All SAT Punctuation Rules in 15 Minutes

0:00Here's the truth. You have absolutely

0:02zero chance of getting through the SAT

0:04grammar section if you don't understand

0:06the punctuation that's actually on the

0:07test. I know this to be true. In fact, I

0:10recently had a student who was terrible

0:12at SAT grammar before, but after

0:14actually learning how SAT punctuation

0:16works, he ended up getting a 780 on the

0:19reading and writing section of the

0:21December SAT. You know who you are.

0:23Comment if you want everyone else to

0:25know, too. In this video, I'm going to

0:26show you every single piece of

0:28punctuation you need to understand if

0:30you want to do on the SAT and what each

0:33one means. After watching this video, I

0:35can basically guarantee that you're

0:37going to understand all the different

0:38punctuation you'll see on the SAT and

0:40probably get through most grammar

0:41questions pretty easily. Now, the first

0:44thing we have here is a period. I'll be

0:46honest, if you've made it through 15

0:48plus years of life and you still do not

0:49know what a period is, you might be kind

0:51of cooked. But, I'll explain it anyways.

0:52Periods are for ending sentences. If you

0:55don't know what a sentence is, again,

0:56you might kind of be cooked. But,

0:58essentially, it's a phrase like this

0:59that's just a complete thought that ends

1:01at the end. A period is used to end a

1:03sentence. When a period is shown, that

1:05means the current sentence is over and a

1:07new sentence is about to begin. That is

1:10always the case. There's no other

1:11situation in which you're going to have

1:13to use periods on the SAT, so keep that

1:14in mind. This example down here is not a

1:16sentence because they just say because I

1:18was tired. That's not a full complete

1:20thought. It's saying because I was

1:22tired, so what? Like, then what happens?

1:24And now onto commas. This is really the

1:26big one. If you thought periods were

1:28easy, this will not be easy.

1:30The first thing commas do is pretty

1:32simple. Lists. You can separate three or

1:34more different things by using commas. I

1:36bought apples, bananas, and grapes. I

1:39watched Skibidi Toilet reels, 67 reels,

1:41and Quandale Dingle reels. That's the

1:44kind of stuff that I want to watch, and

1:46lists can be used to separate them. The

1:47important thing to know is that you must

1:49put a comma before the end at the end.

1:52So, there's always going to be an end at

1:53the end, and the comma has to go before

1:54it. But, then what about a comma plus a

1:56fan boys? Fan boys are the words for and

1:59nor but or yet and so. Now these have a

2:03very important usage because these are

2:05used to separate an independent clause

2:07and then another independent clause. Now

2:09if you're curious what an independent

2:10clause means, first of all I have a

2:12video that explains all that. But if you

2:13just want to quick refresher, an

2:15independent clause is essentially a

2:16clause that can exist entirely on its

2:19own. You don't need anything else for an

2:21independent clause to make it work. So

2:23for example, if you look back on here,

2:25my SAT was finished. That's is a

2:27completely fine independent clause on

2:28its own. You don't need anything else

2:29for that to work. But because I was

2:31tired, that's a dependent clause.

2:33[music] It's not fully fine on its own.

2:35You need something else for that

2:36sentence to work. So if you have two

2:38different independent clauses, you can

2:39use a comma plus a fan boys word to

2:41separate [music] them. I want to go but

2:44I stayed home. She studied hard for the

2:46SAT so she got a 1560. Both of these are

2:49independent clauses and both of these

2:51are independent clauses as well.

2:52Introductory phrases.

2:54You will often see sentences where they

2:56start out by providing some kind of

2:57context about the sentence and and then

2:59they go ahead and actually say what

3:01happens in the sentence. An introductory

3:03phrase must be set off by a comma. After

3:06dinner, we watched one of John's SAT

3:07videos. [music] Yes, I agree. In case

3:09you're wondering, this is essentially a

3:11separation between a dependent clause

3:13and then also an independent clause.

3:14[music] The dependent clause is the

3:15introductory phrase, the independent

3:17clause is the rest of the stuff. Then we

3:19have nonessential information.

3:21Nonessential information is information

3:23that again provides some kind of extra

3:25context about the sentence. [music] But

3:26the important thing is that it is

3:27literally nonessential. You do not need

3:29it in order for existence. Kind of like

3:31the 67 meme. We do not need that to

3:33exist, yet it does anyways. My brother

3:36who lives near Pan is visiting soon. We

3:37can just eliminate this whole thing and

3:39say my brother is visiting soon. [music]

3:41That makes grammatical sense and logical

3:43sense so it's fine. But look at this

3:44sentence. The man whose car was stolen

3:46was found outside Waffle House. We

3:48actually cannot eliminate the whose car

3:50is stolen part because if we just

3:52eliminate this, all we have left is the

3:53man was found outside the Waffle House.

