Why this matters on the SAT
A pair of commas around a name looks tidy, but on the SAT, a name usually takes no commas. The SAT keeps the same words in every choice and changes only the punctuation around a name or a who clause. Everything turns on one question: does this part say which one? If it does, it's essential and takes no commas. If the sentence already says which one, it's extra and takes a pair, as in lesson 3.
Solution to the example
There are many Egyptologists, and nothing in front of Egyptologists narrows them down, so the names say which ones argue this. They're essential and take no commas. The answer is C. A tempts most, because it looks like the pair lesson 3 taught. But cross the names out, and as Egyptologists argue claims that Egyptologists in general argue it. B and D also put a mark where none belongs.
SAT example
For many years, the workers who built the Great Pyramid of Giza were widely believed to have been enslaved. Yet, as ______ argue, evidence from nearby workers’ villages suggests that many laborers were housed and fed by the state.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Egyptologists, Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass,
Egyptologists: Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass
Egyptologists Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass
Egyptologists Mark Lehner, and Zahi Hawass
Lesson 3 set off extra information, words the sentence works without, with a matching pair of marks, or with one mark when it starts or ends the sentence. But some words only look extra. A part is essential when it says which one you mean: the sentence needs it, so no commas set it off. Grammar books call an essential part restrictive and an extra one nonrestrictive or nonessential, and a name or phrase that renames a noun an appositive.
A name after a title can go either way. Ask: is this the only one, or one of many? One of many: the name says which one, so it's essential and takes no commas. Only one: the name adds extra information, so a pair of commas sets it off. The test is for a title with the, a word like her, or nothing in front. After a or one, the title stands on its own, so a name right after it takes commas.
In the examples, the spot the choices would test is bold, with the word on each side, and the word that decides it is underlined.
Lesson 3 trained you to wrap a renaming phrase in commas, so a name after a title looks like one more insert. But there are many pastry chefs, so Rosa Diaz says which one the bakery hired, and the name stays attached. Head means the bakery has one head baker, so her name only adds to what the sentence already says, and a pair of commas sets it off. After a pastry chef, the title already makes sense alone, so the name is extra too.
Lesson 3's cross-out test agrees, with the struck-through words showing what it removes. A title for one person with no the or a in front, like pastry chef or astronomer, can't stand without its name, so crossing the name out breaks the sentence:
The second still works, because the bakery's head baker says who on its own. So for a title with the, a word like her, or nothing in front, the cross-out check works here too: cross out the part, and if the sentence breaks or no longer says which one, the part was essential. After a or one, the check doesn't apply: the title already stands on its own, so a name right after it is extra and takes commas.
Try the test on this SAT question: ask whether the name is the only one or one of many, then cross it out to check.
Practice problem
To help visitors navigate the night sky, a planetarium added a segment that highlights constellations visible from the city each season. In the accompanying guidebook, ______ explains how light pollution can hide even bright stars and offers tips for finding them anyway.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
"Only one" has to come from the words in the passage, not from what you know about the people. A name is the only one when the words limit the title to one: a word like head, eldest, only or first, or a title only one person holds at a time, like the city's mayor. When nothing does, the name says which one, even after the or a word like her.
Eldest picks out one son, so Leo only adds his name. Without it, nothing in the sentence says she has one son, so the name says which son, and it takes no commas.
With the in front, crossing out the name leaves a sentence, so check what that sentence now says:
The pastry chef makes the croissants is a sentence, but which of the three? The name answers that, so it's essential and takes no commas. The evidence can sit in an earlier sentence, as three pastry chefs does here.
A group works the same way. In the bakery's two owners, Rosa Diaz and Ana Cruz, the words the bakery's two already cover both owners, so the names add extra information and take commas.
The title of a book or a film, and the name of a thing, follow the same test. A year or a description in front of the noun doesn't limit it to one:
2021 says when the cookbook came out, not that it's the baker's only one, so the title says which cookbook and takes no commas. In the same way, spelt says which ancient grain.
Commas or no commas around the name? The ferry’s first captain ______ Lena Ortiz ______ made the crossing for twenty years.
On this SAT question, read the words in front of the title before you decide.
