Idioms on the SAT Writing Section

You may already be familiar with idioms from your study of a foreign language. It’s typically a phrase that, when translated or taken literally, makes no sense. We have idioms in English as well. However, the idioms tested on the Writing portion of the SAT are of a very different sort.

Idioms are special phrases or expressions that determine whether a certain word is allowed or required to follow another word. For instance, you should only say ‘on the one hand’ if you also say later ‘on the other hand.’ You can never say ‘either’ without also saying ‘or.’ It makes sense to say: “John is either at the library or napping.” It doesn’t make sense to say: “John is either at the library.”

In addition to these “phrase pairings,” the SAT loves prepositional idioms. There are certain verbs that can only be paired with specific prepositions. For example, you can be “preoccupied with a book”, but never “preoccupied at a book”, or “for a book.” You could believe in a dream, capitalism or ghosts, but you wouldn’t believe at ghosts or with ghosts or about ghosts.

There is very little formalized logic behind certain verb-preposition pairings. Idioms in any form are expected to be learned by instinct, as a native speaker with a feel for the language and what is “right,” rather than according to strict grammar rules. Your best approach is to start making a list of idioms, either from your reading, practice SATs or the internet and memorize them. Review the list and get a feel for what is acceptable and what is not.

QUICK TIP: Here’s a short list to get you started!