These are 5 hard SAT writing practice questions from our question bank, all at the top of our difficulty scale. Four test grammar and punctuation (Standard English Conventions) and one tests transitions (Expression of Ideas). Try each one, then open the solution. Each solution explains why the right answer works, why the traps fail, and links to the notes for that rule.
On the digital SAT, writing questions sit inside the Reading and Writing section: 54 questions in two 32-minute modules. Every question has its own short passage, so you can treat each one as a fresh puzzle.
Question 1 (Hard, Modifiers)
A recipient of the Othmer Gold Medal and the Davy Medal from the Royal Society, _________ known as femtochemistry when he devised an optical spectroscopy technique that allowed researchers to study ultrafast chemical reactions occurring within molecules.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A. the result of chemist Ahmed Zewail's expansion of the limits of measurability was the introduction of a new scientific discipline
- B. the introduction of a new scientific discipline by chemist Ahmed Zewail led to the expansion of the limits of measurability
- C. the limits of measurability were expanded by chemist Ahmed Zewail who introduced a new scientific discipline
- D. chemist Ahmed Zewail expanded the limits of measurability and introduced a new scientific discipline
Show answer and solution
Answer: D. chemist Ahmed Zewail expanded the limits of measurability and introduced a new scientific discipline
The sentence opens with a description, "A recipient of the Othmer Gold Medal and the Davy Medal." Whatever comes right after the comma must be the person who received those medals. Only D starts with "chemist Ahmed Zewail." A, B and C start with "the result," "the introduction" and "the limits," and none of those received a medal.
Rule to remember: When a sentence opens with a describing phrase and a comma, ask "who or what is being described?" That noun has to come next.
Review: Modifiers notes
Question 2 (Hard, Joining Two Complete Sentences)
Each year, the Nobel Prize in Literature is given to an author who has, in the words of its founder Alfred Nobel, "produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic______ in 1952, for instance, judges recognized François Mauriac "for the deep spiritual insight and the artistic intensity with which he has in his novels penetrated the drama of human life."
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A. direction" and,
- B. direction"
- C. direction,"
- D. direction";
Show answer and solution
Answer: D. direction";
Read both sides of the blank. "Each year, the Nobel Prize ... is given to an author who has ... produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction" is a complete sentence. "In 1952, for instance, judges recognized Mauriac..." is also complete. Two complete sentences need a period or a semicolon, and only D has one. The comma in C would create a comma splice.
Rule to remember: Test each side of the blank on its own. If both could stand alone as sentences, you need a period, a semicolon, or a comma with and, but, or, so.
Question 3 (Hard, The Colon)
It was the kind of challenge that would set any art curator's mind into______ that elusive thread that could link artists as disparate as American abstract painter Anne Ryan, Romanian impressionist painter Micaela Eleutheriade, and Flemish mannerist painter Anthony van Dyck.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A. motion, finding:
- B. motion. Finding
- C. motion; finding
- D. motion: finding
Show answer and solution
Answer: D. motion: finding
The first part, "It was the kind of challenge that would set any art curator’s mind into motion," is a complete sentence. What follows explains the challenge: finding the thread that links three very different painters. A colon after a complete sentence introduces an explanation, so D is right. A puts the colon after "finding," which splits "finding" from its object.
Rule to remember: A colon needs a complete sentence before it. What comes after can be a list, an example, or an explanation.
Review: The Colon notes
Punctuation keeps tripping you up?
Targeted Practice builds a set from the grammar rules you miss.
Question 4 (Hard, Joining Two Complete Sentences)
Though he's performed on many respected albums, including Trypnotyx by Victor Wooten, drummer Dennis Chambers may be best known for his time as house drummer for the hip-hop label Sugar Hill Records. He did not play drums on the label's classic song "Rapper's ______ he joined the label after the song's release.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A. Delight," however,
- B. Delight," however;
- C. Delight." However,
- D. Delight" however
Show answer and solution
Answer: B. Delight," however;
Start with meaning. Chambers is best known as Sugar Hill’s house drummer, however he did not play on its most famous song. "However" belongs with that first sentence, as a contrast to the one before it. Then "he joined the label after the song’s release" is a second complete sentence that explains why, so a semicolon must come after "however." That is B. C attaches "However" to the explanation, which breaks the logic.
Rule to remember: With however, therefore and similar words, first decide which sentence the word belongs to by meaning. Then put the semicolon or period between the two complete sentences.
Question 5 (Hard, Transitions)
In his essay "Of Coaches," French philosopher Michel de Montaigne explores a relatively light subject, but he expresses heavier fare in "Of the Inconvenience of Greatness." Regardless of subject matter, Montaigne works to question his own perspective throughout his essays.______ his personal motto was "What do I know?"
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
- A. Still,
- B. Conversely,
- C. Fittingly,
- D. Nowadays,
Show answer and solution
Answer: C. Fittingly,
The sentence before the blank says Montaigne questions his own perspective in all his essays. The motto "What do I know?" is a perfect match for that habit. "Fittingly" signals that the next fact suits what was just said. "Still" and "Conversely" signal contrast, and "Nowadays" is about time.
Rule to remember: Name the relationship between the two sentences in your own words before you look at the choices. Here it is "and this fits."
Review: Transitions notes
How to get better at hard SAT writing questions
- Find the complete sentences first. Three of these five come down to one test: can each side of the blank stand alone? That one check decides most punctuation questions.
- Decide meaning before punctuation. On transition questions, and on questions with words like however, name the relationship between the ideas first.
- Learn the rules from the notes linked in each solution: joining sentences, the colon, modifiers and transitions.
- Watch them explained. Mr. O covers every grammar rule in the free Grammar video series and transitions in the free Expression of Ideas series.
- Drill the rule you miss most in Targeted Practice or the question bank.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a separate writing section on the SAT?
No. On the digital SAT, writing questions are part of the Reading and Writing section, mixed with reading questions in each module.
What grammar is on the SAT?
Mostly sentence boundaries (joining and separating sentences), punctuation like colons, dashes and commas, verb and pronoun agreement, and modifiers.
How long is the Reading and Writing section?
64 minutes for 54 questions, in two 32-minute modules.
Working on math too? Try these hard SAT math questions.
Sources
- College Board, How the SAT Is Structured.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a separate writing section on the SAT?
No. Writing questions are part of the Reading and Writing section.
What grammar is on the SAT?
Mostly sentence boundaries, punctuation like colons, dashes and commas, agreement, and modifiers.
How long is the Reading and Writing section?
64 minutes for 54 questions, in two 32-minute modules.