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SAT
Course: 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
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Writing: Conventional Expressions — Video Lesson
David works through a Conventional Expressions question on the SAT Writing and Language test.
Created by David Rheinstrom.
Want to join the conversation?
- after pausing the vid to try for myself, I no longer trust my guts(49 votes)
- In this video lesson, can't we choose with instead of for. When we use "with", it becomes, 'It was a triumph that added to Florence's reputation with sophistication and beauty.' What does triumph add to Florence's reputation? The answer is sophistication and beauty. Please make me clear on this question.(12 votes)
- Questions like these don't really make sense unless you've heard the phrase before. "For" is the correct answer because having a reputation for something means that those qualities are in your reputation.
I think that choosing "with" means that the sentence says that triumph, along with sophistication and beauty, was added to Florence's reputation. Adding sophistication and beauty to a reputation is a bit weird sounding, when you can have a reputation for sophistication and beauty.
The most and probably only clear-cut way to say that D) is wrong is by saying that it doesn't follow the convention, but that's hard to do if you don't know the convention in the first place, which makes these types of questions a hit-or-miss sometimes, unless you read a lot.(16 votes)
- After trying on my own and believing my guts, I lost my reputation 'for' English.(3 votes)
Video transcript
- [Instructor] We're
looking at question 24 in the passage, and that's here. So I'm gonna start a sentence prior at the beginning of this paragraph. "Toward the end of the
1400s, as the Renaissance :was reaching its height
in Florence, Italy, "members of the city's powerful Wool Guild "were celebrating their recently
completed city cathedral. "It was a triumph that added
to Florence's reputation "from sophistication and beauty, "yet the guild members were
eager to fancy it up even more." Okay, so we have from underlined, and then that's the no change option. All the other choices
are other prepositions. So choice A is no change. Choice B is for. Choice C is to. Choice D is with. so it's asking which preposition
fits into the sentence. reputation from, reputation to. When you have to choose
between prepositions like this, it's a good sign that you're looking at a conventional expression question. There will be one to two
questions of this type on your official SAT. And they're asking you to identify phrases in which the same words
are always put together. Short phrases, like look up to or help out or how either is followed
by or and not and. The strategy here is simply
to trust your instincts. These are common expressions
so the incorrect choices should all feel awkward or unusual based solely on your experience speaking, reading, and writing in English. Let's pause here. If you wanna give this
question a try, go for it. Okay, let's do it together now. I'm just gonna test each choice
in turn and trust my gut. Does this choice seem weird? Okay, it was a triumph that
added to Florence's reputation, no change, from reputation. From sophistication
and beauty feels weird. Bye choice A. Choice B, it was a triumph that added to Florence's reputation for
sophistication and beauty. Feels normal. I bet that's our answer. Choice C, a triumph that
added to Florence's reputation to sophistication feels weird. Choice D, a triumph that
added to Florence's reputation with sophistication and beauty
feels less weird than C or A, but still not as
conventional sounding as B. This is purely a test of
your language instincts. Don't overthink it. If you used the process of elimination to cross out the ones that sound weird and you are left with two or more options that feel like they could be right, our advice is to just
make a guess and move on. Unfortunately, there aren't
any clear grammar rules we can apply on these questions, but your instincts should serve you well. One great way to improve your performance on questions like these
is just to read a lot so that you get familiar with all the ways that authors use written language. Another great way is to
practice this skill right here on Khan Academy's Official SAT Practice. You're in the right place. You can do this. Good luck out there.