20 Academic Verbs Worth Knowing for the SAT
Academic verbs tell you what an author, study, or piece of evidence is doing. Learning their differences makes dense SAT passages easier to map.
On the SAT, the verb often carries the logic. Evidence can corroborate a claim without proving it. A writer can critique an idea without rejecting it. A new result can complicate an explanation without invalidating it.
to confirm or give supporting evidence for a claim, statement, or theory
Two independent witnesses corroborated her account of the accident.
to correct something that is wrong
The committee revised the totals to rectify the counting error.
to spread information widely
The lab used a public archive to disseminate its findings.
to find a way around an obstacle or rule
The new route circumvents the flooded section of road.
to give a task or responsibility to someone else to carry out
A good manager knows how to delegate instead of doing everything alone.
to explain or decide the meaning of something
Two readers can interpret the same ending in opposite ways.
to formally give up or reject
The leader refused to renounce the claim without new evidence.
to put a decision or plan into effect
The school will implement the revised schedule in September.
to obtain something from a source
The team derived its estimate from three independent surveys.
to combine two distinct things as though they were one
The argument conflates popularity with quality.
to mark or establish a boundary
A low fence demarcates the protected habitat.
to know someone or something because you have seen or learned about it before
I almost didn't recognize you with the beard.
to hold back, silence, or put a stop to something by force or effort
She suppressed a laugh at the worst possible moment in the funeral.
to grasp the meaning of something fully; also, formally, to include or encompass
She could recite the tax code but never quite comprehend her teenager.
to stop the continuous progress of something
Cloud cover may interrupt the telescope's observations.
to fail to notice or consider
A rushed reader may overlook the sentence's contrast word.
to evaluate something carefully and explain its strengths and faults
The essay will critique the study's assumptions.
to make an exact copy of; to repeat, as an experiment
No lab could replicate the results, which told its own story.
to state something firmly and confidently as true
She asserted that the numbers were correct and dared anyone to check.
to hold back or restrain a process, action, or impulse
Cold temperatures inhibit the growth of most common bacteria.
How to study the differences
Group the verbs by job: supporting, challenging, explaining, separating, and acting. Then write two nearly identical sentences that require different verbs. Contrast is more memorable than a stack of definitions.
