SAT Writing : SAT Writing
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT Writing
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Sat Writing
What is the simple subject of the sentence?
She came to the meeting, completely unannounced, and said some incredibly intelligent and courageous things.
said
said
She
things
meeting
She
The simple subject is the noun or pronoun that does the action. The correct answer is "She."
Example Question #2 : Sat Writing
Identify the subject of this sentence.
It wasn't until they got to the beach that pale-skinned Jim realized he had forgotten his sunscreen at home.
Jim
they
sunscreen
It
beach
Jim
Jim, the subject, is the one doing the action in this sentence.
Example Question #3 : Sat Writing
If you (A) are curious to learn (B) more about the places to tour in Spain, (C) one should confer (D) with more experienced travellers who have already been there. (E) No error
Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.
E
B
A
D
C
C
After the subject "you" has been introduced in a sentence, it is improper to switch to the subject "one." To do so would interrupt the continuity of the sentence. Therefore, (C) has an error, as it should read "you" instead of "one."
Example Question #2 : Sat Writing
Which word is the simple subject of the following sentence?
Karen visits me once a month when she comes to town to see her grandmother.
month
grandmother
me
town
Karen
Karen
Karen is the subject of the sentence, as she is the one doing the action, "visits."
Example Question #4 : Sat Writing
Identify the subject of the sentence.
Denny really wanted a pet rooster, so he was upset when all he got from Santa Claus for Christmas was an iguana.
Denny
Christmas
iguana
Santa Claus
rooster
Denny
Denny is doing the action of this sentence ("wanted"); therefore, he is the subject of the sentence.
Example Question #5 : Sat Writing
Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.
A letter from the U.K. arrived at our front door, but I could not tell to who it was addressed because most of the ink was smeared. No error
door, but
No error
who
was smeared
from the U.K.
who
“Who” should be changed to “whom” because it is the object of the preposition “to.” "Whom" is the objective pronoun, while "who" is a subjective pronoun.
Example Question #6 : Sat Writing
Which of the following nouns is the simple subject of the sentence?
A lot of new business opportunities are available in Russia because of the attention it is getting from the Olympics.
business
Olympics
Russia
opportunities
attention
opportunities
The sentence is focused on presenting the opportunities in Russia. Though "opportunities" may not seem to be doing any action, the subject is. "Are available" is the verb in this sentence, so the action the opportunities are doing is simply being available. This is a tricky one!
Example Question #7 : Sat Writing
Running to and fro across the gymnasium, Liz realized that dodgeball wasn't her favorite activity.
Which of the following words is the object of a preposition in the sentence?
Running
gymnasium
dodgeball
activity
realized
gymnasium
The sentence's only prepositional phrase with an object is "across the gymnasium," and "gymnasium" is the object of the preposition. (Across what did Liz run? The gymnasium.)
Example Question #8 : Sat Writing
Going grocery shopping can be quite tiring if you need to visit multiple stores to find specific, hard-to-find ingredients.
Which of the following words is functioning as the subject of the sentence?
ingredients
Going
stores
grocery
you
Going
"Going" is the subject of this sentence as "going" is functioning is a gerund, or a verb that ends in "-ing" and functions as a noun in a sentence. An example of a simpler gerund would be the word "swimming" in the sentence "Swimming is fun."
Example Question #9 : Sat Writing
Identify the subject in the following sentence.
Neil's new scissors that his mother gave him for art class tore a massive hole in his backpack.
Neil's
hole
scissors
him
backpack
scissors
The sentence can be divided as follows:
[Neil's new scissors] [that his mother gave him] [tore a massive hole in his backpack.]
[Neil's new scissors] = the complex subject, with "scissors" being the simple subject and "Neil's new" acting as adjectives that modify "scissors"
[that his mother gave him] = a descriptive phrase about the subject
[tore a massive hole in his backpack] = predicate, with "tore" acting as the verb.
"Scissors" is therefore the subject.
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