Updated August 31, 2026
Mastering SAT Verbs: 2 Essential Grammar Rules That Cover Every Question
Bonus Material: 15 Essential SAT Grammar Rules
On the SAT, grammar questions about verbs are incredibly common and surprisingly easy to master. In fact, nearly every verb-related SAT question boils down to just two essential grammar rules.
In this post, we’ll go through how to recognize and answer both of these essential verb question types, plus concrete skills and strategies to help you ace verbs questions.
First, grab a free copy of our reference guide to the essential grammar rules you’ll need to know for the SAT below. Then read on to find out everything you need to know about verbs questions.
Jump to section:
- 2 Types of Verb Questions You’ll See on the SAT
- SAT Verbs Rule 1: Maintain Verb Tense Consistency
- SAT Verbs Rule 2: Maintain Subject-Verb Agreement
- Guided Example: Verb Tense Consistency
- Guided Example: Subject-Verb Agreement
- Next Steps
The two types of verbs questions you’ll see on the SAT
Questions that test your understanding of verbs on the SAT boil down to one of these types of questions:
- Verb tense consistency questions
- Subject-verb agreement questions
And the most important strategy you’ll need can be summed up in one sentence:
That’s it! This simple strategy is your basic approach for all verbs questions.
If these question types sound jargony, don’t worry. We’ll go through what this means in just a minute, and we’ll apply the strategy in guided examples.
For now, here are two examples of official SAT practice questions from the College Board website.
SAT Verbs: Example 1
In the 1970s, Janaki Ammal, a prominent botanist, emerged as a powerful voice in India’s environmental conservation movement. Her exhaustive chromosomal survey of plants in Silent Valley, a pristine tropical forest in Kerala, India, that is home to nearly 1,000 species of native flora (many of which are endangered), _____ instrumental in the government’s decision to preserve the forest.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A. are
B. were
C. have been
D. was
Source: SAT Educator Question Bank
SAT Verbs: Example 2
The artistic talents of Barbara Chase-Riboud, most known for her 1979 historical novel Sally Hemings and the conversation it inspired, _____ limited to the realm of prose: she first excelled in sculpture, where her affinity for bronze—a material she described as “timeless” due to its use across eras and cultures—became part of her artistic identity.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A. hasn’t been
B. wasn’t
C. isn’t
D. aren’t
Source: SAT Educator Question Bank
Try to answer these practice questions yourself. Then scroll down to the guided examples below to see how you did!
If you’re aiming to improve your score on SAT Reading & Writing, working with an experienced tutor is one of the most effective ways to get closer to your goal score. Give us a call for a free consultation about one-on-one tutoring.
SAT Verbs Rule 1: Maintain Verb Tense Consistency
In your English classes, you might have come across some of this grammar jargon for labeling verbs: perfect tense, progressive tense, infinitive form, finite verbs, nonfinite verbs, modal verbs…and more.
The good news is that you don’t have to know the details, or even the names, of all these different verb forms for the SAT!
For SAT verbs questions, here’s the one golden rule you need to know about verb tenses:
| Verb Rule #1: Keep verb tenses consistent within a complete sentence. |
Verb tenses will usually be consistent within a sentence, like in this one:
The artist’s early work focused on themes of migration and transience, while her later paintings, inspired by her daughter’s experience, explored the rich lives of children with disabilities.
To help you achieve this, here are a couple of important things to keep in mind.
- Verb tense refers to the time when an action takes place. You’ll see verbs in the past tense (“I ran,” “I have run”), present tense (“I run” or “I am running”), or future tense (“I will run,” “I will be running”). There are more complex options, like “I had been running” or “I will have run,” that are formed from a mix of these time zones.
For the SAT, however, it’s enough to be familiar with the concept of verb tense and able to tell whether an action has been completed, is in progress, or hasn’t started yet.
- Auxiliary verbs, or “helper verbs,” are extra verbs that go with the main verb in a sentence. Here are a few examples: “I am going,” “they had explained,” and “you did tell me.” (Modal verbs are a specific type of helper verb.) When you’re aiming for verb tense consistency, it’s the tense of the helper verb that matters.
On the SAT, the main thing to know about helper verbs is that you should only use them when they’re necessary for the sentence. Often, helper verbs appear in incorrect answer choices, where they add clutter to the sentence. That doesn’t mean you never need them – but look carefully before selecting answer choices.
