all right welcome everybody to uh digital sat grammar rules uh this is Mr tuy I'm the creator of the SAT crash course series and uh we've got a student with us today this is Melanie say hi to everybody please Melanie hi all right thanks Melanie appreciate it and uh so today we're going to go over all of the rules you need to know for the digital sat the grammar rules you need to know for the uh the English section the verbal section of the digital sat this also applies to the digital PSAT um I know melon you're have taking the digital PSAT like tomorrow right so yes this is just in time we're sneaking this in here just in time so um if you are a student taking the SAT um anytime basically from beginning in the spring of 2024 on this is the grammar rules video you need to watch this is it right here now if you're taking the SAT fall of 20203 it's a little different story the old grammar rules apply there's just a few more of them on the uh the old paper version of the the test but if you're taking the digital test this is the one you want there's fewer rules I think of my last uh grammar rules for the old the old SAT n PSAT I had like 10 grammar rules here I've only got six grammar rules that's all we need um so it's fewer rules but they get into a little bit more detail on some of the rules especially punctuation so let's just jump right into it um you've got the document in front of you uh Melanie here's the plan we're going to read these rules together if you have questions about anything don't hesitate to ask those questions I'll clarify everything right now but this is is every single grammar rule you need to know for that digital sat and digital PSAT let's start and read rule number one together punctuation go and read that first bullet point for us please uh periods break up to separate send alone statements yeah do you know what I mean when I say yeah Standalone you know what that means when I say Standalone statements I think so yeah like like aate yeah separate ideas but like a complete sentence you know what I'm saying a complete sentence most students are pretty comfortable with periods you know like just make sure the thoughts stands by itself like it doesn't like have to be finished we'll see some examples of of Standalone thoughts here coming up uh here in just a moment on the on the comma rule actually um does that make but you know how to use a period right is that is that fair yeah yeah most are pretty comfortable with that but I just want to clarify that's it for a separate Standalone statements so um uh interestingly you also use uh you can use a semicolon also on Standalone statements or complete thoughts we'll we'll talk about the semicolon here in just a minute but we should be good on periods go and read that common rule please that first bullet point okay use Comas when you need a brief pae uh if you if you don't need a brief pause leave it out okay I'm gonna stop you for just a minute so I could really complicate commas and a lot of like grammar textbooks complicate them a lot you don't need to here's the question you need to ask yourself Melanie and anybody watch this recording if you need a brief pause in the sentence at that point then you need a comma if you don't need a brief pause then you don't need a comma and that's it so just ask yourself do I need a brief pause there and if you can kind of read through that statement without like taking a break at all then the comma shouldn't be there but if you need that pause you probably need to have comma all right go and read um read the next part of the Cal says commas should not be used okay commas should not be used to connect two stand loone thoughts there a period or semi column might be used okay great and then um I want you to read that incorrect example there of the comma okay incor I went to a store I bought all the items I needed to bake cookies okay so Melanie there we've got two Standalone thoughts there in that incorrect version Look at the first half where it says I went to the store okay does it make sense why that's a standalone thought why that could stand by itself as a sentence like you could put a period there after the word store and that would be a complete S I went to the store but the second half also stands alone you could say I bought all the items I needed to bake cookies that also stands alone so in that incorrect example you've got two Standalone thoughts separated by a comma and that's no good does that make sense M it does okay good good read the correct version I went to story I bought all the items they needed to bake cookies okay great yeah you got to use a period there right it's too seing thoughts or semicolon would work as well again we'll talk about that in just a moment let's read the next part of the comma rule it says avoid using commas I want you to read that for us please avoid using commas when identifying something or someone by its full title okay and then read that uh that incorrect version there incorrect a Spanish painter Pao Picasso is my favorite artist I love that you took the pauses there right because the commas are right there you know surrounding the name Pablo Picasso but that's actually incorrect because the full title of this guy here is Spanish painter Pablo Picasso does that make sense why that's sort of the title of this painter does that make sense Spanish painter Pablo Picasso and so this is kind of a new thing that they're they're testing on the digital sat I've seen lots of questions like this the full title of something you don't need those commas um sort of surrounding uh you know breaking up the title I want you to read the correct version for me just be careful you to take no pauses just read right through it okay cor Spanish painter Pao picas is my favorite artist there you go how does that sound it sounds way better yeah it does sound better right yeah a lot of students want they want to put the positive there's no need to I know it's kind of a mouthful because it's a long title but uh if you see big titles like that just I when in doubt leave it out I I haven't seen it uh a correct version yet where you're breaking up the name of the title so so uh be on the lookout for those questions and just get rid of those commas if it's a title make sense it does okay great great there's one more part of the comma Ru says use commas after parenthesis I want you to read that for us please okay use commas after parentheses if when you cut out the parentheses the commas is still needed okay and then um go and read that correct example I think this is going to make sense here uh correct although the last global conflict was World War II uh they were there have been countless Regional wors ever since yeah yeah that's correct now I mean some students might read the dates right and they' read it like although the last global conflict was World War II 1939 to 1945 there have been countless Regional Wars ever since you kind of cut that out and by the way that's okay you know you never really need to read the stuff in pren rarely need to read the stuff in parenthesis um uh on the SAT you know that's like it's never directly related to the main point of the sentence it's always like additional information right like we don't need to know you know that World War II is 1939 to 1945 just additional clarifying information but here's the deal uh you know you might see some questions where or some answer choices where there's no comma or there's a comma after the parentheses it's like do I need a comma there do I not need it if you cut out the stuff in parentheses like you did and you still need a pause there then you need the comma after the parenthesis does that make some sense you can say no if it does yes okay yeah and the way you read it you took the pause after World War II you need that pause there you can't just blast through it so if you need the pause after