Practice problem
Marie Curie's eldest _____ followed in her mother's footsteps to become a Nobel Prize–winning scientist.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
The same test decides the comma before called or named:
Called sourdough says which of the six breads, so it takes no commas, and nothing goes between called and the name. When the words limit the title to one, as only does, a pair sets off the called part. The a and one condition is only for a name right after the title: in a pastry chef named Rosa Diaz, the named part says which pastry chef, so no comma goes before named.
A who clause follows the same test, and so does a whose clause. Without commas, a who clause says which people you mean. Set off by commas, it adds a fact about someone the sentence has already identified.
Only the volunteers who stayed late stacked chairs, so the who clause says which volunteers and takes no commas. Ms. Reyes already identifies one person, so her who clause is extra information inside a pair of commas. A whose clause after her name would be extra the same way: Ms. Reyes, whose shift ended at six, stacked the chairs.
A who clause right after a name is almost always extra, since the name has already said who. That's the who clause these questions usually test, often right after a title and a name that take no commas:
The name takes no commas, since there are many pastry chefs, but the who clause after it takes a pair. As in lesson 3, the pair closes right before the subject's verb, bakes, underlined in the note with its subject.
Commas or no commas around the who clause? Ferry captain Lena Ortiz ______ who made the crossing for twenty years ______ knew every buoy in the bay.
Commas or no commas around the who clause? Passengers ______ who board before noon ______ ride for half price.
In this SAT question, run the same test on the who clause: ask whether the words before it already say who.
Practice problem
Many conservation policies assume that rural communities will accept restrictions if they are offered alternative sources of income. Yet evidence from coastal fisheries suggests that communities often reject programs that treat local knowledge as an afterthought. In a 2020 review of such programs, environmental economist Priya _____ argues that successful initiatives are those that hire residents as data collectors rather than merely as survey respondents.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Which and that both start clauses that describe the word before them, but they split the two jobs. On the SAT, a clause that opens with which adds extra information, so a comma goes before which. A clause that says which one starts with that, and no comma goes between a word and its that clause. (When a word like by or in comes before which, as in the process by which bread rises, ask whether the clause says which one, as you would for a name.)
Which arrived in May adds a fact about an oven this has already picked out. In the middle of a sentence, the comma before which needs a partner, and lesson 3 showed where it goes: right before the verb, bakes. In the third sentence, that arrived in May says which of several ovens, so it stays attached.
Which can sound like it says which one, since it shares the word. But on the SAT, that job belongs to that.
Commas or no commas around the which clause? The ferry’s new engine ______ which was built in Norway ______ burns half as much fuel as the old one.
On this question, decide what the which clause does, then look ahead for the comma that would close it.
Practice problem
At the art museum, the audio guide provides brief stories about each painting; this extra _____ visitors often miss when reading wall labels alone, makes the tour more engaging.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Here's the move that makes these questions fast. In the middle of a sentence, an essential part takes no commas, and an extra part takes a full pair. So in the middle of a sentence, a name or a who clause ends up with a full pair around it or none, and a clause that opens with which always with a full pair. One comma alone is wrong either way, though it tempts: a comma before the name feels like the start of an insert, and a comma after it feels like a pause before the verb.
The first wrong version opens a pair and never closes it, lesson 3's missing closing comma. The second has only a closing comma, with nothing to close, so it splits the subject, the bakery's head baker Rosa Diaz, from its verb, starts. A single comma never goes between a subject and its verb; only a full pair around extra information can. Lesson 5 covers this and the other places a comma doesn't belong.
Count the commas the passage already has, too, and check each one's job. A passage comma can be the other half of the pair, so a choice with one comma can complete it. Or it can belong to a different part. In The bakery hired pastry chef Rosa Diaz, who trained in Lyon, the comma after the name opens the who clause, which runs to the end of the sentence, where one comma does the job, as lesson 3 showed. It says nothing about the name.
Two names joined by “and” take no comma between them either. A comma before “and” belongs between two full sentences, as lesson 2 showed, or in a list of three or more, never between two names.
Some choices put a semicolon, a period or a colon at the blank. Lessons 2 and 3 rule them out fast: a period or a semicolon needs a full sentence on each side, and a colon needs one before it. Words that end on a title still waiting for its name, like The bakery hired pastry chef, aren't a full sentence.