3:56We have no idea which man it was. Was it

3:59my brother? Was it the guy outside of

4:01Wendy's? Was [music] it Quandale Dingle?

4:04Like, which man was it? The whose car

4:06was stolen part is actually important

4:07because we need to know the type of man

4:09it was. It was the man whose car was

4:11recently stolen, and he was found

4:13outside of Waffle House. This is why

4:14nonessential information is a little bit

4:15tricky, so definitely use some more

4:17practice on this. And finally, just have

4:19adjectives describing a main noun. So,

4:21if you say it's something like, "It was

4:22a long exhausting day." You can use a

4:24comma between the long and exhausting

4:26part. The way to know if you can use a

4:28comma in this situation is to think to

4:29yourself, can you technically separate

4:31the two by and? [music]

4:33It was a long and exhausting day.

4:35Therefore, we can use a comma to

4:37separate it as well. Now, I know there

4:39was a bunch of different stuff I just

4:40went over there, but the thing is after

4:42you do enough of these practice

4:42problems, it will just become ingrained

4:45in your brain like Skibidi Toilet

4:47brainrot is. You're not going to need to

4:49memorize every single one of these

4:50rules, cuz eventually you just start

4:51kind of feeling it. And the best

4:53students that I know, the students who

4:54actually get like above a 700 in the

4:56reading and writing section, they're not

4:57memorizing a list of grammar rules. They

4:59just understand the grammar rules so

5:01well that they don't even need to see a

5:03list. They just understand it, and they

5:04can get it right just by looking at the

5:05questions. On to the semicolon. This is

5:08actually even easier than the comma,

5:10believe it or not. Semicolons are used

5:12for separating independent clauses from

5:13each other. Kind of similar to the comma

5:15plus FANBOYS

5:17that we talked about before. It's

5:18actually basically the exact same.

5:20So, if I said, "I love writing. It helps

5:21me think clearly." Both of these are

5:23independent clauses. Both of them could

5:24exist entirely on their own, but we just

5:26use a semicolon here cuz we're feeling a

5:28little bit zesty on this sentence. But,

5:30unfortunately, there is another thing,

5:32complex lists. These are essentially a

5:34multi-version of the list we talked

5:36about here. So, imagine if you had a

5:38list like this, but there's actually a

5:39comma within each of the things in the

5:41list. It's like a list inside a list

5:43essentially.

5:45If you do that, you can't just use

5:46commas to separate them cuz then it's

5:48just going to get confusing. Like which

5:49comma is for which? So then you have to

5:51upgrade to a semicolon to separate them,

5:53you see? And so you can see an example

5:55of that for this sentence here. The

5:57responsibilities of the new intern

5:58include organizing the files, which are

6:00currently in this this array, answering

6:02phone calls, ensuring proper message

6:03delivery, and assisting with

6:04presentations, preparing visual aids and

6:06handouts. The different things that are

6:08listed here are include organizing the

6:10files, which are currently in this

6:11array. Then second thing is answering

6:13phone calls, ensuring proper message

6:15delivery. And the third thing is

6:16assisting with presentations, preparing

6:18visual aids and handouts. Those are the

6:20three different things. But it doesn't

6:22even need to be that big brain. Like

6:23look at this [music] sentence. Me and

6:24bro took a trip to Paris, France,

6:26Zurich, Switzerland, and Munich,

6:27Germany. We're just listing different

6:29city names and so we have to use a comma

6:31to separate the city name from the

6:32country name and we can use semicolons

6:34to separate the things so it doesn't get

6:35confusing. The big way to know if this

6:37is a complex list is if you see a

6:39semicolon followed by and in the

6:41sentence. That's that, you know,

6:42telltale sign. It's kind of like the

6:44smell of stale pepperoni in the school

6:47cafeteria. You know it's the school

6:48cafeteria because you smell that stale

6:50pepperoni and therefore you know what to

6:52do. Colons. [music]

6:53We're not talking about the bodily organ

6:55here. We're actually talking about these

6:57two dots. They're also very simple. The

6:59but the main idea behind colons is that

7:01you need an independent clause before

7:02the colon and then [music] just

7:04something afterwards. It can be an

7:05independent clause, it can be a

7:06dependent clause, it can be your mom.

7:08Like doesn't really matter. But you need

7:10an independent clause beforehand. She

7:11brought three things: a pen, a notebook,

7:13and a dream. He had one goal: success.

