Mark Twain famously once wrote in a letter that the “difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
The SAT agrees with good old Mark, and tests students on their ability to recognize when the almost-right word has been subbed in for the right one.
Are you confident in your ability to not be tricked by the SAT's unusual diction questions? Read on for some strategies and tips for this section.
In this guide, I will:
- explain what diction is and why the SAT asks about it
- tell you when to look for diction errors on the SAT and how to approach these questions
- show you examples of this kind of question similar to those on the SAT
- give you a master list of commonly-confused words in English
What does “diction” mean, anyway?
Diction is a fancy way of saying “word choice”—you may have heard your literature teacher talk about this idea when analyzing a famous author’s writing style.
When used by the College Board, however, it refers to something on a slightly lower level. A lot of words in the English language are easy to confuse because they look or sound similar but have quite different meanings.
For example, can you spot which words are incorrectly used in the sentences below?
When Allen heard that the SAT would be changing, the news was difficult for him to except. He had spent allot of time studying for the old test, and now he wondered if that had been a total waist. How would these changes effect his scores?
There are actually four diction errors in the above passage, but they can be difficult to spot because they sound like the correct words that should have been used.
Except should be accept
Allot should be a lot
Waist should be waste
Effect should be affect
Why diction errors?
Most of the questions you will see on SAT Writing tests your ability to spot basic grammar errors. As such, learning the grammar rules that the SAT thinks are important will usually go a long way in helping to improve you score.
Diction errors are very different: there's no clear rule you can learn that will help you out or even a set list of easily-confused words that the SAT might use, making this section particularly difficult to prepare for.
SAT Writing is all about your ability to edit and spot when something doesn't make sense. Can you only catch errors that follow strict grammar rules or can you also see when something doesn't make sense because the wrong word is being used?
Where will I find diction questions?
Since these question are fairly different from the others you will encounter on this part of the SAT, they are considered to be more difficult. The more difficult questions usually appear towards the ends of sections.
You are most likely to find diction questions in the Identifying Errors section of the test because they don't give you answer choices to correct the errors on this part of the test. These questions would not be nearly as difficult to catch if the correct word were given in the answer choices—in fact, that would be an easy giveaway that one of the original words was incorrect!
Diction questions will rarely, if every, appear in the Improving Paragraphs section.
Keep in mind that not every SAT will have diction errors. Sometimes they don't appear on a test at all! Other times, there will be a few of them. This uncertainty is another reason that they are difficult to prepare for and even harder to recognize.
It seems that diction errors are becoming a little more common on recent tests than they were in the past, but they still don't make up a large amount of the questions on SAT Writing.
The June 6, 2015 SAT, as an example, had two diction questions.
Strategies for Diction Questions
Always have a plan.
When diction questions do appear on the SAT, they're very unpredictable. You never know which commonly confused word the College Board will choose to test, and they tend to not repeat themselves.
Spend a bit of time reviewing the list of commonly confused words below and see if there are any words that jump out at you as things that you might confuse. Limit your studying on this section to just what's trickiest for you.
When you get to the final questions on the Identifying Errors or Improving Sentences section, pay particular attention to any questions that seems to have "No Error" or correct as is as an answer. This is where you will most likely find a diction question.
Go back and double check everything that is underlined. Is each word correct? Did you read too quickly and mentally sub in a similar word for what is actually written? Does anything jump out at you that you can remember from the list below of commonly-confused words?
If you can see a diction error, choose that as the answer. If not, keep your answer as "No Error."
And keep in mind that you're statistically more likely to have "No Error" as an answer, or a totally different grammar mistake that you just didn't spot the first time, than a diction error!
Let's look at one together
Though Joe was not implied in (A) the cheating scandal at the school (B), he still was questioned (C) by the principal (D). No Error. (E)
As always when you are reading through a question on SAT Writing, you should start by looking for the most common grammar errors. (Not sure what the most common mistakes are? We go over the eight most common ones here!)
Looking at this sentence, I don't see any problems in verb tense and form or subject-verb agreement, and the sentence is correctly formed (meaning it's not a fragment or a run-on). "At the school" is fine as a prepositional phrase. So far I don't see any grammar errors, and so I'm leaning towards No Error.
But not so fast! At this point, I have to go back and double check that all of the underlined words are used correctly. "At the school" and "was questioned" are both phrases with words I'm very familiar with—there's no way these are being used incorrectly.
