13THE BASICS
Let’s start with the basic parts of speech tested on the SAT: Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs,
Conjunctions, and Prepositions. In this section, I am just skimming the surface. I will go much more in depth with
exactly how these parts of speech are tested on the SAT when we discuss the specific grammar rules.
NOUNS: A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.
Let’s look at some examples of concrete nouns – nouns that you can experience with your five senses: sight,
taste, touch, hearing, and smell.
Person – boy, president, teacher...
Place – laundry mat, mall, school...
Thing – ball, broccoli, dinosaur...
Abstract nouns are a bit more difficult to spot. You can’t see them, hear them, taste them, touch them, or
smell them.
Idea – happiness, love, warmth, politeness...
Singular versus Plural – ETS loves to test singular versus plural nouns.
A singular noun is one person, one place, one thing, or one idea – girl, gymnasium, ocean...
A plural noun is more than one person, place, thing, or idea – girls, gymnasiums, oceans...
To make a noun plural add an “s” on the end. The singular noun (boy)
becomes the plural noun (boys).