VERB THEORY FOR THE SAT
1. Subject-Verb Agreement
Rule:
A singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb.
Examples:
• Correct: The dog barks every night.
• Incorrect: The dog bark every night.
Common SAT Traps:
• Distance between subject and verb: Ignore phrases between them.
o The box of old books was in the attic. (Not "were")
• Prepositional phrases confuse the subject:
o The list of items is long. ("List" is the subject)
2. Verb Tense Consistency
Rule:
Tenses must stay consistent within the sentence or logical context.
Examples:
• Correct: She ran to the store and bought milk.
• Incorrect: She ran to the store and buys milk.
SAT Trap:
• Tense shifts mid-sentence without reason.
• Solution: Identify the time frame. Match verb tenses logically.
3. Verb Tense Choice
Rule:
Choose the tense that matches the context and time clues.
Common Tenses on the SAT:
Tense Use Example
Simple Present General facts or regular actions She runs daily.
Present Perfect Action started in past and continues He has lived here for 10 years.
Simple Past Action completed in the past They watched a movie.
Past Perfect Action before another past action She had eaten before leaving.
SAT Trap:
• Using past perfect (had) when not needed.
• Fix: Only use had when comparing two past events, and one happened before the
other.
4. Parallel Verb Forms
Rule:
When listing verbs, they must all match in form (parallel structure).
Examples:
• Correct: He likes reading, writing, and jogging.
• Incorrect: He likes to read, writing, and jog.
5. Active vs Passive Voice
Rule:
Use active voice when possible (subject does the action).
Examples:
• Active: The dog chased the cat.
• Passive: The cat was chased by the dog.
SAT Trap:
• Passive voice can be wordy or awkward.
• Fix: Prefer active voice unless passive makes more sense for clarity.
SAT-STYLE VERB QUESTIONS (With Explanations)
Q1: The committee decide on the final schedule tomorrow.
• A. decide
• B. decides
• C. decided
• D. deciding
Answer: B. decides
Explanation: “The committee” is singular. Use “decides.”
Q2: By the time she arrived, the guests left.
• A. left
• B. have left
• C. had left
• D. leave
Answer: C. had left
Explanation: Two past events. The guests left before she arrived → use past perfect.
Q3: The teacher explained the rules, collected the homework, and starts the
lesson.
• A. starts
• B. started
• C. has started
• D. starting
Answer: B. started
Explanation: All actions are past tense. Maintain parallelism.
COMMON VERB-RELATED TRAPS ON THE SAT
Trap Example Why It’s Wrong Fix
Distracting
The group of "Group" is singular → "are" The group is
prepositional
students are ready. is wrong. ready.
phrases
Neither the teacher With "neither/nor," verb
Compound subjects ...students were
nor the students was agrees with closer
confusion late.
late. subject.
Verb form errors in She wants to swim, "To bike" breaks the ...swim, run, and
parallel lists run, and to bike. parallel form. bike.
Unnecessary past He had gone to the Only one past action. Past He went to the
perfect store yesterday. perfect is unnecessary. store yesterday.
Strategy Tips
1. Isolate the subject and verb — ignore modifiers.
2. Check time clues — like “yesterday,” “for years,” “since,” etc.
3. Match verb form across lists.
4. Use process of elimination on SAT multiple choice — cut clearly wrong
tenses/forms first.
5. Read the full sentence — the SAT often spreads info across lines.
