Feeling stuck on the SAT vocab questions? You’re not alone!
Vocabulary can be tricky because it’s unpredictable. You can’t just memorize a set of words and definitions like students used to do for previous versions of the SAT and hope that you studied the right list. You have to be able to know all the different possible definitions of a word and be able to interpret how this chosen word is being used in context.
(And the test-makers are often deliberately trying to trick you!)
How do you avoid falling into their traps?
Here are four key skills to practice that will instantly improve your accuracy on SAT vocabulary questions:
1. Check the Date!
If the SAT vocabulary word is being taken from a literary quotation, there will be a line above the passage that says when it was published.
If the text comes from before 1950, and especially if it was written before 1900, you’ll want to assume it’s used in a different way than you would use the word today.
Remember, the test is trying to trick you by giving you a word you know but used in a way to mean something completely different.
2. Read the Text Summary
In the same place that you found the date, there will also be a sentence or phrase that describes the text you are about to read and interpret. This is the only part of the passage that is written in the test-makers own words about the SAT vocab word.
This sentence or phrase is the biggest insight you have into how the test-makers interpret the passage and what they think is important, which means it will give you the biggest hint into what should be included in the answer.
The correct answer should probably include the topic listed in that sentence!
3. Find hints in the text
The biggest hints within the quoted text that will tell you how the vocab word is being used will be in two places:
First, the sentence that immediately follows the one with the SAT vocab word will sometimes be a re-statement of the same idea but with different phrasing that you might understand more clearly. Use that alternative explanation to help you find the correct answer!
Second, what is the vocab word acting on or describing? The relationship between the vocab word and the other words around it can tell you a lot about what the word is supposed to mean, and what part of speech it is.
For example, you might be asked what the word “reconcile” means in a sentence about “reconciling to an idea.” Normally, we would use “reconcile” to mean that two people are reconnecting. However, here the word is connected to an idea, not a person. How would you “reconcile” with a concept? Maybe you would get used to it? That’s closer to how the word is being used in the sentence.
Another example, we normally use the word “plane” as a noun to mean a machine that flies. However, if you were asked to define “plane” in the phrase “plane the surface of the wood,” it seems like “plane” is something that is being done to the wood. So it must be a verb! What verbs do you know about creating or shaping surfaces of wood? Maybe carving? Now you’re getting closer!
4. Practice reading older texts
If you’re reading any classics published before 1900 (or excerpts from those books) for school, take the time to highlight and look up the meaning of any vocabulary you don’t understand! The SAT loves to use texts from the 1700s and 1800s for the hardest vocab questions, so having exposure to how they wrote in those eras is super helpful.
