NGSA English cheat sheet

Subject-verb agreement: the verb matches the simple subject, not a phrase between them - "The box of nails is heavy."

Compound subjects joined by "and" take a plural verb; joined by "or"/"nor" the verb agrees with the nearer subject - "Neither the twins nor Maya was ready."

Indefinite pronouns: each, either, neither, everyone, nobody, anyone are singular; both, few, many, several are plural.

Pronoun case: use subject pronouns (I, he, she, they, who) for subjects and after linking verbs in formal writing; object pronouns (me, him, her, them, whom) for objects and after prepositions.

Who vs. whom: substitute he/she for who and him/her for whom - "Whom did you call?" (you called him).

Its = possessive; it's = it is/has. Their = possessive; there = place; they're = they are. Your/you're and whose/who's follow the same pattern.

Verb tense: past perfect (had + participle) marks the earlier of two past events; present perfect (has/have + participle) links past action to the present.

Modifiers: a participial phrase at the start of a sentence modifies the subject that follows it - "Walking home, I saw the sign," not "Walking home, the sign appeared."

Context clues: definition/restatement (often set off by commas, dashes, or "that is"), contrast (but, unlike, however), example (such as, including), and cause-effect signals.

Connotation vs. denotation: denotation is the dictionary meaning; connotation is the positive, negative, or neutral feeling a word carries (thrifty vs. stingy).

Common roots: -dict- (say), -spect- (look), -port- (carry), -scrib-/-script- (write), -cred- (believe), -bene- (good), -mal- (bad), -aud- (hear), -graph- (write).

Common prefixes: un-/in-/im-/non- (not), re- (again), pre- (before), post- (after), sub- (under), super- (above), anti- (against), mis- (wrongly), hyper- (over).

Common suffixes: -ology (study of), -phobia (fear of), -ism (belief/practice), -ize (to make), -less (without), -ous/-ful (full of), -tion (act or state).

Analogies: identify the exact relationship (part-to-whole, cause-effect, synonym, antonym, degree, function) before choosing the matching pair.

Homophones differ in meaning and spelling but sound alike (cite/site/sight, principal/principle, affect/effect, complement/compliment); homographs share spelling but differ in meaning (bass, lead).

Word choice in context: pick the word whose precise meaning and register fit the sentence - "reluctant" (unwilling) is not "reticent" (unwilling to speak).

Main idea = topic + the author's point about it; it is broad enough to cover the whole passage, unlike a supporting detail or an overgeneralization.

Supporting details answer who, what, when, where, why, or how and directly back up the main idea; examples, statistics, and quotations are typical detail types.

Inference: a conclusion logically supported by text evidence but not stated outright; reject choices that rely on outside knowledge or are only loosely related.

Author's purpose falls into three categories: inform/explain, persuade/argue, entertain/narrate; tone words (e.g., "unfortunately," "remarkably") signal the purpose.

Tone vs. mood: tone is the author's attitude toward the subject; mood is the feeling the text creates in the reader.

Text structures: cause-effect, compare-contrast, chronological/sequence, problem-solution, description, and claim-evidence; signal words (because, however, first, therefore) reveal which is used.

Fact vs. opinion: facts are verifiable; opinions contain judgment words (best, should, beautiful, seems) or unverifiable claims.

Sequence-of-events and summary questions: track transitions (before, after, meanwhile, finally) and condense using only main points in the passage's own order.

Comma rules: separate items in a series, set off introductory elements, separate independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS), and set off nonessential (nonrestrictive) clauses.

Do not use a comma to join two independent clauses without a conjunction - that is a comma splice; use a period, semicolon, or conjunction instead.

Semicolon joins two independent clauses or separates series items that already contain commas; a colon follows a complete clause and introduces a list, explanation, or quotation.

Apostrophes show possession: singular adds 's (the dog's bone); plural ending in -s adds only the apostrophe (the dogs' bones); plural not ending in -s adds 's (the children's toys).

