By The SAT Writing test asks you to strengthen the arguments of four passages. Some questions will ask you to add, delete, or modify evidence. Others ask you to rearrange paragraphs or whole passages to communicate ideas more clearly. The simplest questions, however, will ask you to correct mistakes in English grammar. Grammar questions present a mix of punctuation errors, mistakes in word usage, and sentence structure problems.
Among the questions in the third category, you will likely come across one or two questions on the topic of illogical comparisons. Illogical comparison questions test your close reading skills. Mistakes in this category are the most subtle of the grammar questions on the SAT writing test, but after you spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with the basic forms, you’ll recognize these questions and be able to answer them easily.
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What are Illogical Comparisons?
Illogical comparisons are sentences that seem to present a straightforward comparison, but because of an error in the construction of the sentence, are actually unclear, or illogical. Let’s look at an example:
Massachusetts students scored better than New Jersey.
We can easily grasp the gist of this sentence—it’s offering a comparison of student test scores in Massachusetts and New Jersey. But let’s look a little more closely: What two things are really being compared here? Massachusetts students and New Jersey students, right? But our original sentence doesn’t say that. Because of a failure in the sentence structure, this sentence is actually offering a comparison between Massachusetts students and New Jersey. This is an illogical comparison because it is illogical—that is, it doesn’t make sense—to compare students with a state. Let’s fix the example:
Massachusetts students scored better than New Jersey students.
Ah, now we have clarity. Students compared to students. This is grammatically correct and would be correct on the SAT. However, some illogical comparison questions might require you to move one step further. In general, the SAT prefers the most concise version of a sentence. In this case, we can make a final edit to avoid a little repetition:
Massachusetts students scored better than those of New Jersey.
In this final version, we have removed the repetition while still correcting the illogical comparison. It is clear that we are comparing students to students even though we have replaced students with the demonstrative pronoun “those” in this final version. Demonstrative pronouns that and those often show up in SAT illogical comparison questions because they ensure sentence fluency and create logical comparisons.
However, be aware that you must choose the correct demonstrative pronoun. That should be used to refer to singular nouns, and those should be used to refer to plural nouns, like students.
The apple from her orchard was tastier than the apple from his orchard.
The apple from her orchard was tastier than that of his orchard.
A Few Rules to Remember
#1 Person to Person/Thing to Thing
In the examples above, we learned that we cannot compare students to a state because it is an illogical comparison. Why? Because we can only compare people to people and things to things. Students are people, states are things. They cannot be compared. Remembering this rule can get you pretty far on the SAT writing test.
Ann Patchett has published more books than Elizabeth Gilbert.
In this example, we compare Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Gilbert, both people. This is a logical comparison. But what if we mixed it up a little:
Ann Patchett’s books sold more copies than Elizabeth Gilbert.
What are we comparing here? Ann Patchett’s books and Elizabeth Gilbert—one thing (books) and one person (Elizabeth Gilbert). Even if you could get the gist of what I was trying to say with this example, it’s still an illogical comparison because we cannot compare books to authors. Let’s fix it:
Ann Patchett’s books sold more copies than Elizabeth Gilbert’s books.
And now, let’s remove the redundancy:
Ann Patchett’s books sold more copies than Elizabeth Gilbert’s.
OR Ann Patchett’s books sold more copies than those of Elizabeth Gilbert.
#2 Possessive to Possessive
The first examples we looked at were not only illogical because they compared people to things, but also because they compared possessive nouns to non-possessive nouns. Remember: possessive nouns must be compared with other possessive nouns.
Anya’s cooking is just as good as Nia.
This is an illogical comparison because it compares Anya’s cooking (a possessive noun) with Nia (not a possessive noun). Let’s fix it:
Anya’s cooking is just as good as Nia’s cooking.
And then without the redundancy, both of these are correct:
Anya’s cooking is just as good as Nia’s.
Anya’s cooking is just as good as that of Nia.
#3 Categories
Another way comparisons can be illogical is when they are made between individuals and entire categories. This kind of illogical comparison looks a little different than the examples we’ve seen so far. Let’s look at an example:
Massachusetts students scored higher than any student.
Again, we might be able to tell what this sentence means—Massachusetts students had the best scores. But it’s an illogical comparison because we are comparing a group of individuals (Massachusetts students) to an entire category (all students). This doesn’t literally (or grammatically) make sense because the phrase “any student” actually includes “Massachusetts students.” We cannot compare the group of students from Massachusetts to all students because students from Massachusetts are included in the category of students. But don’t worry! This is a very simple fix:
Massachusetts students scored higher than any other student.
The addition of the word “other” makes this a logical comparison because it edits the category of “student” to no longer include Massachusetts students. Now, we’re comparing groups of individuals instead of individuals with an entire category. Let’s look at a few more examples.
INCORRECT: The apple from her orchard was tastier than all apples.
CORRECT: The apple from her orchard was tastier than all other apples.
At first we are comparing one apple to the entire category of apples. In the corrected version, we are comparing an individual example to the category of apples that does not include the first apple.
INCORRECT: William Shakespeare has sold more books than anyone.
CORRECT: William Shakespeare has sold more books than anyone else.
In this example, we added “else” to function the same way that “other” does in the previous examples. It creates a category that does not include the original part of the comparison.
