Important SAT Update: Transition to Digital SAT
Effective December 3, 2023, the traditional paper-and-pencil format of the SAT has been discontinued. Starting in 2024, all students are required to take the Digital SAT, ushering in substantial changes in duration, format, material coverage, and question types. This shift to the Digital SAT represents a departure from traditional testing methods. It is crucial for students, educators, and test-takers to acquaint themselves with the new examination structure. Read more about the Digital SAT here.
Both the SAT® and ACT® exams test student knowledge about whether a comma should be placed between introductory information and the sentence’s independent clause. Introductory information can include phrases or dependent clauses that come before a sentence’s independent clause.
Sometimes students will be presented with compound introductory phrases/clauses. In these sentences, be careful to determine where the introductory information ends as it may contain a conjunction like “and.”
In addition, the SAT and ACT exams try to distract students by including answers choices with the wrong punctuation mark between the introductory information and the independent clause and/or incorrectly adding a conjunction.
If you need more practice with comma and other punctuation questions, use the released tests provided by the College Board and ACT or practice online with exam-like questions at websites like UWorld.