Its, whose, yours, hers, ours, and theirs are possessive pronouns with no apostrophe; apostrophes mark contractions (it's, who's) and possessives, never plain plurals.

Quotation marks enclose exact words; periods and commas go inside the closing quotation marks, while colons and semicolons go outside.

Spelling rules: i before e except after c or when sounded as "ay" (receive, ceiling; neighbor, weigh); drop silent e before a vowel suffix (hope → hoping) but keep it before a consonant suffix (hope → hopeful).

Double the final consonant before a vowel suffix when the word is one syllable or stress falls on the last syllable (run → running, begin → beginning); for words of more than one syllable with stress on the first syllable, do not double (visit → visiting).

Hyphens join compound modifiers before a noun (well-known author, two-year-old child) but are dropped after the noun (the author is well known).

Four sentence structures: simple (one independent clause), compound (two or more independent clauses), complex (one independent clause plus at least one dependent clause), compound-complex (two or more independent clauses plus at least one dependent clause).

A fragment lacks a subject, a verb, or a complete thought; a run-on joins independent clauses without correct punctuation; a comma splice is a run-on joined only by a comma.

Dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions (although, because, since, when, if, while, unless) or relative pronouns (who, which, that) and cannot stand alone.

Parallel structure: items in a series or comparison must share grammatical form - "reading, writing, and to edit" should be "reading, writing, and editing."

Active voice (subject performs the action) is usually clearer and more direct than passive voice (subject receives the action); use passive when the doer is unknown or unimportant.

Sentence variety: alternate sentence lengths and openings (introductory phrase, adverb, dependent clause) to avoid monotonous, repetitive rhythm.

Thesis statement: a single sentence stating the essay's central claim; it appears in the introduction and is supported by each body paragraph's topic sentence.

Transitions signal relationships between ideas: addition (moreover, furthermore), contrast (however, nevertheless), cause-effect (therefore, consequently), and example (for instance, specifically).

Revision vs. editing: revision addresses content, organization, and clarity; editing addresses grammar, punctuation, spelling, and word choice.

Subject-verb agreement: the verb matches the simple subject, not a phrase between them - "The box of nails is heavy."

Compound subjects joined by "and" take a plural verb; joined by "or"/"nor" the verb agrees with the nearer subject - "Neither the twins nor Maya was ready."

Indefinite pronouns: each, either, neither, everyone, nobody, anyone are singular; both, few, many, several are plural.

Pronoun case: use subject pronouns (I, he, she, they, who) for subjects and after linking verbs in formal writing; object pronouns (me, him, her, them, whom) for objects and after prepositions.

Who vs. whom: substitute he/she for who and him/her for whom - "Whom did you call?" (you called him).

Its = possessive; it's = it is/has. Their = possessive; there = place; they're = they are. Your/you're and whose/who's follow the same pattern.

Verb tense: past perfect (had + participle) marks the earlier of two past events; present perfect (has/have + participle) links past action to the present.

Modifiers: a participial phrase at the start of a sentence modifies the subject that follows it - "Walking home, I saw the sign," not "Walking home, the sign appeared."

Context clues: definition/restatement (often set off by commas, dashes, or "that is"), contrast (but, unlike, however), example (such as, including), and cause-effect signals.

Connotation vs. denotation: denotation is the dictionary meaning; connotation is the positive, negative, or neutral feeling a word carries (thrifty vs. stingy).

Common roots: -dict- (say), -spect- (look), -port- (carry), -scrib-/-script- (write), -cred- (believe), -bene- (good), -mal- (bad), -aud- (hear), -graph- (write).

Common prefixes: un-/in-/im-/non- (not), re- (again), pre- (before), post- (after), sub- (under), super- (above), anti- (against), mis- (wrongly), hyper- (over).

Common suffixes: -ology (study of), -phobia (fear of), -ism (belief/practice), -ize (to make), -less (without), -ous/-ful (full of), -tion (act or state).

Analogies: identify the exact relationship (part-to-whole, cause-effect, synonym, antonym, degree, function) before choosing the matching pair.

