Correcting Phrase, Clause, and Sentence Errors - PSAT Writing

An appositive phrase sits next to a noun and renames it. An appositive phrase is surrounded by commas, and the sentence would still be grammatically correct if it were taken out. Because the appositive phrase "the biggest bully in school" renames "Butch" it should have a comma at the beginning and a comma at the end, making the correct sentence "Jimmy was afraid that Butch, the biggest bully in school, wanted to fight him on the playground; Jimmy did not have a death wish!" Note that while a period would not be incorrect in this instance, the exclamation point is also, technically, grammatically correct, and also note that a semicolon is correctly used to connect two independent clauses.

An appositive phrase sits next to a noun and renames it. An appositive phrase is surrounded by commas, and the sentence would still be grammatically correct if it were taken out. Because the appositive phrase "one of the leading activists in America's Civil Rights Movement" renames "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," it should have a comma at the beginning and a comma at the end, making the correct sentence "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the leading activists in America's Civil Rights Movement, delivered speeches that continue to inspire listeners more than 40 years later." In the example sentence, the comma was incorrectly placed after a word that was not a part of the appositive phrase.

When "neither" is used in a sentence, "nor" should follow it, creating the structure "neither X nor Y," where X and Y are items formatted in the same manner. To correct the sentence, we need to change "and definitely not" to "nor." Several answer choices do this: "nor faithful to the original film," "nor were it faithful to the original film," and "nor was it faithful to the original film." "Nor were it faithful to the original film" and "nor was it faithful to the original film" might each look like potentially correct answers, but each introduces a verb that disrupts the parallel structure of "neither X nor Y," in which "nor" should be immediately followed by "faithful to the original film." The correct answer is thus "nor faithful to the original film," making the corrected sentence, "The remake of the film was neither enjoyable nor faithful to the original film."

The correct form for this sentence is "neither . . . nor." In addition, "neither . . .nor" leads to use of the singular form "is"rather than "are_."_

In standard English, when you use the phrase "not only" in a sentence, it should be followed by the phrase "but also." So, the correct answer is "When she went to the zoo, Lyndsey got to see not only tigers, but also polar bears, iguanas, and toucans."

Only answer choice "the heroine, Catherine, must choose between true love and social preeminence" correctly uses "and" with the preposition "between."

The other answer choices, including the original text "the heroine, Catherine, must choose between true love or social preeminence," contain an incorrect idiomatic expression. When we have "between," we typically need the word "and"—rather than "or"—to separate the entities that follow.

The best way to rephrase "help treat, but even help prevent, most psychological disorders" is "help treat and even prevent most psychological disorders." Commas can be used to denote an interrupting phrase, which is an idea connected to the main idea but not necessary to the understanding of the main idea of the sentence. For example, an interrupting clause may provide additional information about the main idea or a qualification (using "but" or "however"). In this example, the idea that psychotherapy can help prevent psychological disorders is part of the main idea of the sentence, so it does not have to be separated from the remainder of the sentence by commas.

The underlined phrase, a separate clause further explaining the first half of the sentence, does not work as a complet sentence. In order to appropriately fit after "because," the phrase needs to be turned into a complete thought. "Because they had exorbitant costs" is the best choice among the answers.

The sentence is trying to explain that in spite of the giant squid's elusiveness, scientists are finding new ways of studying it. The sentence therefore is trying to contrast two ideas, as opposed to showing causation with the word "because." The only answer choice that uses a contrasting conjunction is "Although," so it is the correct answer.

This sentence requires use of “that” because the United States is a country (e.g., a noun). Also, “British” must be capitalized because it is a nationality.

This sentence contains an error in its logic of cause and effect. The first part of the sentence is the reason for the advice offered in the second part. So, you should change "and" to a word that demonstrates the cause-and-effect relationship. Do not add a contrast word like "but" or "although" unless the sentence includes some sort of contradiction or opposition.

The comma is excessive and causes problems with the logic of the sentence. “Which” usually requires a comma before it and follows a fact, assertion, or statement. The sentence's use of "which" doesn't come after a comma, so it should be changed to "that."

The phrase "along with the rest of her school's swimming and soccer teams" gives additional information that should be set off from the subject and predicate of the sentence with commas. It is an interrupting phrase, and the correct answer choice separates it from the subject of the sentence, "Maura." The sentence, as it is written currently, misuses a comma, separating the subject of the sentence from the verb.

In this sentence, the subject is "Cindy," also referred to with the pronoun "she." The phrase "like her older brothers" is an interrupting phrase, giving additional information that is not necessary for the sentence to be grammatically complete. Therefore, this phrase should be separated from the main clause with two commas. The correct answer choice separates the interrupting phrase without introducing any new errors.

A sentence with two independent clauses must have both clauses be able to stand as complete sentences, and be connected to each other in meaning through a conjunction. "And many students studied with him," is the only choice that fits those parameters.

There are two grammatical errors in the underlined portion of the sentence. First, the two independent clauses need to be joined by the conjunction "and." Second, the two verb forms in the two clauses should be parallel, leaving "and wanted them to," as the only correct answer choice.

As it is written, the sentence is a fragment because of the word that. The sentence is therefore corrected by removing that.

In its current state, this is a run-on sentence because it has two independent clauses that are not joined with a conjunction or semicolon. In this answer choice, the appropriate conjunction is added to the introductory clause, making the introductory clause dependent and the sentence grammatically correct.

The underlined phrase needs to be improved to make the second part of the sentence contain a complete sentence. As it is currently written, the sentence does not contain a subject. "The reduction of all stockpiles" is the only answer choice which makes the sentence complete by providing it with a subject. "All stockpiling reduction" may look like a tempting answer, but it does not convey the notion that the stockpiles are being reduced as well as does "the reduction of all stockpiles," since in "all stockpiling reduction," "stockpiling" is acting as a participle instead of as an object of a preposition.

The construction of the sentence means the second phrase, featuring the underlined portion, needs to draw a contrast with the opening clause. The correct answer must have a conjunction to separate the two parts, and still show the school's actions. Thus, "but secretly, it was investigating" is the best choice among the answers.