That makes one routine for every question in this lesson, the one the worked examples and the mixed practice problems follow:
In this question, a comma already follows the name, so a comma before the name looks like the other half of a matching pair.
Worked example
In 1856, the first commercially successful synthetic dye was created by English _____ William Henry Perkin, whose accidental discovery of mauveine transformed both textile manufacturing and the emerging chemical industry.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
chemist,
chemist
chemist;
chemist:
Step 1
The choices differ only in the mark between chemist and the name. Start with C and D. After C's semicolon, William Henry Perkin, whose accidental discovery … industry would have to stand alone, but its only verb, transformed, belongs to the whose clause, which describes Perkin. So that side is a fragment. D's colon needs a full sentence before it, but the words before the blank end on English chemist, a title for one person with no the or a in front, still waiting for its name. C and D are out.
Step 2
Here's the trap. A comma already follows Perkin, so A's comma after chemist would seem to wrap the name in a matching pair, the habit lesson 3 built. But the comma after Perkin has its own job: it opens whose accidental discovery of mauveine, extra information that runs to the end of the sentence, where one comma does the work alone. So the commas can't settle this. The name has to.
Step 3
Ask about William Henry Perkin: the only one, or one of many? Nothing in front of English chemist limits the title to one, so he's one of many, and the name says which chemist created the dye. It takes no commas. Cross it out to check: created by English chemist, whose accidental discovery… breaks, because English chemist can't stand without its name. That rules out A. The answer is B.
In this question, one blank holds two parts, a name and the who clause after it, and each one needs its own decision.
Worked example
The Harbor Street Museum’s new exhibit pairs archival photographs with brief reflections written by three curators. Visitors often praise the way thoughtful _____ connects each image to the neighborhood’s changing economy.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
curator Amanda Hunt who grew up in the neighborhood
curator Amanda Hunt, who grew up in the neighborhood,
curator, Amanda Hunt who grew up in the neighborhood,
curator, Amanda Hunt, who grew up in the neighborhood,
Step 1
Every choice has the same words, so the commas are the whole question, around two parts: the name Amanda Hunt and the who clause after it. There's no semicolon or colon to clear out, so take the name first.
The first sentence says the exhibit has three curators, and thoughtful curator has no the or a in front, so the name says which curator. It's essential and takes no commas.
D tempts most, because it sets off both parts, which looks thorough. But its first pair sets off the name, and thoughtful curator can't stand without its name. C's comma after curator opens a pair that closes after neighborhood, so it sets off the name and the who clause together. Cross them out, and the way thoughtful curator connects… breaks too.
Step 2
Now the who clause. It comes right after a name, and Amanda Hunt already says who she is, so who grew up in the neighborhood adds a fact about her. It's extra information, and in the middle of a sentence it takes a full pair. A leaves it with no commas, as if it said which Amanda Hunt. A is out.
Step 3
The pair closes right before the subject's verb, connects. B leaves the name attached to curator and puts a full pair around the who clause: the comma after Hunt opens it, and the comma after neighborhood closes it. The answer is B.
These five questions mix the cases, so run the whole routine on each one.
Practice problem
A magazine article about 3D-printed housing quotes several engineers who have built prototype homes. Still, as ______ caution, printing the walls quickly doesn't guarantee the electrical and plumbing systems can be installed just as fast.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Practice problem
Several superconducting alloys are candidates for use in powerful electromagnets: some tolerate stronger magnetic fields, whereas others are easier to shape into wire. After weighing these trade-offs, particle-accelerator engineers often select the superconducting ______ for coils that must carry large currents while enduring substantial mechanical stress.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Practice problem
Designed to dissolve harmlessly in the body after a few weeks, a new biodegradable sensor can monitor a patient’s recovery without a follow-up procedure, a design that ______ “invites medical devices to be treated as temporary tools rather than permanent implants.”
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Practice problem
Although limestones can have similar chemical compositions, geologists using Robert Dunham's system sort them into several categories according to whether mud is present and whether grains supported one another during deposition. In that system, the ______ describes limestone composed mainly of touching grains, with little or no lime mud between them.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Practice problem
Among contemporary lyric poets, one modern _____ builds entire books out of brief addresses—petitions, questions, and replies—that blur the line between prayer and conversation.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Finish the lesson
Finish the remaining questions correctly to complete this lesson.
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