However, I remember that "implied" and "principal" are both on the list of commonly-confused words.
"Principal" sounds a lot like "principle." One word means a person who runs a school, while the other refers to an ideal or belief. If I had been unsure about which is which when looking over the list below, I would have found a way to remember which is which—such as thinking, "At school, your principal is your pal." Therefore, principal is correctly used in the sentence.
What about implied? That's also on the list, as a word that's commonly confused with "implicated." If I had been having trouble with these two words, I would have had to memorize the definitions or come up with another way to remember the difference between them. From looking at the list below, I know that "imply" means "to suggest" and "implicate" means "to suggest involvement in something."
When I sub those definitions back into the sentence, it's clear that "implied in" doesn't make sense. I should be "implicated in." Therefore, (A) is the correct answer.
Here are some more to do on your own!
Some of the following questions have No Error, and others have diction errors. Can you spot them?
1. Due to human interventions, the Alaskan salmon now struggle (A) to reach their spawning grounds, a situation that has (B) adversely effected (C) the area's (D) mammals. No error (E)
2. Most warning signs of cancer are not alarming individually, though several of the symptoms (A) added together (B) are seen (C) as (D) a signal of the disease. No error (E)
3. Only by using (A) unconventional methods were (B) the doctors able to successfully complete (C) what had been (D) a difficult surgery. No error (E)
4. The public has excess (A) to an economical and efficient (B) recycling center that is responsible to community needs and complies with (C) current federal regulations governing (D) waste disposal. No error (E)
5. The report is essentially (A) a vague and extremely lacking (B) record of what (C) happened to each of (D) the victims. No error (E)
6. In (A) American letters, Rachel Carson is a prime example of a reporter who, by assuring (B) public interest in (C) an important topic, achieved immortality for herself. (D) No error (E)
7. Love is one of our most indiscriminate (A) emotions; it can (B) unexpectedly (C) strike you or me (C), millionaires or paupers (D), cynics or romantics. No error (E)
8. As (A) exotic pets mature, they develop destructive behaviors (B) that their owners, who wanted (C) adorable, furry companions, often find difficult to except (D). No error (E)
Answers: 1. C; 2. E; 3. E; 4. A; 5. E; 6. B; 7. E; 8. D
List of commonly confused words
|
WORD |
MEANING |
WORD |
MEANING |
|
accept |
to receive, take |
except |
excluding |
|
access |
entrance; opportunity |
excess |
more than needed |
|
addition |
something added |
edition |
a certain production of something |
|
adopt |
to legally take on, accept |
adapt |
to change to be more suitable |
|
advice |
a recommendation |
advise |
to give a recommendation |
|
adverse |
bad; unfavorable |
averse |
opposed to |
|
affect |
to influence |
effect |
a result |
|
afflict |
to cause suffering |
inflict |
to force something harmful |
|
aisle |
space between rows |
isle |
island |
|
allude |
to make an indirect reference |
elude |
to avoid |
|
allusion |
an indirect reference |
illusion |
a false idea or vision |
|
already |
happened before now |
all ready |
to be entirely prepared |
|
altar |
table for religious ceremony |
alter |
to change |
|
altogether |
completely; entirely |
all together |
all things with each other |
|
a lot |
a large number of something |
allot |
to give out an amount of something |
|
ambivalent |
to have two different feelings about something |
ambiguous |
having more than one possible meaning |
|
amoral |
having no sense or right and wrong |
immoral |
having intentionally bad morals |
|
anecdote |
a short personal story |
antidote |
a substance or activity that stops something bad |
|
angel |
a spiritual creature |
angle |
space between intersecting lines measured in degrees |
|
apart |
separated, into pieces |
a part |
a piece of something |
|
appraise |
to examine and judge |
apprise |
to tell someone of something |
|
are |
3rd person plural of “to be” |
our |
belonging to us |
|
accent |
how someone pronounces words |
ascent |
movement up |
|
assent |
agreement/approval |
||
|
assistance |
help |
assistants |
helpers |
|
attribute |
a quality/characteristic |
contribute |
to give something |
|
auditory |