7:16But then think about this thing after

7:17the colon. The thing after the colon has

7:19to be something that's elaborating on

7:21the last thing said before the colon. So

7:24it says she brought three things. The

7:25things that she brought were a pen, a

7:27notebook, and a dream. He had one goal:

7:30success. Now it doesn't have to be just

7:31the last word, but just the last idea

7:33described in the independent clause. The

7:35big way you know if it's a colon versus

7:37something else is if you can definitely

7:38notice that there is some kind of

7:40continuation of thought, if there's some

7:41of elaboration on what was said before.

7:44But what about dashes?

7:46My dog, the one that hates baths, jumped

7:48into the lake. The idea behind dashes is

7:51that you're just breaking off some kind

7:52of non-essential information. Yes, this

7:54is non-essential information, just like

7:55with the commas before. But the big

7:57thing here is that it's more abrupt.

7:59Like it's a big like shift in the whole

8:01sentence. Like wow, this is like

8:02something crazy that is happening, and

8:05they just want to throw it in there

8:06through this.

8:07The big thing to remember is that there

8:08must be a dash both before the

8:10non-essential information, and then also

8:11afterwards. If there's only one before,

8:13you're kind of cooked. Just like

8:15give up at that point, because this is

8:16does not make any sense at all. Like you

8:18need one both before and after it in

8:20order to make it right. I did want to

8:22include here though

8:23parentheses. 67, the big new meme, has

8:26destroyed the very fabric of society.

8:29For all intents and purposes, this is

8:31essentially the exact same as a dash.

8:33But it is slightly less abrupt. Like if

8:35I say the big new meme in these

8:37parentheses, it just kind of feels a

8:38little bit less abrupt than if I say the

8:40one that hates baths. Like that feels

8:41like a huge shift in everything. Whereas

8:44the parentheses is just like, "Okay, you

8:45can read this, you can not, who really

8:46cares." So it's less abrupt. But you

8:48probably will not even see this on the

8:49SAT, I'll be honest. I have this

8:51handy-dandy diagram here that shows you

8:52separations between independent clauses,

8:54and also independent clauses and

8:55dependent clauses. The things that can

8:57separate two independent clauses are a

8:58period, a semicolon, or a comma followed

9:00by FANBOYS. For an independent clause

9:02and dependent clause, it can only be a

9:04comma, or literally nothing. Like if

9:05there's no separation, that could also

9:07theoretically work.

9:09Colons, dashes, and parentheses are a

9:11little bit different. They can kind of

9:12be used for either of the two

9:13categories. So I didn't really want to

9:15put them in any single single one. But

9:17this should hopefully help you as well

9:18if you're struggling to remember all

9:19this stuff. So now you know all the

9:21different types of punctuation you might

9:22see on the SAT. Let's actually practice

9:24with some of this crap. What I want you

9:26to do is pause the video, and then

9:27complete the problem yourself. It's

9:29extremely boring and not helpful at all

9:31to just be watching me solve the

9:32problem. It's like watching your bro

9:34play video games. It is not exciting. He

9:36is not making it exciting, and you just

9:38don't want to be there.

9:40You got to actually try out the problems

9:41for yourself to make this fun. Okay, so

9:43historians generally agree that printer

9:44Elizabeth Glover played a crucial role

9:46in early American publishing. Blank,

9:48within a year of arriving the

9:49Massachusetts Bay Colony, she

9:50established the first printing press in

9:52British North America. So, I can tell

9:54that there's definitely a complete

9:56thought both before the blank and also

9:58after the blank. There's nothing that

9:59feels unresolved there. So, there's an

10:00independent clause before and after. So,

10:03immediately we know it cannot be A for

10:05that reason because commas are only for

10:06independent clauses and dependent

10:08clauses. So, which one of these? It

10:10can't be B because there's a dash here,

10:13and we don't have any other dash in the

10:14sentence. Remember, there has to be a

10:15dash both before and after the thing

10:18that's being separated.

10:19So, now we just got these two here. The

10:21real question we have to ask ourselves

10:22is is it a colon? Because if it is kind

10:24of an elaboration on the thing before,

10:26you would use a colon. If not, it's

10:28going to be a semicolon. In fact, it

10:30appears that it is an elaboration. It's

10:32saying that she played a crucial role in

10:33American publishing explains essentially

10:35why she did. She like she literally made

10:37the first printing press in British

10:38North America. That had to be like

10:40really good or something. It's got to be

10:42like the equivalent of like creating

10:43Minecraft or something. Therefore, D

10:45probably is going to be the answer. And

10:46it is the answer. I don't really know

10:48why I said that. So, the big thing to

10:49remember is it an elaboration on what

10:51was said before? If yes, then it likely

10:53is going to be a colon. Geophysicist

10:55Marcia McNutt, wow, recounts in her

10:57memoir the moment she first ascended

11:00into the Mariana Trench, describing the

11:01submersible blank as a fragile soap

11:04bubble drifting through midnight. A

11:06metaphor shows to convey both machine's

11:07vulnerability and its grace. [music]

11:09Honestly, she's doing too much there.

