Stanford 10 cheat sheet

Main idea = the topic plus what the author says about it; every supporting detail must connect back to that statement.

Inference formula: text clue + prior knowledge = a conclusion the passage does not state directly.

Context clue types: definition, synonym, antonym or contrast, example, and general sense of the surrounding sentence.

A fact can be checked or proven; an opinion contains judgment or feeling words such as best, should, beautiful, or worst.

Author's purpose falls into four categories - inform, persuade, entertain, explain or instruct - and word choice and tone signal which one.

Sequence signal words include first, next, then, after, and finally; cause-effect signal words include because, since, as a result, and therefore.

Figurative language: a simile compares using like or as, a metaphor states one thing is another, and personification gives human traits to nonhuman things.

Topic versus theme: topic is what the text is about (a word or phrase), while theme is a message about life stated as a full sentence.

Order of operations: parentheses, then exponents, then multiplication and division left to right, then addition and subtraction left to right.

Area formulas: rectangle = length × width; triangle = ½ × base × height; parallelogram = base × height; circle = π × radius².

Perimeter is the sum of all side lengths; circumference of a circle = π × diameter = 2 × π × radius.

Mean = sum of values ÷ number of values; median = middle value of an ordered list; mode = most frequent value; range = greatest − least.

Percent conversions: percent to decimal divide by 100; decimal to percent multiply by 100.

Fraction rules: add or subtract only after finding a common denominator; multiply straight across; divide by multiplying by the reciprocal.

Angle facts: the interior angles of a triangle sum to 180°, angles on a straight line sum to 180°, and a quadrilateral sums to 360°.

Place value: each position to the left is 10 times the value of the position to its right.

Subject-verb agreement: ignore prepositional phrases between subject and verb; compound subjects joined by and take a plural verb.

A pronoun must match its antecedent in number and gender; indefinite pronouns such as everyone, each, and nobody are singular.

Comma uses: items in a series, an introductory phrase, a compound sentence before the conjunction, and a nonessential clause.

Its shows possession while it's means it is or it has; their shows possession, there shows place, and they're means they are.

Active voice: the subject performs the action. Passive voice: the subject receives the action, usually as a form of be plus a past participle.

An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun; an adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb and often ends in -ly.

A complete sentence needs a subject, a predicate, and a complete thought; lacking any one of these creates a fragment, and joining two clauses incorrectly creates a run-on.

Apostrophes: a singular possessive adds 's, a plural possessive ending in s adds only an apostrophe, and plain plurals take no apostrophe.

i before e except after c, or when the sound is ay as in neighbor and weigh; common exceptions include weird, seize, and either.

Doubling rule: in a one-syllable word with one vowel and one final consonant, double the consonant before a vowel suffix (hop becomes hopping).

Silent e rule: drop a final e before a suffix starting with a vowel (make becomes making) but keep it before a consonant suffix (hope becomes hopeful).

A final y after a consonant changes to i before a suffix unless the suffix begins with i (carry becomes carried, but cry becomes crying).

Plural rule: add -s by default, add -es after s, x, z, ch, or sh, and change consonant plus y to -ies.

Some nouns ending in f or fe form plurals with -ves (leaf becomes leaves, knife becomes knives), while others simply add -s (roof becomes roofs).

Homophone pairs to verify in context: their/there/they're, to/too/two, its/it's, your/you're, and passed/past.

Silent letters appear in common patterns: kn (knee), wr (write), gn (sign), mb (thumb), and gh (night).