Rachel · SAT Reading and Writing · Grammar and punctuation

Sentence Boundaries · Remaining Practice

Apply 1 and Try it 7 are in the September 19 class notes. The remaining tasks retain their original numbers; Try it 3 has been removed.

Prove the structure before choosing punctuation

Find the main sentence core, distinguish attached material from independent clauses, and choose the boundary that the structure permits. Explain your first answer before opening the analysis.

1. Prove the sentence core

A complete statement needs a main subject and a finite predicate; a dependent opening must also be attached.
Although the evidence was limited, the researchers reached a conclusion.
A finite verb group carries tense or a modal.
The report reveals a pattern. The sample was collected yesterday. The pattern has changed. The result may change.
An -ing form, an infinitive or a past participle can act as a modifier; it does not automatically supply a main predicate.
The researchers analysing the samples work upstairs.
The next sample to analyse is on the tray.
The samples collected yesterday remain sealed.
Find the head noun through prepositional phrases and relative clauses. Never separate a subject from its predicate merely because the subject is long.
The collection of letters that the archivists recovered reveals the settlement’s history.

Clause-Skeleton Punctuation: subjects + finite verbs → IC / DC / phrase → relationship → licensed punctuation.

Short practice

Model 1 — Which verb completes the main clause?

Find the main subject and its finite verb. Compare the role of “collected” in A and B.

A. The samples that the technicians collected during the survey reveal a gradual change in salinity. B. The samples collected during the survey were stored in a refrigerated cabinet.

Show answer

A: samples → reveal; technicians → collected is inside the relative clause. B: samples → were stored; collected modifies samples.

Count the full finite verb group: “were stored” is a passive predicate. A word ending in -ed can be a finite verb or a modifier; its role depends on the structure.

Reasoning

Find the head noun samples.
In A, bracket that the technicians collected during the survey; the main predicate is reveal.
In B, bracket collected during the survey; the main predicate is were stored.
Do not insert a comma between the complete subject phrase and its predicate.

Short practice

Try it 1 — Supply the missing predicate

Complete the gap with the correct present-tense form of the supplied verb. Name the subject that controls it.

The collection of letters that the archivists recovered ______ (reveal) how the settlement expanded.

Show answer

The collection of letters that the archivists recovered reveals how the settlement expanded.

Collection is the singular head; recovered belongs to the relative clause and does not supply the main predicate.

Short practice

Try it 2

Correct the mistake.

The patterns that the research team identified in the satellite images, suggest that the coastline is shifting.

Show answer

The patterns that the research team identified in the satellite images suggest that the coastline is shifting.

The comma separates the full subject from suggest. Identified belongs to the relative clause; suggest is the main predicate.

Explain the rule or text relationship that decides your answer.