you take out the stuff with parenthesis then you need the comma after the parenthesis questions about that or are we good there no everything perfect great great it's real specific but you know I've seen these questions like this all throughout the digital um sat and digital SAT practice tests they're coming out yeah so so know those specific use cases of the comma let's go on uh go to semicolon going to read that bullet point for semicolons please okay semicolons connect two related statements that go still stand on their on on as completed sentences okay and then read that correct example please I went to a store I bought I went to a store I bought all the items I needed to bake cookies yeah and I think I've got the exact same example roughly for the periods right um and yes because they're both for Standalone thoughts yes so if you have two Standalone thoughts you can use a semicolon there you never really have to use a semicolon colon uh you know you could always put a period there as well but sometimes authors want to highlight the relationship between two Stalin thoughts and so you can kind of highlight the relationship a little bit more with a semicolon than you would with a period so um but they're easy to test right just check and make sure that you have two Stalone thoughts there separated by that semicolon if you do then you can use a semicolon there and if you don't have two Stalone thoughts then you can't questions about that or are we good are we good okay okay now this is funky I've seen this a lot on the new digital sat this is a really really uncommon use of the semicolon most students have never done this before in their entire lives even if they use semicolons you know in the in the the first correct example you know with Stalone thoughts but read that second part it says also use the semicolons for lists um also use the semicolons for Leist of items that have commas within each item correct yeah I took a tour for a I took a tour for a state cap capitals including atin tetas Little Rock Aransas and B baton Rog yeah B yeah yeah so notice we've got like we've got two semicolons there in that sentence and they're clearly not Standalone thoughts right little Ruck Arkansas is not a standalone thought and Baton Lou Baton Rouge Louisiana is clearly not a standalone thought but uh why can you use a semic call in there well we've got a list of three items here that is three state capitals okay now I don't know if you're familiar with this but do you know that like if you're talking about like a city in a particular State like Austin Texas right there's a comma after Austin are you familiar with that yes okay like we're talking about like Miami Florida right it's Miami comma Florida so um that's one Austin comma Texas is one thing it's not two different things it's Austin Texas that's one thing does that make sense yes okay so if you have a list of items that have commas within each item which you do here then you need to separate those items with a semicolon he's like need like you you have to yeah because if it was a comma after Texas for example and a comma after Arkansas You' read it like this I took a stour I took a tour of state capitals including Austin Texas Little Rock Arkansas Baton Rouge and Louisiana Texas isn't a capital right right doesn't sound good Texas isn't a capital it's not a City Arkansas isn't a capital it's not a city those are states Louisiana is not a capital it's a city so that's why you need the semicolon there to clarify that now we're talking about three items here there's just commas in between the you know in between in the middle of each individual item does that make some sense yeah I do it's really funky and like nobody ever you I've never done this like I would just completely rearrange the sentence so I wouldn't have to mess with this if I were writing it but it pops up on the digital sat and the digital PSAT so be aware of it okay look out for lists of items that have commas in each item as is the case Okay questions no okay but most of the time it's just you know make sure you're using a semicolon to separate Standalone thoughts and unless it's that Second Use case that's that's the the main one that applies let's go to colons that's the next bullet point on the next page go and read that colon rule for us please col introd introduce an explanation description or a list even at least one item one of sorry even a list of one item it would appear in disorder first thing to be explained describe listen second the colon third explanation description and list okay I'm going to stop real quick this is this is a this is a very versatile punctuation Market most students aren't super familiar with the colon like Melanie have you ever used a colon in like an essay or like in your own writing do you ever use it or no no yeah most students don't they're they're great they're great I use them all the time now so they introduce an explanation a description or a list okay you can do you know any one of those three things maybe half the time you'll see it introducing a list okay but to use it properly you've got to use it in the sort of one two 3 formula that I have here there's going to be the thing to be listed or explained or described then the colon and then the explanation or description or list okay does that make some sense okay read that correct example I think this gonna make more sense in fact I've got two correct examples here gonna read that for correct I went to the story to buy a few items butter FL FL sugar eggs and chocolate chips okay great great notice that that correct example Melanie follows that one two three formula right there's the thing to be listed right a few items I went to the store to buy a few items so we're going to list the few items right then the colon and then the list of the items does that make sense it do yeah it even sounds good too I mean you take a little pause after a few items but like okay that works right um it could be a list of wine item as well as be whereare they could say I went to the store to buy the only thing I needed to bake chocolate chip cookies colon chocolate chips okay that's a thing too could just be one item but that's fine you could have like a grocery list with one item but it still follows that one two three formula does that make some sense okay he does okay good read that second correct example I think this is a uh colon as introducing a description here I was baking chocolate chip CH cookies my favorite kind of thread okay good now so that's not a list here right this just a description of chocolate chip cookies okay but notice once again it follows that one two three formula it's chocolate chip cookies and then the colon and then the description of chocolate chip cookies my favorite kind of treat does that make sense okay it doeses okay great so you know I recommend really going through some of the digital SAT practice tests and practicing applying these rules um but just you know when you're when you're when you see a question that involves a colon just check and see if it follows that one two three formula if it follows the formula you can use it if it doesn't you can't use it there that's that simple takes a little practice again if you're not super familiar with it but uh but with a little bit of practice it's it's pretty straightforward okay qu any questions or we ready to move on no okay let's move on let's go to the m Dash the M Dash go and read that M Dash rule the M Dash a single M Dash can be used anywhere a colon can be used following the rule above okay so melie if you understand the colon rule then you understand the m-h rule as well because a single M Dash can be used anywhere a single colon can be used okay so all the other two examples with the colons we could plug in a single M Dash there in uh in those examples and that would work as well does that make sense oh