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#4 Parallel Structure
You should also watch out for mistakes related to parallel structure on the SAT writing test. While these issues look a little different than illogical comparisons, they are also sentence structure errors. Parallel structure rules require that parts of the sentence that have the same function should have the same construction. This means that when words or phrases are part of lists or part of comparisons, they should be arranged in the same way as other words and phrases in the list or comparison. Verb tenses should be the same and the words should be in the same order. We’ll focus on parallel structure in comparisons.
I like to cook almost as much as I like eating.
This sentence does not align with our parallel structure rules. Two verbs that have the same function (“to cook” and “eating” are both things I like to do), but do not have the same construction. “To cook” is an infinitive verb; “eating” is a gerund (a verb acting as a noun). Let’s fix this:
I like to cook almost as much as I like to eat.
The rule applies not just to verb forms, but constructions in general:
For some people, individual survival is less important than being responsible for one another.
Here, we are comparing “individual survival” and “being responsible for each other.” These phrases have the same function in the sentence (two sides of a comparison), but they do not have the same construction. Individual survival is an adjective-noun; Being responsible for each other is a gerund (-ing verb) phrase. Let’s fix it:
For some people, individual survival is less important than mutual responsibility.
Individual survival and mutual responsibility are both adjective-noun phrases. We could also modify the sentence in this way:
For some people, ensuring their own survival is less important than being responsible for one another.
This example includes two gerund phrases.
Using parallel structure makes writing clearer and more concise. Questions on parallel structure might be difficult to spot because parallel structure mistakes usually include no other obvious grammar mistakes. We also speak without using parallel structure all the time. So before you mark the “No change” option on the SAT writing test, double-check that there are no parallel structure mistakes!
Top 3 Tips for Illogical Comparison Questions
#1 Deal with Intervening Information
Illogical comparisons on the SAT are difficult because the sentences are usually complex and there is often much intervening information between the two words or phrases being compared. The first step in answering these questions is to identify the words or phrases being compared. Let’s look at a few more examples.
Some people prefer Thai-style curries, with their brighter flavor and soupier consistency, to eating the thicker and warmer Indian-style curries.
This question tests our knowledge of parallel structure rules. What is being compared here? Two types of curry that people might prefer, right? Well, not quite. In this construction, the sentence compares “Thai-style curries” with “eating the thicker and warmer Indian-style curries.” This is tricky because Thai-style curries is also followed by a descriptive phrase so it might seem that the two sides of the comparison are constructed the same way. But the addition of the word “eating” ruins our parallel structure! We can cross out the phrase contained by commas “with their brighter flavor and soupier consistency” to help us identify what’s really going on here:
Some people prefer Thai-style curries to eating the thicker and warmer Indian-style curries.
So now let’s fix it:
Some people prefer Thai-style curries, with their brighter flavor and soupier consistency, to thicker and warmer Indian-style curries.
#2 Pay attention to the underlined portion
Sometimes when you notice mistakes with illogical comparisons on the SAT, the quickest fix might be to change part of the sentence that is not underlined to match the underlined portion of the text. But remember, on the SAT the question is not asking you to change the whole sentence, just the underlined portion! You should assume that the rest of the sentence, at least during the minute that you spend on each question, only the underlined portion has the potential of being incorrect. Assume the rest of the sentence is correct, and look for an answer that matches it.
Take the example we just worked through, with a portion underlined:
Some people prefer Thai-style curries, with their brighter flavor and soupier consistency, to eating the thicker and warmer Indian-style curries.
The gerund phrase is bolded (this blog’s version of underlining), so we should look to the other portion of the sentence to find the style we should choose, as we did above. If the sentence was underlined differently, we would select a different answer.
Some people prefer Thai-style curries, with their brighter flavor and soupier consistency, to eating the thicker and warmer Indian-style curries.
Here, we should look for a gerund phrase in the answer choices to correct this sentence.
Some people prefer ordering Thai-style curries, with their brighter flavor and soupier consistency, to eating the thicker and warmer Indian-style curries.
Notice that the parts of the sentence do not need to match exactly—we can say “ordering Thai-style curries” and “eating the thicker and warmer Indian-style curries” because both start with a gerund. Notice also that the entire phrase “some people prefer Thai-style curries” not just “Thai-style curries” was bolded. This is a tactic to throw you off! While the underlined portion does direct your attention to a potential mistake, it is your job to identify the precise location of the mistake. The underlined portion will likely include several words that do not need to be changed at all.
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#3 Watch for Keywords
Words that signal comparisons—like, unlike, as, better, worse, more, less, than—can help you identify illogical comparison questions. These words will not always be included in the underlined portion of the question. So if you notice them in any part of the sentence, especially if you don’t notice any other grammar mistakes, double-check that all comparisons are logical!
Summary – Illogical Comparison Questions on the SAT Writing
You will likely encounter one or two illogical comparison questions on your SAT writing test.
Watch out for comparison words to signal these questions. Double-check questions for illogical comparisons before you mark “no change.”
Comparisons can only be made between people or between things. (Sal’s bakery did better than Ian’s bakery.)
Remove redundancy, if that is an option. (Sal’s bakery did better than Ian’s.)
Do not compare an individual to a category that it is included in. (Sal’s bakery did better than any other bakery.)
Opt for parallel structure whenever possible. (I like reading more than I like writing. VS I like reading more than I like to write.)
If you keep these rules and tips in mind, you will breeze through illogical comparison questions!
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