Main content
SAT
Unit 11: Lesson 3
Writing: Grammar- Writing: Setting Up Ideas — Video Lesson
- Setting up ideas | Quick guide
- Writing: Strong Support — Video lesson
- Strong support | Quick guide
- Writing: Relevant Information — Video lesson
- Relevant information | Quick guide
- Writing: Sequencing sentences — Video lesson
- Sequencing sentences | Quick guide
- Writing: Transition Words — Video lesson
- Transition words and phrases | Quick guide
- Writing: Transition Sentences — Video Lesson
- Transition sentences | Quick guide
- Writing: Introductions — Video lesson
- Writing: Conclusions — Video lesson
- Introductions and conclusions | Quick guide
- Writing: Interpreting Graphs and Data — Video lesson
- Interpreting graphs and data | Quick guide
- Writing: Precision — Video Lesson
- Precise word choice | Quick guide
- Writing: Concision — Video lesson
- Concision | Quick guide
- Writing: Formal and Informal Language — Video Lesson
- Writing: Formal vs. casual language — Example
- Formal vs. casual language | Quick guide
- Writing: Syntax — Example
- Writing: Sentence Fragments — Video Lesson
- Writing: Sentence Boundaries — Example 1
- Writing: Sentence boundaries — Example 2
- Sentence fragments | Quick guide
- Writing: Subordination and coordination — Example
- Writing: Combining Sentences — Video Lesson
- Linking clauses | Quick guide
- Writing: Parallel Structure — Video lesson
- Writing: Parallel structure — Example
- Parallel structure | Quick guide
- Writing: Modifier Placement — Video Lesson
- Writing: Modifier placement — Example
- Modifier placement | Quick guide
- Writing: Verb Tense and Mood — Video Lesson
- Writing: Shift in verb tense and mood — Example
- Verb tense and mood | Quick guide
- Writing: Pronoun Clarity — Video Lesson
- Writing: Pronoun clarity — Example
- Pronoun clarity | Quick guide
- Writing: Pronoun Agreement — Video Lesson
- Writing: Pronoun-antecedent agreement — Example
- Pronoun-antecedent agreement | Quick guide
- Writing: Possessive determiners — Example 1
- Writing: Possessive determiners — Example 2
- Writing: It’s/Its Confusion — Video Lesson
- Confusion with "its" and "their" | Quick guide
- Writing: Subject-Verb Agreement — Video Lesson
- Writing: Subject-verb agreement — Example
- Subject-verb agreement | Quick guide
- Writing: Noun Agreement — Video Lesson
- Writing: Noun agreement — Basic example
- Noun agreement | Quick guide
- Writing: Frequently Confused Words — Video Lesson
- Writing: Frequently confused words — Example
- Frequently confused words | Quick guide
- Writing: Conventional Expressions — Video Lesson
- Writing: Conventional expression — Example
- Conventional expressions | Quick guide
- Writing: Logical Comparison — Video Lesson
- Writing: Logical comparison — Example
- Logical comparison | Quick guide
- Writing: End-of-sentence punctuation — Example 1
- Writing: End-of-sentence punctuation — Example 2
- Writing: Commas — Video Lesson
- Commas | Quick guide
- Writing: Semicolons — Video Lesson
- Semicolons | Quick guide
- Writing: Colons — Video lesson
- Colons | Quick guide
- Writing: Possessive Pronouns — Example
- Writing: Possessive Nouns — Video Lesson
- Making nouns possessive | Quick guide
- Writing: Items in a series — Example
- Writing: Punctuating Lists — Video Lesson
- Lists and punctuation | Quick guide
- Writing: Nonrestrictive and parenthetical elements — Example
- Writing: Nonessential Elements — Video Lesson
- Nonessential elements | Quick guide
© 2023 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
Linking clauses | Quick guide
What are clauses and how are they linked?
What's on the test?
Tips and strategies
Your turn!
Want to join the conversation?
- For the first practice question, wouldn't it be tempting to glamorize working with fossils SINCE it is so boring?
I understand that but works but not why since does not.(10 votes)- I get what your interpretation means, but here it sounds more like the "daily routine" is something glamorous, when in reality, it's "heat, insects, and tedious labor", none of which are worth glamorizing.
There's a contrast between the glamorization and the reality, which is why "but" is preferable over "since" here.(15 votes)
- In the sentence, "Doughnuts made with yeast are light and fluffy, while those made with baking powder are denser and more cake-like," why does a comma come before "while?" Shouldn't it be removed because of the rule that states, "Independent clause + subordinating conjunction + independent clause?"(9 votes)
- 1
Since she needed eggs and milk, Dolores went to the grocery store.