yeah I didn't know that yeah yeah a single M Dash and and a single colon are completely interchangeable okay oh yeah yeah all right so um uh good there is one difference we'll talk about what that is in just minute there's a double M Dash we'll get to that but go and read the correct example of the of the single M correct I was baking chocolate cheap cookies my favorite kind of th okay yeah and see that's exactly the same you know structure basically as the colon example right above it but uh completely interchangeable there right anywhere you can use a colon you can also use an M Dash that's for a list or an explanation or a description of something notice it also follows that one two three formula right just like the colon does yeah chocolate chip cookies then the M Dash then the description of chocolate chip cookies okay now there is one difference between the M Dash and the colon go and read um the next part of that rule however for a list go ahead and read that part however for a list description or explanation in the middle of a sentence use the double M Dash Okay read the correct example for us correct all of the creative elements of a film casting acting cinematography effects and editing are the responsibility of the director yeah so this is uh this is a little bit different from the colon there's no double colon okay but there is a double M Dash and that's for lists or explanations or descriptions in the middle of a sentence and that's what we see here in this correct example right there's a looks like a list of all of the creative elements of a film do you see that and then they kind of you see the yes I see the five creative elements of a film but notice you're kind of interrupting the idea there with that list right and then they kind of finish the thought after that and and so if you're kind of you know if it's a list or explanation description in the middle of a sentence or interrupting an idea you've got to use the double M Dash there okay technically you could also use a parentheses there they just don't test on parentheses a whole lot on the SAT or the digital sat um but they do test on that M Das that double Lum Dash quite a bit so so be aware of that okay okay you could also double yeah go ahead so double in dash is for like separating in same sentence yes it's in yeah for if you have if the list or the description or the explanation is in the middle of the sentence then use the double M Dash to sort of separate that list or that explanation that description okay okay um you could also sort of rearrange that sentence and and end the sentence with a single M Dash or single colon so I could say like uh the director is responsible for all of the creative elements of a film single m-h or single colon casting acting cinematography effects and editing but there I'm ending the sentence with the list which is why I don't need the double M Dash in that example does that make sense where I'm not interrupting the sentence with the list in that example I just gave you does that make some sense it does it does yeah but here I am which is why you need the double M Dash Okay questions no okay that's it that's it for oh no we got one more ah they test on the question we do have one more yeah go and read that rule on the question mark for us please melan use the question mark only when asking a specific question okay in car you wonder if the garden survived the d d yeah the drought the drought do you know what a drought is Melanie no yeah drought's like when it doesn't rain it doesn't rain at all okay yeah so he wondered if the garden survived the drought now notice that's the incorrect example here okay when I would read that I'd probably say he if you try to ask ask that as a or say that as a question it sounds really weird he wondered if the garden survived the drought it's like I can see there's kind of a question there but not not it's not really asking a specific question it's more really statement right there should be a period there you could say he wondered if the garden survived the drought it's not really a specific question what's that he like more like a thought yeah it's more it's a statement right there's no question there he wondered if the garden survived the drought he wondered what he should eat that day right that's a statement not a question he wondered what to wear does that make sense why that's not a question yeah it do yeah you're just saying he wondered something it's weird yeah it is funny right yeah yeah yeah yeah he he asked if he could leave the class but that's not a question you're just saying he asked if he could leave the class right that's different from like can I leave can I leave the class okay that's a question right right yes go read the correct example here this is an actual question uh correct did the gardens survive the drought yes okay great did the gardens survive the drought is it clear why that's a question yes it is yeah right so just make sure you're asking a specific question and uh and it's not making a statement like that first incorrect example is questions about that no okay great that's it for for punctuation essentially um gets real specific sometimes but again you really need to practice these these practice tests just go and do a Google search for digital sat uh practice test you'll find them and start start practicing applying these these rules that's going to help on Okay go and read let's go to the second rule on possessives and read that first bullet bullet point first please yeah pay attention to the place of the apostrophe to determine if a word in possession is singular or plural okay yeah read that that example of the singular possessive for singular that is the girl sweater okay I'm GNA stop I'm gonna stop you real quick so you know what the possessive is right I mean like someone or something possesses or you know is in possession of something okay in this singular example right there's a girl in possession of a sweater a girl has a sweater is that clear yes yes okay okay right yeah it's the sweater of the girl so now we know we're talking about one girl here because the apostrophe signifies possession the apostrophe see it's kind of like a comma that's lifted up you know it's right next to the Ellen girl yeah and uh so whatever comes before that apostrophe is the thing in possession in this case it's the girl that's in possession okay if the apostrophe were after the s in girls that would be multiple girls in possession of a sweater okay because it would be the girls in possession but here it's just the girl okay now It's tricky because it sounds the same as the plural possessive right if the apostrophe were after the S you'd read it the exact same way you'd say that is the girl sweater it sounds the exact same but if you're trying to determine whether a possessive is singular or plural just pay attention to the placement of the apostrophe if it's singular it's going to be before the S if it's plural it's going to be after the S does that make sense yeah it does okay great and then read the plural example of the possessive there the boy's favorite game is football perfect and we're talking about multiple boys here right plural uh and we know that because the apostrophe is after the s what's tricky again is that that would sound the exact same way as the singular possessive right if we had the apostrophe after the Y it would sound the exact same way it would say You' say the boy's favorite game is football sounds the same but just pay attention to the placement of the apostrophe to determine if your your possessive uh word is singular or plural does that make some sense yes okay great go read the next bullet point for us please Melanie pay attention to commonly confuse possessive with not apostrophes okay it versus it sure of or sure for it is yeah okay so this is tricky this is Trick I'm gonna stop you real quick