Homophones differ in meaning and spelling but sound alike (cite/site/sight, principal/principle, affect/effect, complement/compliment); homographs share spelling but differ in meaning (bass, lead).

Word choice in context: pick the word whose precise meaning and register fit the sentence - "reluctant" (unwilling) is not "reticent" (unwilling to speak).

Main idea = topic + the author's point about it; it is broad enough to cover the whole passage, unlike a supporting detail or an overgeneralization.

Supporting details answer who, what, when, where, why, or how and directly back up the main idea; examples, statistics, and quotations are typical detail types.

Inference: a conclusion logically supported by text evidence but not stated outright; reject choices that rely on outside knowledge or are only loosely related.

Author's purpose falls into three categories: inform/explain, persuade/argue, entertain/narrate; tone words (e.g., "unfortunately," "remarkably") signal the purpose.

Tone vs. mood: tone is the author's attitude toward the subject; mood is the feeling the text creates in the reader.

Text structures: cause-effect, compare-contrast, chronological/sequence, problem-solution, description, and claim-evidence; signal words (because, however, first, therefore) reveal which is used.

Fact vs. opinion: facts are verifiable; opinions contain judgment words (best, should, beautiful, seems) or unverifiable claims.

Sequence-of-events and summary questions: track transitions (before, after, meanwhile, finally) and condense using only main points in the passage's own order.

Comma rules: separate items in a series, set off introductory elements, separate independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS), and set off nonessential (nonrestrictive) clauses.

Do not use a comma to join two independent clauses without a conjunction - that is a comma splice; use a period, semicolon, or conjunction instead.

Semicolon joins two independent clauses or separates series items that already contain commas; a colon follows a complete clause and introduces a list, explanation, or quotation.

Apostrophes show possession: singular adds 's (the dog's bone); plural ending in -s adds only the apostrophe (the dogs' bones); plural not ending in -s adds 's (the children's toys).

Its, whose, yours, hers, ours, and theirs are possessive pronouns with no apostrophe; apostrophes mark contractions (it's, who's) and possessives, never plain plurals.

Quotation marks enclose exact words; periods and commas go inside the closing quotation marks, while colons and semicolons go outside.

Spelling rules: i before e except after c or when sounded as "ay" (receive, ceiling; neighbor, weigh); drop silent e before a vowel suffix (hope → hoping) but keep it before a consonant suffix (hope → hopeful).

Double the final consonant before a vowel suffix when the word is one syllable or stress falls on the last syllable (run → running, begin → beginning); for words of more than one syllable with stress on the first syllable, do not double (visit → visiting).

Hyphens join compound modifiers before a noun (well-known author, two-year-old child) but are dropped after the noun (the author is well known).

Four sentence structures: simple (one independent clause), compound (two or more independent clauses), complex (one independent clause plus at least one dependent clause), compound-complex (two or more independent clauses plus at least one dependent clause).

A fragment lacks a subject, a verb, or a complete thought; a run-on joins independent clauses without correct punctuation; a comma splice is a run-on joined only by a comma.

Dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions (although, because, since, when, if, while, unless) or relative pronouns (who, which, that) and cannot stand alone.

Parallel structure: items in a series or comparison must share grammatical form - "reading, writing, and to edit" should be "reading, writing, and editing."

Active voice (subject performs the action) is usually clearer and more direct than passive voice (subject receives the action); use passive when the doer is unknown or unimportant.

Sentence variety: alternate sentence lengths and openings (introductory phrase, adverb, dependent clause) to avoid monotonous, repetitive rhythm.

Thesis statement: a single sentence stating the essay's central claim; it appears in the introduction and is supported by each body paragraph's topic sentence.

Transitions signal relationships between ideas: addition (moreover, furthermore), contrast (however, nevertheless), cause-effect (therefore, consequently), and example (for instance, specifically).

Revision vs. editing: revision addresses content, organization, and clarity; editing addresses grammar, punctuation, spelling, and word choice.