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SAT Study Guide/Part 4 - The Writing Section/Improving Sentences

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Improving Sentences

Just like Identifying Sentence Errors questions, the large majority of Improving Sentences questions related to a surprisingly limited number or grammatical issues. The main difference between the two question types is that while the errors in Identifying Sentence Errors questions consist of single words or short phrases, the errors in Improving Sentences questions generally involve the structure of the whole sentence. So improving Sentences questions can be little trickier and more involved.

WHAT ARE IMPROVING SENTENCES QUESTIONS?
Remember our "spot-the-mistake" strategy? We've got a similar strategy for Improving Sentences. In addition to finding the mistake in each sentence, you have to pick the answer choice that best corrects it. Like we said, a little harder.

Here is an example:
                                The Emancipation Edict freed the Russian serfs in 1861; that being four years before the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.

(A) in 1861; that being four years
(B) in 1861 and is four years
(C) in 1861 and this amounts to four years
(D) in 1861, being four years
(E) in 1861, four years