SAT Sentence Completion Strategies

Uncovering Word Clues

Sentences fall into a small number of recognizable patterns. Sentences may follow chronological order, relate cause and effect, explain similarities, or add examples. They also contrast ideas or things and name exceptions to the rule. Certain words are clues to sentence structure. After you identify those words, you’ve solved the riddle. Take a look at the most prevalent clue words you may encounter on the SAT and example sentences:

After: Barney ate three dried fish after he went to the movies. (The sentence doubles back in time from the fish to the movies.)

And, also: Brunhilda added three new ants to her all-bug baseball team, and she also acquired a terrific centipede pitcher that had recently cleared waivers. (The sentence adds examples.)

But: Barbara bellowed for help for seven straight hours, but Bella barely whimpered her distress. (The sentence contrasts two Viking warriors.)

So: Bettina’s aardvark wouldn’t stop eating her pet ants, so she slapped him. (The sentence moves logically from cause to effect.)

Then: Trini went to the movies and then ate two bags of popcorn. (The sentence proceeds in a straight line chronologically from the movies to the snack.)

In addition to the five preceding common SAT clue words, check out the following list for other clue words you may encounter:

Cause and effect: Because, for, therefore, consequently, hence, thus, accordingly, as a result, ergo (only in truly boring academic writing, the type that should be banned from the planet, if not the solar system)

Comparison: Than, equally, like . . . as, similarly, similar to, like

The exception to the rule (contrasting idea): On the other hand, in contrast to, however, despite, in spite of, nevertheless, nonetheless, otherwise, although, though, even though

More of the same: And, also, as well, in addition, not only . . . but also, furthermore, moreover, besides, likewise, not the only, such as, for example, for instance, showing, illustrating

Time marches on (or back): Then, once, before, after, since, while, during, still, yet, until, up until, later, earlier, finally, in the end, when, originally

Tip: No! No! A thousand times no! Not to mention never, but, nor, neither, and other negative words. These word gremlins pop up frequently in sentence completions, a trap for the unwary. When you see a negative word, give yourself an extra moment to be sure you understand the sentence’s meaning. A Grand Canyon-size difference separates Fiona wanted to polish Nick’s teeth more than anything else in the world and Fiona didn’t want to polish Nick’s teeth more than anything else in the world. Also, be careful of double negatives. The SAT has good grammar, so you won’t find a sentence completion saying something like He didn’t want no vegetables. However, you may find this sentence: Because Mattie didn’t under- stand Martian, she had no interest in that newspaper. Okay, maybe not that exact sentence, but one with a similar structure. Be sure to decode both parts of the sentence before choos- ing a completion answer.