Question type

Verb tense and verb form on the SAT

First ask whether the sentence already has a main verb. If it does not, the blank needs a finite verb such as surged; a participle (surging) or infinitive (to surge) leaves a fragment. If it already has one, the blank usually needs a participle or modifier. Then match the tense to the passage's timeline.

The choices are forms of one verb: different tenses, or finite and non-finite forms such as listened, listening and who listens.

College Board's question bank has 66 of these; about a quarter are rated Hard.

66 in College Board's question bank, 27% rated Hard
27 practice questions of this type
Reading it aloud partly helps

Why students miss it

A participle where the sentence needs its main verb: "a cloud of gas surging sideways" never says what the cloud did.

A main verb where the sentence already has one: "two physicists listened to Sputnik noticed" has two.

Tense drift: a present tense in a passage about 1980.

How to spot it

Four forms of one verb, some ending in -ing or starting with to.
A date or time words that fix the timeline.

The method

Verb or modifier?

Find the subject and check whether it already has a main verb.

No main verb yet: pick a finite verb in the right tense.
Already a main verb: the blank describes a noun: a participle.
Past events in the passage: past tense; earlier past: had + participle.

Does reading it aloud help?

Your ear usually catches a wrong tense but often accepts a sentence with no main verb.

Reduce the sentence to subject plus verb: "a cloud ... surged". If no verb is left, the blank needs one.

Two real questions

From the 1500prep bank, the way the app shows them. Answer first, then open the explanation.

1Question 1 of 2#1964Conv

When Mount Saint Helens erupted in 1980, a cloud of superheated gas and pulverized rock sideways across the adjacent slopes, flattening forests over roughly 600 square kilometers. Ecologists surveying the devastated terrain found that buried roots had survived and begun anchoring the ash.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Pick an answer, then check it.

Show the answer and explanation

The subject "a cloud of superheated gas and pulverized rock" has no main verb unless the blank supplies one. The past-tense verb "surged" fits the time frame set by "erupted in 1980" and makes the main clause complete. The phrase after the comma ("flattening forests...") then correctly describes the result.

2Question 2 of 2#1970Conv

In 1957, two American physicists to Sputnik 1 noticed that the frequency of its beeps rose as the satellite approached and fell as it receded. Measuring that shift let them calculate the satellite's orbit, a method later reversed so that ships could determine their positions.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Pick an answer, then check it.

Show the answer and explanation

The sentence already has its main verb, "noticed," and its subject is "two American physicists." The blank must start a modifier that describes the physicists without adding a second main verb. The present participle "listening" creates the phrase "listening to Sputnik 1," which works like "who were listening to Sputnik 1." That gives a grammatical sentence: "two American physicists listening to Sputnik 1 noticed..."

Questions students ask

How do you choose between surged and surging on the SAT?

If the sentence has no other main verb, use the finite form, surged. If it already has one, the -ing form can describe a noun.

When do you use the past perfect, had installed?

For an action finished before another past moment the passage mentions, such as "by the time the exhibition opened".

Practise this type until it is automatic

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