related to hearing |
audible |
able to be heard |
|
aural |
related to hearing |
oral |
spoken or related to the moth |
|
balmy |
pleasantly warm |
barmy |
crazy or silly |
|
bare |
not covered |
bear |
to carry or accept something |
|
bated |
in suspense; excited |
baited |
to harass (past tense) |
|
bazaar |
a market |
bizarre |
very strange and surprising |
|
berth |
a bed on a boat/train |
birth |
time when a baby is born |
|
beside |
next to something |
besides |
in addition to something |
|
boar |
a wild pig |
bore |
a dull person |
|
board |
a long, flat piece of wood |
bored |
feeling uninterested |
|
born |
to have been birthed |
borne |
carried |
|
bough |
a large branch of a tree |
bow |
bend upper body forward |
|
breath |
air that comes from lungs |
breathe |
to take air in and out |
|
brake |
part of a vehicle that stops it |
break |
to separate into pieces |
|
buy |
to purchase |
by |
shows a person who does something |
|
canvas |
a strong cloth |
canvass |
to ask people their opinions |
|
censure |
to criticize formally |
censor |
to remove offensive things from public |
|
capital |
city where government is based OR money |
capitol |
state legislature building |
|
choose |
to decide or pick |
chose |
past tense of choose |
|
climactic |
an important or exciting time |
climatic |
relating to the weather |
|
coarse |
rough and thick |
course |
a series of lessons |
|
collaborate |
to work together |
corroborate |
to provide supporting information |
|
command |
to order |
commend |
to praise |
|
complacent |
feeling you don’t need to try hard |
complaisant |
willingness to please others |
|
complement |
something that goes well with something else |
compliment |
saying something to show praise |
|
comprehensive |
thorough |
comprehensible |
easy to understand |
|
conscience |
the part of you that makes you feel guilty |
conscious |
aware; awake |
|
contemptuous |
showing contempt |
contemptible |
extremely bad |
|
corps |
a group of people or military force |
corpse |
a dead body |
|
council |
an elected group of people |
counsel |
to give advice |
|
credible |
able to be believed |
credulous |
gullible |
|
dairy |
milk products |
diary |
a book of personal thoughts |
|
descent |
a movement down |
dissent |
disagreement |
|
desirous |
wanting something |
desirable |
attractive |
|
dessert |
sweet food |
desert |
hot, dry area |
|
device |
equipment used for a particular purpose |
devise |
to design or invent something |
|
discreet |
secretive |
discrete |
separate and different |
|
disinterested |
impartial |
uninterested |
not interested |
|
do |
a helping verb |
dew |
drops of water |
|
due |
expected or planned |
||
|
dominant |
most important or wanting control |
dominate |
to control or have power over |
|
die |
to stop living |
dye |
substance used to change color |
|
dyeing |
to change the color of |
dying |
present participle of “die” |
|
elicit |
to get info or a reaction from someone |
illicit |
not legal |
|
eminent |
respected |
imminent |
about to happen |
|
immanent |
permanent part of something |
||
|
emit |
to send out gas/heat/light |
omit |
exclude |
|
envelop |
cover something |
envelope |
what letters go in |
|
everyday |
consecutive days |
every day |
used a lot |
|
exhaustive |
repetitive use |
exhausting |
tiring |
|
expandable |
gets bigger |
expendable |
to leave out |
|
explicit |
gratuitous |
implicit |
complete |
|
fair |
reasonable |
fare |
cost |
|
farther |
far |
further |
more |
|
flaunt |
exaggerate |
flout |
intentionally |
|
formally |
properly |
formerly |
before |
|
foreboding |
over-powering |
forbidding |
not allowed |
|
forth |
forwards |
fourth |
first, second, third….. |
|
gorilla |
large monkey |
guerrilla |
unofficial military group |
|
hear |
sounds |
here |
present |
|
heard |
noise |
herd |
flock/gaggle/group |
|
hoard |
collect/store |
horde |
large group |
|
hole |
hollow space in something |
whole |
complete |
|
human |
people/person |
humane |
kind |
|
implicit |
complete |
complicit |
involved in |
|
imply |
suggest |
implicate |
suggest someone is involved in something |
|
infer |
guess something based on the information you have |
||
|
incur |
experience something unpleasant |
occur |
to happen |
|
indeterminate |
impossible to know |
interminable |
lasting a long time, in a boring way |
|
influence |
make an impression |
affluence |
wealth |
|
ingenious |
really clever |
ingenuous |
honest |
|
its |
belongs to |
it’s |
it is |
|
knew |
knowledge you have |
new |
not old |
|
know |
knowledge |