so so um there are are three possessive words three possessive pronouns that don't have apostrophes okay it's it's there and your those are the ones in bold underlined there under that bullet point it's there and your they're possessive and uh and It's tricky because there's also contraction forms of those words so it's with an apostrophe is a contraction that's short for the two words it is it is okay do you know what a contraction is have you heard that before or maybe not I think I don't think so yeah okay so if you if you see it's with an apostrophe like we see there um you know in those examples that's short for it is it is okay you've just basically smooshed those words together taken out the I and place an apostrophe in place of the ey it's called the contraction okay we I've got two I've got I've got some examp here of its uh the two different forms of its I want you read those examples I'll explain the difference between these two forms the dog at its food versus it's going to rain okay okay now so let's look at the dog example the dog ate its food okay that's the correct use of the word it's there it's possessive right we're talking about the food of the dog right the dog ate its food okay but uh but there's no apostrophe there do you see that there's no apostrophe there yes because if we had the apostrophe form of its that stands for it is okay look at the it's going to rain example that's the uh it's with an apostrophe read that example again for us please it's going to rain yeah okay so so we could break that uh form of its up into two different words right because it's with an apostrophe stands for it is we could read that it is going to rain okay it is going to rain does that makes sense by the way if we say it is going to rain does that make sense it yes yeah yeah that makes sense okay but if we had it's with an apostrophe in the dog sentence we'd read it asth dog ate it is food and sound weird and that sounds really weird it does make that's not what it means right the its is the is the possessive pronoun that that we need there it's not a contraction for it is okay so if it's a possessive pronoun like it's there or your the possessive form does not have an apostrophe okay okay okay all right let's go to uh rule number three make it match go and read that first bullet point for us please okay subject verth agreement find the subject of the sentence identify if the subject is singular or plural and pick the matching singular plural Verve IND down choices okay so this is this is a subject verb agreement here this means basically Melanie if you have a singular subject you need a singular verb and if you have a plural subject you need a plural verb okay I'm going to tell you how I'm going to show you here how to find the difference between singular and plural verbs here in just a moment look at that uh example of the question I've got below here okay I want you to read that example for us please okay um a back of wild wolves uh roaming through the neighborhood yeah a pack of wild wolves blank roaming through the neighborhood okay now this is interesting here do you think you know what the right answer is here would you say is are were or have been do you have any idea here they a back of wild wolves maybe they have been roaming yeah yeah that's that's that's a little tempting here right because um what is what is the subject of the sentence do you know what the subject is uh no yeah yeah a lot of students I'd say most students read the sentence they think the subject is the Wolves the Wolves okay but this is funky because the subject of the sentence isn't the Wolves it's a pack a pack is the subject okay now what kind of pack is it well it's a pack of wild wolves but how many packs are we talking about here Melanie how many packs a lot of no well we're talking about a lot of wolves but it says but only one pack one pack it says a pack yeah if we're talking about more than one pack it would be many packs of wild wolves okay that would be plural but when the sentence says a pack of wild wolves that's one pack does that make sense why that's singular yes yeah It's Tricky right because like if you saw the word team like the team takes the field you know um some students think the word team is plural right CU they're like well it's made up of a bunch of people and it's like yeah okay it's made of a bunch of people but it's one team right teams with an S would be plural does that make sense okay yeah yeah or like I know you would never do this but like you know if someone went to a gas station and bought a pack of cigarettes you know well how many packs are we talking about well it's a pack of cigarettes we're talking about one pack right now it's got like a bunch of cigarettes in it that's fine but it's one pack so that would be singular does that make sense oh yeah yes yeah and It's Tricky now here's the deal this this this um phrase of wild wolves that's called a prepositional phrase and that's describing the subject okay but the subject is never going to be inside that prepositional phrase a pack of wild wolves the subject is pack is you know roaming through the neighborhood the subject is pack or if you said a pack of cigarettes cost five bucks you know the subject isn't cigarettes the subject is pack does that make sense okay yes it does good all right um so uh okay so the the key here is if it's a subject verb agreement question find the subject find out if the subject is singular or plural right and we know now that this is a singular subject and then we've got to pick the matching singular verb in the answer choices okay now even if you identified right off the bat that Pac was the subject and Pac was singular it's still not obvious which of the answer choices are singular would you agree with that that's not obvious just looking at I'm like which one's singular not clear all right so here's how you here's here's how you test them and I kind explain it here below but I'll I'll describe it right now if you need a singular subject test the answer choices with the singular pronoun it it does it make sense why it is singular by the way is that clear about yeah it is my favorite flavor of ice cream we're talking about like you know one one thing so um so test them with it so can you say we're going to test an Choice a to start can you say it is is that acceptable it is is it is yeah is that acceptable like it is my favorite color yes yeah that's fine can you say it are it are I think sounds weird no it sounds very weird yeah yeah you can't do that can you say it were it were I think it sounds better but it still sounds weird it still sounds weird it should yeah there's there a couple exceptions you know the subjunctive I guess you speak Spanish right Melanie you speak Spanish yeah yeah so you might be famili with the subjunctive there is a subjunctive for me but never seen that test on the SAT it should sound weird when you say it were um okay so that's that's yeah were is plural I'll get to that in just a minute can you say it have been it have been yes I think I say it but it still sounds weird for me yeah it should sound weird yeah it's not quite right you can say it has been it has been it has been my favorite team you know you could say that but uh you wouldn't say it have been and that's because uh b c and d are plural and the only one that's singular is a it is sounds the best can we agree on that yeah totally yeah okay so now if you needed a plural then you test the answer choices with they they that's a plural pronoun can you say they is Melanie no no no totally no no no no no no no can you say they are yes oh yeah can you say they were yes yeah can you say they have been yes yeah okay great cuz those last three are plural does that make sense how you can use those pronouns it and they to determine if if a verb is singular or plural yes okay good it makes sense