Geraldine Woods

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-12-2024

English grammar is not a mystery; it's a set of traditions and patterns of language handed down through the ages. With a little practice, you can learn the rules of Standard English so you can express yourself confidently and correctly.

Article / Updated 08-14-2023

Sitting through the actual SAT is like being on stage. No matter how well you know the song or the routine, the first time you get up there it’s a new experience and your performance goes south. However, the second time is always much better. Students tell me again and again that the second time they took the SAT went much better than the first time, partly because they had more practice, but also because the second time they were used to it. This may be how the testing process goes, but you can close that gap and make your first SAT go much better by using the SAT practice tests to prepare for the testing experience. Here are 10 ways to get the most from the practice SATs. Practice an Entire SAT in One Sitting How well you can answer the questions doesn’t matter if you can’t maintain your energy for the length of the exam. When you’re in a pressure cooker like the actual exam, your brain is in overdrive. Whether you’re omitting the essay (for a four-hour exam) or including it (for five hours), you need to become used to working intensely for these hours in one stretch so you can go the distance on exam day. Practice Not Making Mistakes Under Pressure Did you get stuck on an early question and not finish the SAT Writing and Language Test? Did you skip a line on the bubble sheet? Did you get lost in the pages, unable to find the question that you wanted to return to? Did you know better than to make these mistakes? Of course you did, but this happens to everyone, especially under pressure. Only by falling into a trap do you learn out how to avoid it. Work out the bugs on a practice SAT. Make these mistakes at home, where it doesn’t matter, instead of on the actual exam, where it’s life or death (or a scholarship). Practice with Others in the Room Nothing is more distracting on your SAT than hearing someone using scratch paper, sighing, turning pages, cursing, or chuckling confidently while she works her exam. Get used to distractions by taking your practice SAT with friends or others who are also taking the SAT and, therefore, need to practice. The sounds as they work and sigh and groan or pat themselves on the back (because they also used SAT For Dummies) become less of a distraction as you get used to the noises and the now-present feeling of competition. This also helps your friends improve their scores while they help you improve yours. Practice as a Dress Rehearsal Play by the rules of the testing center. No phone, hat, drink, snack, neck brace, or anything that brings a modicum of comfort is allowed within reach in the exam room. Your breaks are short, and your scratch paper is your test booklet. If this is not something that you’re used to, it will drive you nuts on exam day, so make sure it’s a road that you’ve been down before, and it won’t be as bad. Do you get thirsty? Hungry? Uncomfortable? Chilly? What do you wish you had: water, a sandwich, a power bar, coffee, aspirin? Keep these thoughts in mind and plan accordingly on test day. You have access to your personal belongings during the breaks, so bring these things in a bag and grab a quick refreshment during your break. Practice Your Competitive Edge The practice test doesn’t matter, so why try hard? In the third hour of the practice, you’re exhausted, and you just want to get through it — and that’s okay because it’s a practice test, right? Wrong. If you’ve never tried as hard as you can for four or five hours, you won’t do it easily on exam day. You may intend to, but working at half effort on the practice exam is a hard habit to break, and it carries to the real thing. It’s like running a race by yourself versus running a race against someone else: You try harder when others are in the game. One way to get around this is by recording your scores and trying to beat your last performance. Another way is to try to beat a friend’s score. The best way, though, is to take the practice exam with a friend in the room also taking the same exam. Try to beat this person: This makes it real and competitive, and you’ll bring this edge to the actual exam. Practice Your Test-Taking Strategies As you study and practice, you develop strategies for taking the exam. Maybe you work all the easy math questions first and then go back to the tougher questions. Maybe you try different ways to take on the SAT Reading Test. These strategies give you control over the exam, but different strategies work for different test-takers. What works for you? What doesn’t? What does it depend on? You should know the answers to these questions before you take the actual exam. As you take the practice SATs, focus on your strategies. You will find things that work and things that don’t, or you’ll find your own take on an established strategy. Finding and honing your strategies that work is a very important part of your prep process, but do this before test day. One thing you could do is go through a practice SAT that you’ve already worked. Because the questions are familiar to you, you can focus more on the test-taking strategies. Practice Using the Bubble Sheet Students hate the bubble sheet. They practice and circle the answers in the test booklet, and they stop right there. Like it or not, the bubble sheet is part of the exam, and I’ve seen enough practice exams where the math or English question is answered correctly in the booklet but bubbled incorrectly on the sheet. It counts just as wrong, and the student is mad. One student refused to practice with a bubble sheet. Then he took the actual SAT, and he told me after that he had somehow bubbled two answers on a single line! I think he had also lost count of which line he was on, so he missed a lot of questions. This was a top-scoring student who consistently answered 19 out of 20 questions correctly in practice, but he bombed the exam because he wasn’t used to the bubble sheet. This didn’t have to happen. Practice Finding Your Areas of Focus Do you struggle more with reading Science or Social Studies passages? Do you handle triangles better than you do exponents? Do you lose steam (causing your performance to drop) by the third hour? Do you run out of time? With these practice SATs, you can get a sense of how you work and where you need to focus, and then you can close those gaps. You cannot fix your gaps unless you find them first. There are no truer words. Review the Practice SAT Answers and Explanations After taking a four- or five-hour practice SAT, the last thing you probably want to do is spend time reviewing answers and explanations, so take a well-deserved break and save the answers and explanations for later. But be sure to review them. After you’re rested, take the following steps to review: Identify which questions you answered incorrectly. Read the answer explanations and review any relevant material so you’re prepared for a similar question next time. Fully close that gap by practicing similar questions from 1,001 SAT Practice Questions For Dummies (also published by Wiley). Here’s another thing you can do. While you’re taking the exam, mark any questions you’re not sure of, and read the explanations for those answers after the practice. This way, even if you guessed correctly, you’ll review that question along with the ones that you missed. Review the Practice SAT with Other Students After taking a practice SAT along with your friends who are also taking the practice SAT, or even if your friends took the practice SAT separately, review your practice exam along with them. For each question that you miss, your friend can explain it to you; or if your friend also missed it, you can seek the answer together. Your friend will also have missed questions that you got right, so you can explain those to them! You boost their scores while they boost yours.

