Idioms on the SAT

In addition to other grammar rules and sentence construction elements, the SAT Writing Multiple Choice section also tests you on some common idioms. An idioms, by definition, is simply the accepted way of saying something. The idioms on the SAT are not to be mistaken for colloquial expressions such as “as time goes by,” “he broke up with her,” or “they fell asleep.” The idioms tested on the SAT are almost exclusively tested in the context of verb + preposition such as “attribute to” and “advocate for.”

Often, there will be an idiom error in a Sentence Completion answer choice or in an underlined portion of an Identifying Sentence Errors problem. Most native English speakers should be able to spot an idiom error right away since it will sound “off” to them, but for non-native English speakers, the idioms have to be learned and memorized as there are no well-defined rules for most idiom-construction in English.

Below is a comprehensive list of verb + preposition idioms that have been taken from released past SAT tests and official practice tests.

concern (consider) / about
care / about
worry / about
theorize / about
modeled / after
protect / against
prejudiced / against
defend / against
depict / as
regard / as
defined / as
acclaimed / as
at least as / as
perceive / as
view / as
aim / at
angry / at
rivalry / between
profit / by
fascinated / by
built / by
judge / by
prized / by
delighted / by
attended / by
embarrassed / by
accompanied / by
hindered / by
encouraged / by
allows / for
potential (not to) / for
responsible / for
call / for
rates / for
(get) credit / for
need / for
grounds / for
adapted / for
rival / for
account (explaining something) / for
concern (worried) / for
compensate / for
guilty / for
requisition / for
give credit / for
exchange / for
craving / for
mistake / for
isolate / from
benefit / from
suffer / from
separate / from
prevent / from
divergent / from
differ / from
inherit / from
discourage / from
different / from
dwindle / from
escape / from
date / from
away / from
descend / from
independent (not of) / from
prohibit / from
emerges / from
flee / from
originate / in
concern (relevant) / in
instill / in
fluctuations / in
boom / in
aid (gerund) / in
invest / in
concur (opinion) / in
belief / in
acquiesce / in
participate / in
decline / in
localized / in
research / into
dispose / of
take advantage / of
danger / of
rid / of
choice / of
afraid / of
chance (something) / of
repent / of
interaction / of
instead / of
rate / of
solicitous / of
tolerant / of
envious / of
composed / of
comprise / of
partake / of
approve / of
jealous / of
accuse / of
on account / of
disdain / of
sensible / of
be oblivious / of
descendant / of
consequence / of
consist / of
independent (not from) / of
desirous / of
because / of
ask / of
sequence / of
suspicious / of
violation / of
sparing / of
a native / of
instance / of
capable / of
aware (something) / of
frequency / of
opposite / of
regardless / of
disapprove / of
authority / on
depend / on
spend / on
focus / on
centers / on
agree (noun/gerund but not person) / on
draw (take out) / on
decide (something) / on
based / on
comment / on
base / on
argue (topic) / over
debate / over
more / than
sooner / than
better / than
rather / than
less / than
demonstrate / that
assure / that
anticipated / that
indicate / that
fear / that
aware (independent clause) / that
insist / that
hypothesize / that
mandate / that
demand / that
contend / that
conclude / that
doubt / that
responsibility / to
persuade / to
attempt / to
attention / to
permit / to
essential / to
predisposed / to
apply / to
way / to
(give) credit / to
promise / to
conductive / to
try / to
appear / to
due / to
introduce / to
begin / to
sensitive / to
refer / to
send / to
chance (verb) / to
available / to
able / to
accede / to
respond / to
manage / to
opposed / to
in order / to
account (receiving blame or credit) / to
ask (person) / to
compare (similarities) / to
analogous / to
contrary / to
disclose / to
equal / to
need / to
agree (not noun/gerund/person) / to
allocated / to
access / to
attribute / to
prefer / to
amount / to
forbid / to
lead / to
allergy / to
identical (not with) / to
alternative / to
inclined / to
according / to
easy / to
related / to
potential (not for) / to
explain / to
similar / to
conform / to
encourage / to
prior / to
appeal / to
difficult / to
convert / to
preferable / to
oblivious / to
transit / to
train / to
liken / to
resistance / to
superior / to
contribute / to
pressure / to
affect / to
order / to
expect / to
effort / to
correspond (not with) / to
native / to
ability / to
extend / to
threaten / to
receptive (not of) / to
credit (give money) / to
continue / to
in contrast / to
decide (action) / to
averse / to
from / to
drawn / to
choose / to
transmit / to
intent / to
bring / to
attest / to
expose / to
contrast / to
attend / to
estimate / to be
assume / to be
indifferent / towards
center / upon
question / whether
dispute / whether
tamper / with
tinker / with
collide / with
consistent / with
associate / with
concur (person) / with
relations / with
disgust / with
entrusted / with
enamored / with
affinity / with
infected / with
collaborate / with
correspond (not to) / with
afflicted / with
argue (someone) / with
compare (differences) / with
familiar / with
acquaint / with
analogy / with
identical (not to) / with
provide / with
meet / with
contrast / with
replace / with
agree (person) / with
sympathize / with
deal / with
preoccupied / with
credit (not money) / with
disagree / with
comply / with
conformity / with
From “The Ultimate SAT Website”

Answers and Explanations

1. The idiom should be ‘taken into account,’ which means to consider. ‘Accounted for’ means to explain. The answer for the first question is (C).

2. Tests renovations to (which is correct) and ‘agree with’ (also correct), which means to suit in terms of taste.

This question, however, does have an error. The structure of the sentence needs a conjunction that means, ‘as a result of’ instead of the word ‘and.’ So’ does the trick. The answer is (C).

3. This is a challenge question!

Many students would choose (D), mainly because it sounds weird. However, you should always be on guard against your ear when dealing with difficult questions.

We know this question is difficult because it is a #28 question. (The Identifying the Error section covers question 12 – 29 on the Writing Section, with question #12 being the easiest and #29 being the hardest). The more likely culprit in this case is the preposition ‘in’. Typically when you see a line under a preposition – the preposition may or may not be accompanied by another word – the question is testing an idiom. Whether the idiom is the correct is up to you.

There is no magical way to game the system…but I would say there is a greater than 50% chance the idiom is incorrect.

However, I wouldn’t put too much stock in this – some students adhere so literally to the “no more than five underlined (E) no errors” theory that they will change answers they know are incorrect just so they don’t go over the five quota limit. (Again, do not start practicing this “voodoo SAT.”)

Okay, back to the question at hand: ‘in’ is underlined. Is the idiom correct? Do you derive great comfort ‘in’ something or should the ‘in’ be replaced with another preposition?

There is no logical reason why one preposition should follow derive and not another. In this case, the preposition ‘from’ always follows derive, so the answer should be (A), and the correct sentence should read, “the professor derives great comfort from…”

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Sample SAT Questions

  1. On herrecent trip to Los Angeles, Shirley hadnot accounted forthe inclementweather, and instead of

A B C

arriving early, as she had planned, she almost missed the movie premiere.No Error.

D E

2. The recent renovations toher penthouse did not agree withMaria’s aestheticsensibilities, andshe found

ABC

herselfwishing she had not givenher interior designerfreereign overher domicile.No Error

D E

  1. The professor derives great comfort inused bookstores, often spendinghours at a timehoveringover a

A B C

dog-eared copy of some tome long forgotten. No Error

D E