good good good good so let's step back for a minute kind of talk about the process here they like testing on these subject verb agreement questions if you see four verbs in an answer you know in the answer choices I can almost guarantee there like a 90% chance we'll say they're testing on subject verb agreement they could be testing you on tense as well sometimes they do we might see some of those coming up here in a minute but uh but most of the time they test you on subject verb agreement so just find the subject find out if the subject is singular or plural if you need singular test the verbs with it if you need plural test the verbs with they any questions about that no perfect one more trick to these questions even if you struggle to find the subject uh in a sentence but you know you're being tested on subject verb agreement okay you're like you see the four verbs in the answer choices and they're testing on whether the subject is singular or plural if you see One Singular answer choice and three that are plural I can pretty much guarantee the right answer is going to be the one singular does that make sense why Melanie yes yeah because if the subject is plural they're probably not going to give you three plural answer choices that could be right right right right or or if they give you one plural and three singulars I can pretty much guarantee right it's going to be the one plural yeah right so that's just a little test taking strategy there kind of a trick that works if you can identify you're being tested on make it match uh subject verb agreement questions about that or does that make sense no that sense okay I mean it's a process right you got to practice the process so you can see why practicing applying these rules would be so useful you know I mean there's like one thing knowing what the rule is but like another thing is making your habit is thinking about these questions this way so you got to practice but it doesn't take a whole lot of practice and you can get a good score increase just by knowing what the rules are uh if you put it so okay good let's go to make it match pronouns go and read that bullet point for us please uh pronouns refer to a person or a thing mentioning mention it elsewhere in the sentence or passage make sure you use a singular PR like it when referring to a singular subject and a PL a plural pronoun like they when referring to a plural subject okay does that make some sense we were talking about why it is singular and why they is plural right so yes if the subject singular you can refer to it as it if it's plural refer to it as they or refer to them as that I should say go and read that that example there with the blank you can just read it as a blank yeah if people exerise regular blank will drat drama dramatically improve their health yeah do you think you know the right answer here A M they it's they absolutely yeah yeah and if we plug it in it should sound good if people exercise regularly they will dramatically improve their health but clearly we're referring to like the subject here which is people plural yeah and that's plural right so you got to have the plural there right it wouldn't work you technically could be singular or plural so could we potentially but but we know notice at the end of that sentence we're using the possessive pronoun their health right yeah right so we also have to match that so that's why we know we're referring to they as well does that make some sense yes it does yeah you couldn't say it there because people is is plural so questions about that no okay great let's go to make it match tense go and read that bullet point for us please tense if events are happening in the pris use a present tense if events happened in the past use the past tense if they will happen in the future use the future and and that may seem like common sense but like that's it like you know just pay attention to when the events are happening in the sentence and then match you know whatever tense you need to be in so read the correct example here correct the band played in its hit tune and the audience erup in Applause okay does that make sense why we know you know we're we're talking about events that happened in the past tense the band played yeah so then just you know match that tense you wouldn't say the band played its hit tune and the audience will erupt in Applause that that doesn't make any sense right it sounds weird yeah sounds shouldn't sound very weird so just ask yourself okay when are the events happening that's it now it's Poss I mean you can have you know different uh tenses in the same sentence you can it just depends you know when the events are happening uh you know for the particular underlined portion in the sentence and if it's happened in the past stay in the past happened in the present use present if it's happening in the future use the future tense that's it okay okay all right let's read uh the next bullet point on parallel structure parallel structure look for patterns in sens structure and with the PN yeah I'm going to stop you real quick Melody do you know what parallel means like we're talking about two parallel lines do you know what that means yes like yeah like Matt like geometry parallel lines like yeah yeah I mean like two parallel lines they've got like the same slope basically and they they could go on forever and uh and never intersect because they're so closely aligned you know in their slope does that make some sense yes yeah so parallel structure means basically like a matching structure in the sentence we've got to align the structure in the sentence so go and read the correct example I think it's going to make sense by looking at the example okay correct along with running and Rod climbing surfing is one of my favorite activities okay okay so notice you've got that ining ending there in all those examples do you see that running rock climb surfing you wouldn't say along with running and rock climbing to Surf is one of my favorite activities right that should sound a little bit weird so you've got that ing ending and all those other words just whatever the pattern is stick with the pattern don't change it okay so look out for patterns then match the pattern if you see a pattern that's a parallel structure does that make some sense yes okay okay good all right rule number four this one of my favorites here misplaced modifiers I'm guessing you've never heard of misplaced modifiers before have you heard of that or or or maybe no yeah so a modifier is just a modifying or a descriptive phrase right it's a phrase in a sentence that's describing something in the sentence so a misplaced modifier is just like a descriptive phrase that's in the wrong part of the sentence okay it's in the wrong part of the sent and I'll show you where kind of how you need to arrange it Go and read that first bullet point I think this will makes sense when we look at the examples they modifying descriptive phrase must always come immediately before or immediately after the word it if it is modified okay and read that incorrect example there blazing through the N sky for brief periods of time humans have long been fascinated by comic okay great thanks Melanie so um there's a descriptive phrase there in that sentence Melanie it's the underline portion okay where it says blazing through the night sky for brief periods of time okay so someone or something is blazing through the night sky for brief periods of time is that clear Melanie yes okay now here's the deal that descriptive phrase needs to come immediately before or immediately after the word it's modifying or describing okay now what word follows this description what word uh comets well it should be comets it should be hum but in the incorrect example right it's humans do you see that yeah so that sentence is suggesting that humans are blazing through the night sky for