SAT Conventions — verb tense and form from context

On the SAT, a verb question is almost never about a form you do not know. It is about reading the text around the blank: a date, a phrase such as "since then" or "by the time," or the tense of another verb tells you which of four correct-looking forms fits. A second kind of verb question asks whether the sentence has a main verb at all, which is easy to miss when a long subject or an interrupting phrase separates the subject from the blank.

The ten quiz questions each give an original one- or two-sentence text about a real discovery or event, from the Gold Rush and the transcontinental railroad to the discovery of the cosmic microwave background, penicillin and the orange glass beads brought back by Apollo 17. Seven questions are about tense and aspect: the past progressive for an action under way when something happened, the past perfect for the earlier of two past events, the simple present for a general truth introduced by a present-tense verb, the simple past for a finished period, the present perfect with "since," the future perfect with "by the time," and the simple past with a specific past date, where the present perfect is wrong. Three are about finite and nonfinite forms: a sentence that needs a plural main verb after its subject, a sentence whose long interrupting phrase hides the fact that the main verb is still missing, and a sentence that opens with a past participle describing its subject. The options are written so that only one form is defensible: where two tenses could both work in real writing, only one of them appears among the options, and the explanations point to the words in the text that decide.

The flashcards summarize each tense with a model sentence, list the time clues to look for before choosing, and give a fragment check for finite verbs.

The material offers two formats: a multiple-choice quiz with an explanation for every question, and a deck of flashcards. It is practice material written by Zestly and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board, which owns the SAT.

• Use dates and time phrases in the text to choose tense and aspect
• Use the past perfect for the earlier of two past events and the future perfect for an action completed before a future moment
• Use the present perfect with "since" and the simple past with a specific past date
• State general truths in the simple present
• Recognize when a sentence still needs a finite main verb and when an opening participle is correct

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the Standard English Conventions content domain of the digital SAT Reading and Writing section as described by the College Board on satsuite.collegeboard.org (Form, Structure, and Sense). Every sentence, option and explanation is original; nothing is reproduced from any College Board publication or practice test.