rubric. The proper and appropriate use of words can really impress.
Let’s start with the much more concrete and discrete concept of
proper word choice.
What’s wrong with the following sentence?
That conversation had a powerful affect on Gordon. |
Affect is not the word
you need; effect is correct. Affect as
a noun means “emotion” or “mood”; effect as a noun
means “an outcome or result.” Affect as a verb means
“to influence,” whereas effect as a verb means
“to cause to occur.”
There are many such tricky pairs in English. Since a varied
and properly used vocabulary will raise your score, you should work
to sharpen your vocabulary.
If you have a spare hour, log on to www.sparknotes.com/ultimatestyle and check
out our book SparkNotes Ultimate Style for a comprehensive
list of commonly misused words.
Idioms and Prepositional Idioms
Idioms are inherited quirks of language that
we absorb without question but which cause nonnative speakers endless
trouble.
For example, here’s an idiom we’ve all used:
It wasn’t me. |
Look at this grammatically. A pronoun that refers only
to humans, me, is replacing a pronoun that refers
only to inanimate objects, it. However, every native
English-speaker knows what this phrase means, and has used it quite
effectively.
These types of idioms are so dangerously close to clichés
that you should avoid them at all costs.
However, the proper use of another type of idiom will
definitely impress your readers. The particular meaning of certain
words requires the use of a particular preposition:
- Incorrect Helga prefers poetry over novels.
- Correct Helga prefers poetry to novels.
- Incorrect Barack doesn’t have a favorable opinion toward Freud’s theories.
- Correct Barack doesn’t have a favorable opinion of Freud’s theories.
Sometimes, a word can be combined legitimately with more
than one preposition, but the meaning will then shift. Knowing which
preposition triggers which meaning is crucial to good usage.
My remark was meant as a joke. You, my friend, are meant for greatness. |
Meant as shows intent; meant
for indicates a destination. A complete and relatively
short list of such prepositional idioms can also be
found in SparkNotes Ultimate
Style (www.sparknotes.com/ultimatestyle).
Double Negatives
Finally, let’s consider double negatives.
When we want to negate something, we use no or not:
I allow no talking during a movie. I do not allow talking during a movie. |
For reasons of redundancy and idiomatic preference, we
don’t use both no and not in the
same sentence:
I do not allow no talking during a movie. |
Words other than no and not can
indicate negation. Here’s a list of those words with their positive
counterparts (which are not necessarily their antonyms).
Don’t use a negative word with not or no.
| Negative Word | Positive Counterpart | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| never | ever |
|
| none | any |
|
| neither | either |
|
| nor | or |
|
| nothing | anything |
|
| no one | anyone |
|
| nobody | anybody |
|
| nowhere | anywhere |
|
Three other words are often involved in double negatives: hardly, scarcely, and barely.
I can’t hardly wait to graduate. (Two negatives—can’t and hardly) |
Believe it or not, this is not grammatically incorrect.
But it has fallen into extreme idiomatic disfavor. Do not use these
words in your essay! Instead, use:
I can hardly wait to graduate. (One negative—hardly) I can’t wait to graduate. (One negative—can’t) |
Now that you have all these concepts under your belt,
it’s time to learn the most effecient way to use your knowledge
on the SAT essay.
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