brief periods of time and that's why it's incorrect okay does that make sense why that's wrong yeah okay that's tricky because if you a lot of students read that sentence they're like okay makes sense to me it's fine right they're like oh they're probably talking about the Comets right like our brains are great we can kind of fill in the gaps and like figure stuff out you know but but still be aware that sentence structure is suggesting that human are blazing through the night sky for brief periods of time and that's why it's wrong read the correct example it's going to make more sense I think it'll sound better too blazing through the night sky for brief Peri periods of time comets have been have long fascinated humans okay do you see the difference there between the correct and the incorrect version there yes I do yeah does the second one sound a little bit better to you yes it does sound better yeah yeah it's tough to catch right it's really tough to catch because did you did you think the incorrect sounded bad maybe not a lot of students don't no yeah right yeah right you're like okay they're talking about the Comets come on you know but be aware a descriptive phrase needs to come immediately before or immediately after the word it's describing okay okay so if you see like you see uh some answer choices and there's no like grammar issue in the answer choices like they're not testing on the verb form or like punctuation or anything like that it's like but I don't see anything wrong with any of these answer choices it could be like an ideas issue or a structure issue of the sentence so that's when you need to be on the look out for that misplaced modifiers rule they like testing on it on the digital sat any questions about that no okay great okay great great let's go to a rule number five this is transition words and there's like a whole like toward the end of the the verbal section of the digital sat they've got like I don't know like four or five questions just on transition words so we really have to know this they can be tough but once you know the relationships it's all going to make sense um go and read that uh that first part of the transition words rule for us please for transition words questions identify the two separate ideas being connect identify the relationship between the two ideas and choose the corresponding trans word okay and then there's an example there right below that so so here here's the key first of all you'll know you've being tested on these transition words because you look at the answer choices you'll see a bunch of different transition words in the answer choices like however because after also right furthermore likewise although however right could be um you know you'll get familiar with these here as we practice them um so identify the two ideas being related here that okay that's where you need to start so the first idea here in this example is I normally get good grades usually I get good grades does that idea make some sense yes okay and then the second idea here is this semester I failed my chemistry class so normally you get and then this semester I failed my chemistry class so what's the relationship there between those two ideas do you see the relationship like they're talking about a school maybe well they're definitely talking about school yeah but here's there there's there's five main relationships I want to preview those real quick let's take a look at those uh below the the question example there look at the five major transition word relationships yes so look at the the first relationship is similarity two similar things okay and then I've got some examples of similarity transition words furthermore likewise moreover alternatively also and and okay read that first example for similarity example I like eating cookies also I like eating ice cream okay that's a similarity relationship because those are two things that I like to eat okay so two similar things right any of those other uh similarity transition words would work there instead of also right I could say I like eating cookies furthermore I like eating ice cream I like eating cookies likewise I like eating ice cream I like eating cookies more I like eating ice cream right because those are all it's a similarity relationship a similarity transition word will work just fine there does that make some sense yes it does let's look at contrast right and there's some examples of contrast transition words although however nevertheless but despite still um read the example there for contrast I work it all the day in a project however it wasn't able to complete it I wasn't able to complete it yeah yeah is that clear why those are two contrasting ideas there yes like you're contrasting the first idea maybe yeah yeah yeah like I worked all day on the project right You' think like you know you would be done hopefully right I worked all day in the project however I wasn't able to complete it okay kind of too cont something surprising or unusual about those two IDs being next to each other it's probably a contrast relationship does that make some sense let me give you another example to make it real clear I could say like uh I had a bad case of the flu however I still started in the basketball game okay those are contrasting ideas right yeah it's crazy right yeah you read that you're like wait you had the flu and then you started in the basketball game with the flu right like if there's something surprising or unusual about those two ideas being next to each other it's probably a contrast relationship does that make sense yes okay okay let's go to cause and effect uh so some examples of of cause and effect transition words would be because therefore thus so consequently as a result go and read the example I get about a case of the flu therefore I was not able to attend the class ah good okay so this is kind of similar to the other example I gave you the contrast but this one makes more sense as cause and effect because the first idea is I got a bad case of the flu and because of that therefore because I had a bad case of the flu I wasn't able to attend class so if the first thing is causing the second thing it's a cause and effect relationship does that make sense yes yeah uh the you know the other the contrast example I gave you about the flu right I mean I could also say um I got a bad case of the flu therefore I did not start in the basketball game that would be cause and effect relationship not contrast does that Mak sense yes yeah kind of similar sentences but depending on the transition word you use it you know determines the relationship so um okay let's uh look at uh the fourth uh relationship that's for providing examples some common uh phrases would be for example for instance in fact and indeed go and read the example there I love playing sports for example I play football basketball tennis and soccer does that make sense what that's a providing examples relationship there yes yeah right I love playing sports they're sort of a general category and then examples in that category that's pretty straightforward it could also be a relationship of sequence right like the order in which things happen go uh I've got some examples there before after then later first second third you know whatever go and read the example please I bath everything I needed to bake cookies then I B it them yeah do you see why that relates to sequence that's a sequence relationship first you do this thing first and then then later right you B to them so those are the fine M five main relationships so let's go back to the example um there of I normally good good grades so that's the first idea I normally get good grades and then the second idea is this semester I failed my chemistry class do you see the relationship there between those two ideas is that similarity or contrast or cause and effect or providing examples