2
Dolores went to the grocery store, since she needed eggs and milk.
Is the 2nd one correct?
Thank you(3 votes)- Usually, a comma isn't used between an independent and dependent clause if the independent clause comes first.
So 2 should be:
"Dolores went to the grocery store since she needed eggs and milk."(5 votes)
- I don't understand the sentence "Dolores went to the grocery store, where she bought eggs and milk.". where is a subordinating conjunction and as the rule says there is no need for comma. Independent clause + subordinating conjunction + independent clause(2 votes)
- The subordinating conjunction here is "where". The subordinate clause here functions to describe what Dolores did after going to the grocery store, and isn't really needed to understand the main meaning of the sentence, which is just that she went to the grocery store. This makes it a nonrestrictive clause, or one that isn't necessary to grasp the main idea of the sentence.
With nonrestrictive clauses like these, the rule is to separate them from the main sentence with a comma like exists there. If you had a sentence where the subordinate clause was necessary to understand the meaning of the independent clause, such as "Dolores went to the grocery store that she bought eggs and milk from", then you wouldn't need a comma.
(You can always check out and ask a question in Khan's grammar course if you have further questions, there's good people in there)(1 vote)
- get what your interpretation means, but here it sounds more like the "daily routine" is something glamorous, when in reality, it's "heat, insects, and tedious labor", none of which are worth glamorizing.(1 vote)
- That's exactly the sentence's point. It says that "it is tempting" to think about the daily routine, but then the second clause talks about how the reality of the job isn't so glamorous after all. The first part is describing the daily routine in the eyes of the public, and the second one brings in the contradictory, realistic description of fieldwork. Therefore, you need a conjunction that tells you that you're about to move to a contradictory idea, which "but" does just fine.(1 vote)
- In the sentence "Dolores went to the grocery store, and she bought eggs and milk", could I leave out the second pronoun "she", that is, could I write "Dolores went to the grocery store, and bought eggs and milk"? If so, do I still need to use the comma?(1 vote)
- You could indeed leave out the "she", and this would mean that you need to take out the comma. When you remove "she", you're converting your compound sentence with two independent clauses to a simple sentence with just one clause, as you're taking away the subject of the second clause. You don't need a comma because you're not connecting multiple clauses; you just have one clause describing multiple actions (going to the store and buying eggs and milk). I'm not sure, but I don't think this would show up on the SAT.(1 vote)
- I still don't understand the reason why "since" cannot work in the first question.(1 vote)
- please,i don't really understand the explanation mentioned under tips and strategies based on 'test semicolons using before and after test'(1 vote)
- it basically means that you need to make sure both the clauses "before" and "after" the semicolon are independent:can stand on there own.otherwise,a semicolon can't be used.(1 vote)
- In the sentence, "Doughnuts made with yeast are light and fluffy, while those made with baking powder are denser and more cake-like," why does a comma come before "while?" Shouldn't it be removed because of the rule that states, "Independent clause + subordinating conjunction + independent clause?"
What are restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses? and when do we use a comma with a subordinating conjunction and when not?(1 vote)- Since "while" has two different meanings ("at the same time" and "although"), we use a comma where we normally wouldn't to clarify that we mean "at the same time".
A restrictive clause is necessary to the meaning of the sentence and doesn't require punctuation around it, non-restrictive clauses are the opposite.
We use a comma with a subordinate (dependent clause) when the dependent clause or when the comma makes our meanings less ambiguous.(1 vote)
- do you need a comma before the subordinating conjunction when you’re linking 2 independent clauses with a subordinating conjunction?(1 vote)
- You actually don't link two independent clauses with a subordinating conjunction. "Subordinat-" indicates that one party ranks lower than another. Dependent clauses can't stand on their own without an independent clause, so they "rank" lower. We use subordinating conjunctions to link dependent clauses to independent clauses. When the dependent clause comes first (as in this sentence), you need to use a comma to join the clauses. You don't use a comma to join the clauses when the independent clause comes first (like in this sentence).
On the other hand, every independent clause can stand by itself as a complete sentence, so they all "rank" the same. That means we use coordinating conjunctions to join independent clauses. When you're joining independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction, you do always need to put a comma before the conjunction. (I did this with the coordinating conjunction "so" in this paragraph's first sentence!)
Does that help?(1 vote)