78
Let’s try one more:
The attorney tried to give his partner a rough approximation of how many jurors were screened for the panel.
ETS doesn’t separate the redundant phrase in the above sentence: rough approximation.
Revised Sentence: The attorney tried to give his partner an approximation of how many jurors were screened
for the panel.
There are certain words that are considered absolute words,
and cannot be modified by the adverbs “more” or “very.”
Absolute Words: straight, perfect, round, unique
You cannot say more straight, but you can say more nearly straight.
Rule #19: Diction ....................................................................................
How to Find: Difficult vocab words, or words that are similar in spelling to other words.
How to Fix: Change to the correct word.
Who hasn’t been confused by effect versus affect? (The majority of the time effect is a noun, as in the result,
and affect is a verb, as in to influence. While this might not ALWAYS be the case, it is the way these two words
will be tested on the SAT.).
Diction errors have been increasingly less prevalent throughout the years, but you should still be on the lookout
in case ETS decides to be extra sneaky.
Here are some common Diction Errors:
Dual (two) vs. Duel (to fight)
Principle (an idea or rule of conduct) vs. Principal (most important (adj.), a person in charge (noun), or sum
of money (noun))
Compliment (a flattering comment) vs. Complement (to go together well)
Allusion (a reference) vs. Illusion (a false impression)
Stationary (not moving) vs. Stationery (the paper)
Except (excluding) vs. Accept (to say yes to something)
Respectfully (with respect) vs. Respectively (correspondingly)
Rise (to go up) vs. Raise (to lift up)
Incredible (hard to believe, extraordinary) vs. Incredulous (disbelieving)
Desert (a dry place) vs. Dessert (the sweet)
Site (a place) vs. Cite (to reference)
That’s it for the grammar rules!
Let’s see how you did with the mishmash by scattering the rules throughout the next drill.