The tip
If both sides of the blank could stand alone as sentences, you need a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a conjunction like 'and.' A comma by itself is a comma splice.
Try it
The robotics club won its regional competition ______ will compete at the state level in March. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- Acompetition, the team
- Bcompetition; the team
- Ccompetition the team
- Dcompetition, and, the team
Reveal answer
Answer: B. competition; the team
'The robotics club won its regional competition' and 'the team will compete at the state level in March' are both complete sentences. A semicolon correctly joins them. A is a comma splice, C is a run-on, and D puts an unneeded comma after 'and.'
Go deeper: What's on the SAT Reading and Writing section (College Board)
Not sure where your student stands? Book a free full-length diagnostic at Parsippany or Bridgewater.