11:11But, let's talk about what this actually

11:12means. So, we have a dash both before

11:15and after. So, it would not really make

11:17sense to have another dash in the thing.

11:18Like, it's just way too much dashes at

11:20that point. Like, having a third dash,

11:22that's just that's just kind of weird.

11:23So, it's between A and D here. A

11:25bathyscaphe scarcely wider than a

11:27minivan. So, we really have to think for

11:29ourselves, if there's a comma before

11:30here, we're essentially treating this as

11:33non-essential information, the scorched

11:35plea wider than minivan part. So, let's

11:37think to ourselves, can we eliminate

11:38this and still have the sentence make

11:39sense?

11:40She if the Mariana Trench is describing

11:42this submersible a bathyscape as a

11:44fragile Okay, so that doesn't really

11:45make sense. Like it Like what is a

11:47bathyscape? I mean, I have no idea what

11:49it is, but I think you probably need

11:50this extra part [music] to make sense of

11:52what she's trying to say. Like even

11:53though she is definitely like doing too

11:55much here,

11:56you need like all the information to at

11:58least kind of make sense of it. So, I'm

11:59going to go for A as being wrong and

12:01then B is the correct answer, which it

12:03is. There's no one non-essential

12:04information here because you cannot

12:05eliminate anything and have it still

12:07[music] make sense. The fossil record

12:08charts both the rapid diversification of

12:10life and blank. Paleontologists may

12:12detect mass extinction events by noting

12:14sudden gaps in species prevalence. So,

12:16let's just like look here. I can

12:18definitely feel the fossil record shows

12:19the rapid diversification of life and

12:21its occasional collapse. So, if you

12:22include the its occasional collapse

12:24part, this is definitely an independent

12:25clause before and then also it's

12:27definitely an independent clause after

12:28it.

12:29So, what do we do now? We have to find

12:31which ones can apply to this. A cannot

12:34apply cuz you cannot just separate two

12:35independent clauses with nothing. B also

12:38does not work because which is not one

12:39of the fanboys words and even if it was,

12:41you would also need a comma here to make

12:43that work.

12:44C is not it cuz again, commas alone

12:46cannot work. You need a fanboys in order

12:48to separate the two, but D can work

12:50because it is a semicolon. Internet

12:52culture has been around for decades.

12:54Skibidi Rizz is blank. The world of the

12:561990s never could have expected the

12:57destruction that Skibidi Rizz and his

12:59followers have caused.

13:01So, this is kind of a weird example, I

13:03will be honest. The first thing we know

13:05is that it's an independent clause both

13:06before and after the blank. Skibidi Rizz

13:08is different and the world of 1990s can

13:11never could have expected. Those are

13:13both independent clauses or at least the

13:14full thing here would be an independent

13:15clause. So, therefore, we know it has to

13:17be a semicolon cuz that's the only one

13:18of the choices that can work. So, C and

13:20D is immediately out. So, how do we

13:21choose between A and B? Well, here's a

13:23very simple rule that that can use

13:25whenever you see a question like this.

13:26If that semicolon is after the

13:28transition word, the first part of the

13:30second sentence must be conflicting with

13:32the earlier sentence. So, Skibidi Rizz

13:34is different must be conflicting with

13:35internet culture has been around for

13:36decades. But, if the semicolon is before

13:40the word however, then the second half

13:42of the second sentence is conflicting

13:44with the first sentence. So, you see

13:45this second half of the second sentence

13:47would have to be conflicting with the

13:48first sentence here. And this really

13:50does make sense cuz when you say the

13:51word however, it's like kind of

13:53introduces that, okay, something is

13:54different here. Like something is

13:56different that's happening. It's

13:57conflicting with what was said before.

13:59So, since Skibidi Rizz is different is

14:01conflicting with internet culture has

14:02been around for decades, we know the

14:04answer has to be A. Let's ace this next

14:06SAT. This SAT, [music] yeah, it's pretty

14:09mean. Try to judge my whole life off a

14:11test on the screen. [singing] One shot,

14:13one run, no pause to rewind. [music]

14:15If I panic, I'm done. If I trust, I'll

14:17be fine. Yeah, this SAT got my chest on

14:20freeze. Every second on the clock trying

14:22to cut through [music] me. But [singing]

14:23I've been grinding all week. Now it's

14:25test day, B. If the curve is trying to

14:27kill me, I'mma die on my feet.