or sequence they're contrasting definitely contrasting right like normally you get good grades right but in this case this sort of an exception this semester I failed my chemistry class so we need a contrast transition word there's only one contrast transition word here do you see which one it is however definitely absolutely plug that into the sentence I want to hear it it should sound good I normally get good grits Gres however the semester I failed my chemistry Clos okay great does how does that sound to you good good yeah it should sound good right and that it makes sense because it's a contrast relationship so go through that process find the two ideas being related um and and then find the relationship between those two ideas and then pick the matching transition word so it' be worth kind of studying those five relationships you know before your your PSAT you're taking tomorrow I know you know but read through you know study rules study it yeah and just know think in terms of these rules when you're taking that test and it's going to help you a ton um but know the five relationships okay all right um and then the last rule rule number six go and read that for us rule number six uh throws your ear and throws your instincts right yep you may not always know the tech rule that applies so when inop thrust your ear and go with your first instinct you may be wrong some of the time but it is always your best bet okay so if you're if you're reading a question and you know the rule you're being tested on you're like oh come on they're testing me on you know subject verb agreement or they test me on like punctuation here great apply the rule think in terms of the rules that's great but if you if you're not sure what rule you're being tested on for a particular question just go with what sounds good listen to you know trust your ear trust your instincts go with your first instinct by the way be like I'm not I can't explain why but that one sounds the best that feels the best go with that one if you don't know the rule does that make sense yes okay so practice listen your instincts um especially if you if you if you're in doubt or if you're like kind of Torn Between Two answer choices you know some be like I'm not sure it's that one or that one go with whatever your first instinct is okay your instincts aren't perfect but if you're betting on it your best bet is your is your first instinct so so go with that let's practice applying these rules now on uh on some of the questions here on a digital SAT practice test you should have that in front of you now the first questions on the digital sat uh verbal section are going to be on uh like reading comprehension and vocabulary but kind of like right smack dab in the middle of the verbal section they start giving you some of these grammar questions so we're going to start right in the middle of this this practice test this is digital SAT practice test number one we're going to start with question number 19 we're going to practice applying some of these rules so here's what I want you to do you're going to read these um these paragraphs here um and uh instead of reading like blank where there's a blank melany I want you to plug in answer Choice a right off the bat okay and then we'll see kind of how that sounds that'll save us some time okay so read that and plug in answer Choice a uh public awareness complains about the need to reduce single use Plastics can is Su successful says researcher Kim Bart of manash University in Australia when these campaigns give consumers a choice for example Japan achieved a 40% reduction in plastic pad use after Cashers were instructed to ask customer whether they wanted a back okay great how does the answer Choice a sound to you Melanie how's it sound it sounds good it sounds pretty good okay do you know what R we're being tested on here Melanie or no uh I think the plural and singular yeah definitely right and now do we need a plural do we need a singular here the plural yeah we definitely need a plural here right because who wants a bag who wants a bag here the C customers the customers we definitely need a plural so uh and is they plural by the way yes absolutely so that could work let's keep it plug in answer Choice B I just want to hear it and you can just take it from for example uh 40% reduction in plastic bag used after cases were instructed to ask customers whether one wanted a back how does that sound to you weird that sounds really weird right yeah you don't even have to know the rule here right if it sounds weird it's probably not right so just be aware of that but but a is looking really good do you think C is going to work Noe I don't think so either I don't think we have to play what about D is that gonna work no no no now when you're doing this test I really do recommend reading the sentence and plug in the answer choices kind of you know going through all of them because ideally you can confirm the right one and get rid of all the wrong ones ideally then you can be really confident about your answer choice you should have the time to do it as well in the digital sat they they do give you more time per question than the old version of the test so I do recommend kind of plugging them all in but for the sake of time right now I think it's pretty clear it's answer Choice a is that clear yes it is yeah and that's the rule here is it's make it match pronouns here we just need that plural pronoun they to match customers great job there let's try number 20 we'll practice a few more of these number 20 in a in Asian G an epicurian was a follower of epicurus a philosopher who believes roled around the purit of pleasure epicurus defined pleasure as the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul I read the answer yeah yeah plug in answer okay trouble in the soul posting that all Li Spirit virtues derive derived from the absence from this absence okay good good good so clearly they're testing us on punctuation here is that obvious yes okay great and I like you took a pause after the word Soul there for answer Choice a right because there's a comma there after Soul how did that sound to you you may not have like a handle on like all the big ideas in this in the paragraph here but how did it sound to you it kind of sound weird though yeah what sounded weird about it like separating like the comma you know yeah because it's like two different ideas yeah yeah I gotta well I tell you let's plug in answer Choice B and there's a there's a coal in there we'll test that colon we'll hear in just a minute take it from epicurus oh epicurus defining pleasure as the absence of pain in the body and the and of trouble in the soul and in trouble in the soul posting that all lives vir deriv it from this absence okay um so notice we've got the colon there in that answer Choice do you have any idea whether this is correct use of the colon or not yeah I think I do yeah is this correct use do you think um I don't think so yeah I I I agree with you when do we use a colon when do we use a colon when you're describing a list like after lease or something yeah it could be a list but it could also be an explanation or description of something okay oh yeah yeah now if we have an explanation or descript it's clearly not a list but if we have an explanation or description of the absence of pain in the body and trouble in the soul then we're good is this an explanation or description of the absence of pain in the body and trouble in the soul no no it is not so we can't use the coal in there does that make some sense yes okay that's easy to get rid of it just doesn't follow the formula try answer Choice C and just take it from epicurus epicurus defined pleasure as the absence of pain in the body and the and of trouble in the soul positing that all life virtues deriv it from the this ABS okay now what punctuation mark is that