Article / Updated 05-03-2023

Dozens and dozens of English verbs have irregular past tense forms, as well as irregular past participles. If you are studying English grammar, you may want to memorize the common irregular past and past participles listed here. This list is not exhaustive by any means, but these are common verbs English speakers use every day. Lucky for you, English present participles, except for the occasional change from the letter y to the letter i, are fairly straightforward. Just add ing. If you have questions about a particular verb, check your dictionary. In the following table, the first column is the infinitive form of the verb. (The infinitive is the “to + verb” form — to laugh, to cry, to learn grammar, and so on.) The second column is the simple past tense. The third column is the past participle, which is combined with has (singular) or have (plural) to form the present perfect tense. The past participle is also used with had to form the past perfect tense. Forms of Irregular Participles Verb Past Past Participle bear bore borne become became become begin began begun bite bit bitten break broke broken bring brought brought catch caught caught choose chose chosen come came come do did done drink drank drunk drive drove driven eat ate eaten fall fell fallen feel felt felt fly flew flown freeze froze frozen get got got or gotten go went gone know knew known lay laid laid lead led led lend lent lent lie lay lain lose lost lost ride rode ridden ring rang rung rise rose risen run ran run say said said see saw seen set set set shake shook shaken sing sang sung sink sank or sunk sunk sit sat sat sleep slept slept speak spoke spoken steal stole stolen swim swam swum take took taken throw threw thrown wear wore worn win won won write wrote written

Article / Updated 04-17-2023

Three little letters — not — turn a positive comment (“I like your boots”) to a negative one (“I do not like your boots”). Apart from the fashion critique, what do you notice about the negative statement? The verb changes from like to do like. You need that extra part because “I not like” isn’t proper English. Negative verbs don’t always rely on a form of the verb do. Sometimes have, has, or had does the job. Sentences with a be verb can turn negative without any help at all. You can try your hand at not creating the wrong negative verb. Take a look at this example. Rewrite the sentence as a negative expression. Mark's acting received an Academy Award. Mark's acting did not receive an Academy Award. Two things change when the positive verb (received) becomes negative (did not receive). Received, a past-tense form, turned into the basic, no-frills, bare infinitive (receive). The helping verb did pairs with it. As you probably noticed, not is tucked between the two parts of this verb, its usual spot. Practice questions She wanted to be a beekeeper. The bee flying near our picnic table left Sheila alone all afternoon. Answers to practice questions She did not want to be a beekeeper. The past-tense verb form wanted turns to did want. Not completes the negative transformation. The bee flying near our picnic table did not leave Sheila alone all afternoon. The past-tense verb form left changes to did leave, which becomes negative with the addition of not. Were you confused by flying? Although flying expresses action, it isn’t the verb.

Article / Updated 04-04-2023

The verb to be is possibly the weirdest verb in the English language, but you have to know it because you will use it all the time. Not only do you want to tell other people all about you, you need to be able to conjugate the verb to be to create prefect and progressive tenses of regular English verbs. Here it is, tense by tense. Present tense Singular Plural I am we are you are you are he, she, it is they are Note that the singular forms are in the first column and plural forms are in the second column. Singulars are for one person or thing and plurals for more than one. “You” is listed twice because it may refer to one person or to a group. (Just one more bit of illogic in the language.) Past tense Singular Plural I was we were you were you were he, she, it was they were Future tense Singular Plural I will be we will be you will be you will be he, she, it will be they will be Present perfect Singular Plural I have been we have been you have been you have been he, she, it has been they have been Past perfect Singular Plural I had been we had been you had been you had been he, she, it had been they had been Future perfect Singular Plural I will have been we will have been you will have been you will have been he, she, it will have been they will have been

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-09-2023

If you're learning English grammar or trying to brush up on some of it, this Cheat Sheet will come in handy. It includes the parts of speech, sentence essentials, tips on using pronouns and punctuation, adding style to your writing, and more.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-13-2022

As the old saying goes, "practice makes perfect," and while you're on the road to grammar perfection, a quick glance at the rules for proper grammar usage may help. Review some basic — and important — points related to sentence creation, common errors in new media communication, and overall polished grammar.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-02-2022

This handy Cheat Sheet will help you grapple with English grammar problems, clear up confusion caused by similar-sounding words, and improve your writing skills, in general.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-08-2022

Whether you’re trying to write a college admission essay for the Common Application, Coalition, or even a supplemental essay for an individual school, the process of writing about yourself might feel unfamiliar and intimidating. However, the college admission essay is a pivotal opportunity to distinguish yourself from others with very similar credentials and encourage a school to admit you. Communicate clearly and convey not only who you are, but how you came to be that person.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-04-2022

Before starting a research paper, arrange the information and notes you’ve gathered. Pick one of the basic structures for organizing your research paper and start writing with a strong introduction. Before you turn in the final draft of your paper, go through a grammar checklist — and be sure to cite your sources.