Cracking The SAT Premium

A good way to test whether the idea is necessary to the meaning of the sentence is to take it out. Read the
original sentence again. Now read this one: Jonah was going to get into one of those schools.

Is the sentence still complete? Yes. Has the meaning of the sentence changed? No, we just lost a little
extra thing. Therefore, the idea is unnecessary to the meaning of the sentence and should be set off with
commas as it is in (A).

Let’s try a few more. Try to figure out whether the word or idea in italics is necessary to the meaning of
the sentence, and whether or not commas need to surround the italics. The answers are on this page.

i. The  student with    the best    GPA will    be  admitted    to  the best    college.

ii. Edward  wants   to  go  to  Pomona  College which   is  a   really  good    school.

iii. The    car that    was painted red drove   off at  a   hundred miles   an  hour.

iv. Charles Chesnutt    who wrote   a   lot of  great   stories was also    a   lawyer.

v. Philadelphia Flyers  goalie  Steve   Mason   is  an  underappreciated    player.

Now let’s put it all together in this question.

Everyone     6 hoped,   he  would   get in, after   his brother and two sisters had gone    to  their   first-

choice  schools.

6.

A) NO CHANGE

B) hoped,   he  would   get in, after   his brother,    and two sisters had

C) hoped,   he  would   get in  after   his brother,    and,    two sisters had

D) hoped    he  would   get in  after   his brother and two sisters had

Here’s How to Crack It

Check what’s changing in the answer choices. There are varying numbers of commas in varying places.
Remember, the rule of thumb with commas is that if you can’t cite a reason to use a comma, don’t use one.

It looks like he would get in is being set off by commas. Let’s see whether it’s necessary or unnecessary
information. Read the original sentence; then read the sentence again without that piece of information:
Everyone hoped after his brother and two sisters had gone to their first-choice schools. It looks like the
sentence has changed meaning and is not really complete anymore. Therefore, that bit of information is
necessary to the meaning of the sentence, so it doesn’t need commas. Then, there are no good reasons to
put commas around or in the phrase after his brother and two sisters.

In the end, there aren’t reasons to put commas anywhere in this sentence. The correct answer is (D).
Sometimes SAT will test “unnecessary punctuation” explicitly, so make sure you have a good reason to
use commas when you use them!