in answer Choice C what is that semicolon yeah and when do we use a semic Cole and Melanie to separate two different like similar ideas I think so was well let's go back to the rule real quick let's go back to the rule okay I read it yeah go and read it connect two related statements that could still stand on their own and as completed sentence yeah yeah that's how we need to test it right if we're going to go with C we've got to we've got to make sure these two parts of the sentence stand alone as complete thoughts or as complete sentences okay okay so here's what I recommend doing I recommend reading both parts and just kind of hearing if they stand alone okay so read the first half take it from epicurus to Soul let's see if that stands alone no uh yeah we're still plugging in C but I want to hear just the first half from Epicurious epicurus to Soul okay Epicurious defined pleasure as the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul okay does that stand alone yes I think so that sounds good let's read the second half positin that's all life virtues deriv it from the subance does that stand alone yes oh I don't think it does positing positing that all life's virtues derive from this absence yeah that doesn't that doesn't stand alone if you said he posited that all life's virtues derived from this absence that would be fine or if it just said all life's virtues derived from this absence that would stand alone but that second half is really a descriptive phrase positing someone or something right it's epicurus is positing that all life's virtues derive from this absence that's just a descriptive phrase that doesn't stand alone does that make some sense yes it does It's Tricky right like if I said like running from the bear running from the bear does that stand alone yes no it doesn't if I said I ran from the bear yeah I ran from the bear that would that would stand alone or if I said he ran from the bear that would stand alone but if I just said running from from the bear well what about running from the bear you know yeah it's like okay it's it's just not a it doesn't it doesn't stand alone does that make a little bit of sense yes it does yeah It's tricky to catch you might need to practice a little bit the difference between sandalin thoughts and and and those that aren't sentences and fragments um but uh but be aware of that that's that second part doesn't stand alone uh let's try d uh GD uh epicurus defined pleasure as the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul positing that all Li virtues derived from this absence how does that sound sounds can okay now hold on we're using a period here in the sentence right we're using a period there and uh we use periods to separate two Standalone thoughts do we have two Standalone thoughts here and we do not we do not and another reason should be suspicious of both C and D is that basically they're they're pretty much the same thing right you're you're using a semicolon for St thoughts use a period for stone thoughts and if you see a semicolon and a period in the same part of an answer choice I know like the semicolon is kind of like after the the quotation marks and the period is before it I get that but if if C is acceptable so is D if C is acceptable so is D and if D is acceptable so is C because anywhere you can use a semicolon you can also use a period does that make some sense why you can get rid of yeah if you see a semic in the same place as a period then just get rid of those because they're not going to give you two right answers does that make sense yes so interestingly here the right answer is a Epicurious I'm going to plug it in Epicurious defined pleasure as the absence of pain in the body and trouble in the soul positing that all life's virtues derive from this absence all you need there is a brief pause so the comma works yeah but here here's the big takeaway here for this this question sometimes you read the right answer choice and you're like I don't know about that one okay that's if you're not sure about it just keep it the better path to finding the right answer is to get rid of the bad answer choices that's the better path elimination okay sometimes you read the right answer be like that's probably that okay if that's fine but you really want to get rid of the obviously incorrect answer choices by applying the rules okay so we can get rid of B it doesn't follow the colon rule we can get rid of C it doesn't follow the semicolon Rule and D doesn't follow the period rule either we don't have two separate Stalone thoughts there so even if you're unsure about a if you can get rid of BC and D you're going to pick the right answer here does that make sense yes okay great let's do one more we're gonna do one more here number 21 okay plug in answer say right off the bat uh British scientist James Waton and Francis C won the Noel prize in the part of their 1953 paper announcing the double heal Destructor of DNA but it misleading but it is misleading to say that Watson and cek discovered the table h they are findings were based on famous x-ray image of DNA fibers photo 51 developed by x-ray cryistal grapher yeah Rosal Rosal Franklin and her graduated student Raymond goby okay great I love that you read that as they are I love it I love it that's what you should do if you see they there with an apostrophe read it as they are how did anro a sound to you did that make sense in the sentence they findings I I don't think it sounds good with findings I don't me no no no I agree especially if you break into the two words remember they with an apostrophe stands for they are so would you say they are findings were based on a famous x-ray image would you say that no probably not it does not sound good plug in B now notice B is it's with an apostrophe so you can read it as it is so plug that in and and as it is let's hear it it findings were based on famous xray image of DNA fi stop stop how does that sound it is findings I thought it sounds weird it should sound weird you wouldn't say it is findings were based on no no no no try answer Choice C plug it in there findings were based on famous ex spread image of D fibers okay stop how does that sound it sounds a little bit better than the others but it does sound better yeah now um plug in D let's hear D I would keep C but we know it's not a and b yes its findings were based on famous x-ray image of d f f i I think I would go for C I think D yeah I have something with D I agree with you C sounds better I'll explain why here in just a moment now notice what's the difference between C and D here Melanie what's the difference uh that c is plural and D is using one of the RO yeah yeah D is is singular and C is plural now whose findings are we talking about here whose findings uh the two guys that W no price yeah yeah so is it gonna be their or its findings there because it's plural that's it so it's C and that's why it sounds better does that make sense yes it does okay great great but even if you're like you know get rid of A and B at the very least and then you know if you have to guess between C and D go with your gut instinct and if you're getting rid of the obviously incorrect ones then you're dramatically increasing your chances of finding the right answer does that make sense yes it does okay all right Mell that's unfortunately that's all we got time for at the moment but maybe maybe I'll have some more videos coming out going over some of these uh these questions applying these rules but at the very least study that rules document and uh and good luck on that digital PSAT test you're taking tomorrow okay thank you melie thank you so much for me with me and uh those of you watching the recording thank you so much make sure to like And subscribe and all that stuff and be on the lookout for more digital sat and digital PSAT videos coming out soon okay thank you Melanie