no |
denied |
|
laid |
the past of lay |
lain |
lied down |
|
later |
in the past |
latter |
near the end of a period |
|
lay |
to put something down |
lie |
horizontal |
|
lead |
to take charge |
led |
had taken charge |
|
lessen |
to weaken |
lesson |
what a teacher teaches |
|
lightning |
weather |
lightening |
not as dark |
|
loose |
not fitting tightly |
lose |
to not win |
|
maybe |
perhaps/possibly |
may be |
accepting something as true despite your opinion on it |
|
meat |
flesh |
meet |
assemble |
|
mete |
punish |
||
|
metal |
hard, shiny substance |
medal |
metal object given as a prize |
|
mettle |
determination when doing something |
||
|
miner |
someone who works in a mine |
minor |
not important |
|
moral |
right and wrongs |
morale |
the meaning |
|
passed |
to qualify |
past |
something that’s happened |
|
patience |
to stay calm |
patients |
sick people |
|
peace |
tranquility |
piece |
a part of |
|
peak |
the top |
peek |
a quick look |
|
pique |
annoyed |
||
|
pedal |
foot operated part of machine |
petal |
part of a flower |
|
peddle |
to sell |
||
|
perpetrate |
do something bad |
perpetuate |
elongate |
|
personal |
relating to a person |
personnel |
staff |
|
persecute |
treat someone unfairly |
prosecute |
to convict |
|
perspective |
viewpoint |
prospective |
potential buyer |
|
plain |
ordinary |
plane |
flying vehicle |
|
pore |
small hole for sweat to pass through |
pour |
make liquid flow from a container |
|
precede |
to happen before something else |
proceed |
to go forward |
|
precedent |
to set an example for others |
president |
the head of |
|
prescribe |
give medical treatment |
proscribe |
to not allow something |
|
presence |
being in a place |
presents |
gifts |
|
principal |
most important |
principle |
basic rule |
|
quiet |
no noise |
quite |
completely |
|
rain |
precipitation |
reign |
to rule |
|
rein |
straps that control a horse |
||
|
raise |
to lift |
raze |
completely destroy |
|
rational |
reasonable |
rationale |
the reason |
|
reluctant |
unwilling |
reticent |
saying little about what you feel |
|
respectfully |
showing respect |
respectively |
in the same order |
|
reverend |
Christian official |
reverent |
showing respect |
|
right |
correct |
rite |
traditional religious ceremony |
|
write |
produce words |
||
|
road |
surface built for vehicles |
rode |
to have ridden |
|
scene |
a view |
seen |
to have looked |
|
sense |
logic |
since |
from a time in the past |
|
sensible |
well behaved |
sensitive |
to be dealt with carefully |
|
sensory |
connected to the physical senses |
||
|
sight |
vision |
site |
a place of importance |
|
cite |
mention something as proof |
||
|
simulate |
to mimic |
stimulate |
to make something happen |
|
stationary |
still motion |
stationery |
office supplies |
|
straight |
not curved |
strait |
narrow area of sea |
|
suppose |
think something is true |
supposed to |
expected to do something |
|
taught |
educated, instructed |
taut |
stretched very tight |
|
than |
used to compare two things |
then |
at that time |
|
their |
belongs to them |
there |
used to show something exists |
|
they’re |
they are |
||
|
through |
from one end to the other |
threw |
to have thrown |
|
thorough |
completely |
||
|
to |
used to give the reason |
too |
as well as |
|
two |
comes after one |
||
|
track |
narrow path |
tract |
large area of land |
|
visual |
relating to seeing |
visible |
able to seen |
|
waist |
around the middle of your body |
waste |
a bad use of something |
|
waive |
allow someone to break the rules |
wave |
move hands from side to side |
|
weak |
not strong |
week |
7 days |
|
weather |
conditions in the air above the earth (wind, rain etc) |
whether |
if, or not |
|
wether |
a castrated ram |
||
|
where |
to, at, or in what place |
were |
past tense of be |
|
which |
determining pronoun |
witch |
woman with magical powers |
|
whose |
which person owns or is responsible for something |
who’s |
who is |
|
your |
belonging to the person being spoken to |
you’re |
you are |
|
yore |
a long time ago |
What's Next?
Familiarize yourself with some other errors you're likely to see on the Identifying Sentence Errors questions, like pronoun agreement, adjectives vs. adverbs, and subject-verb agreement.
More concerned about the big picture? Make sure you know the best way to approach Identifying Sentence Errors and Improving Sentences.
If you're a member of the class of 2017, determine whether you should study for the current SAT or the redesigned version with this guide.
