What this lesson covers
- Step 1: find the comparison word, unlike, like, than, compared to, as ... as
- Step 2: name the two nouns that are actually being compared
- Step 3: check that they are the same category, and repair the side that is off
- Singular takes "that of", plural takes "those of"
Chapters
- 0:00A city is not a winter
- 0:26The three step method
- 1:02The money sentence: novels versus a novelist
- 1:50The repair kit: that of and those of
- 2:32Your turn
- 3:10Three traps
- 3:40Recap
Lesson transcript
The narration of the video, word for word, under its chapter headings.
0:00A city is not a winter
Welcome to SAT Climb. Read this sentence. Unlike Chicago, Boston's winters are milder. It sounds completely normal, and it is wrong. It compares Chicago, a city, to Boston's winters, a season. A city is not a winter. Your ear will never catch this one. A rule will, and the rule takes about ten seconds.
0:26The three step method
Here is the method, three steps. One, find the comparison word. Unlike, like, than, compared to, similar to, or as something as. On the SAT one of these is almost always sitting right there in the underlined part. Two, name the two nouns that are actually being compared. Not what the sentence means, what it says. Say them out loud as a pair. City, winters. Three, check the categories. People compare to people. Books compare to books. Rates compare to rates. If the two nouns are different kinds of things, the sentence is broken no matter how good it sounds.
1:02The money sentence: novels versus a novelist
Here is the money sentence. Unlike the novels of Dickens, Austen rarely wrote about urban poverty. Step one, the comparison word is unlike, at the very front. Step two, name the pair. On the left, the novels of Dickens. On the right, Austen. Step three, check. A stack of novels on one side, a human being on the other. The scale tips. Now, there are two legal repairs and the SAT will offer one of them. Either pull the left side down to a person, unlike Dickens, Austen rarely wrote about urban poverty. Or lift the right side up to novels, unlike the novels of Dickens, those of Austen rarely address urban poverty. Both balance. Pick whichever one the answer choices give you.
1:50The repair kit: that of and those of
Most of the time the fix is two small words, and they are the ones students never think of. That of, and those of. Look at this. The population of Texas is larger than California. As written, a population is being compared to a state. Insert that of. Larger than that of California. Those two words stand in for the population of, so now it is population versus population. Plural works the same way with those. The winters in Maine are colder than Georgia becomes colder than those in Georgia. If the first noun is singular, use that. If it is plural, use those. When an SAT comparison question feels like nothing is wrong, this is usually the missing piece.
2:32Your turn
Your turn. The paintings in the north gallery are older than the south gallery. Find the comparison word, name the pair, check the categories. Pause here. The comparison word is than. The pair is paintings, and the south gallery. Paintings versus a room. That does not balance. Paintings are plural, so the repair word is those. The paintings in the north gallery are older than those in the south gallery. Now it is paintings versus paintings.
3:10Three traps
Three traps. One, trusting your ear. Every one of these sentences sounds fine in conversation. That is why they are on the test. Two, forgetting that of and those of. If you never consider them, you will pick a choice that still compares a population to a state. Three, repairing the wrong side. Read both pans before you choose. Sometimes the answer changes the first noun, sometimes it adds the stand-in to the second, and only one of those is on offer.
3:40Recap
Logical comparisons, solved. Find the comparison word, name the two nouns, and make the categories match. When they do not, that of and those of will usually fix it in two words. Start free at satclimb.com.
Read the written version: the Form, Structure, and Sense strategy guide, then try 25 hard Form, Structure, and Sense questions with full explanations. Both are free, no account needed.