Don’t be put off by the grammar jargon here. Doing well on SAT grammar doesn’t require you to have a PhD in English. Most question types boil down to one of just 15 essential grammar rules. Download our free guide at the button below for a one-page overview of all of these!
How to answer a verb tense consistency question
These questions are sometimes quite obvious, but they can get tricky when you’re dealing with very long sentences where the verbs might be separated by a lot of other text.
For verb tense questions, one strategy is key: cut the clutter and zero in on the verbs to make sure they’re consistent.
The artist’s early work focused on themes of migration and transience, while her later paintings, inspired by her daughter’s experience, explored the rich lives of children with disabilities.
On harder verb tense consistency questions, the tense might not be the same throughout the sentence. Still, context clues will give you the information needed to select the right verb tense.
In this example, the word “now” is your tip that you’ll want a present-tense verb:
The artist’s early work focused on themes of migration and transience, but now, inspired by her daughter’s experience, she often explores the rich lives of children with disabilities.
SAT Verbs Rule 2: Maintain Subject-Verb Agreement
The other key element to choosing the right verb on the SAT is making sure that it matches, or “agrees” with, the subject of the sentence.
| Verb Rule #2: Make sure that the subject and the verb agree. |
What do we mean by “agree”?
Verbs must match their subjects in form. Here’s what that generally breaks down to:
- Plural nouns must have plural verbs
- Singular nouns must have singular verbs
A plural noun is a noun that indicates more than one of a thing, idea, or individual: horses, children, mosses. A singular noun indicates that there is only one of a thing, idea, or individual: horse, child, moss.
Even though we don’t always think of verbs in terms of their singularity or plurality, a verb will change form depending on whether its noun is plural or singular.
Take a look at the following examples to see this in action:
- The horses run across the field.
- The horse runs across the field.
- These mosses are hard to identify.
- This moss is hard to identify.
In the first two examples, the plural noun (horses) matches the plural verb (run), while the singular noun (horse) matches the singular verb (runs). Run and runs are different forms of the same verb, to run. In the second two examples, the plural noun (mosses) matches the plural verb (are), while the singular noun (moss) matches the singular verb (is). Are and is are different forms of the verb to be.
Here’s a table with sample English verbs in plural and singular form. Notice how, in general, singular verbs often end in an s (although this does not apply to every tense), while plural verbs do not end in an s.
| Plural verbs | Singular verbs |
| are | is |
| were | was |
| have | has |
| want | wants |
| speak | speaks |
| teach | teaches |
If you’re a native English speaker, your ears are probably pretty good at hearing when agreement is off (which is why reading “out loud” in your head is a good strategy for these questions). Notice, for example, how “wrong” these phrases sound when you read them out loud or in your head:
- Horses runs across the field.
- The moss stick to the tree.
- Mary deliver the book to her friend.
- Cross-contamination are common.
These all sound “wrong” to our ears because the agreement is incorrect. You can apply the same test to verb and subject combinations on the SAT and eliminate those that clearly don’t sound “right.”
How to answer a subject-verb agreement question
If subject-verb agreement is so intuitive for native speakers, why can this be a tricky topic on the SAT?
Because, on trickier subject-verb agreement questions, lots of extra fluff will be stuffed in between the subject and the verb. By the time you get to the verb, the subject might not be fresh in your mind, or you might be confused about which word it is.
Here’s a good example of that:
The committee’s decision to allocate extensive funds to water treatment strategies after local residents had complained and campaigned for months were significant.
To tackle subject-verb agreement questions like this, where you’re being asked for the correct verb form, identify the subject and the verb in the sentence and cross out all the “fluff,” whether mentally or on the page. Then ask yourself whether they match.
The committee’s decision to allocate extensive funds to water treatment strategies after local residents had complained and campaigned for months were significant.
In this sentence, the subject is “decision” and the verb is “were.” But because the subject is singular, we want a singular verb, too. The singular form of “were” is “was.” That memes the sentence needs to be corrected:
The committee’s decision to allocate extensive funds to water treatment strategies after local residents had complained and campaigned for months was significant.
Guided example: verb tense consistency
Here’s an official College Board practice question that addresses verb forms.
In the 1970s, Janaki Ammal, a prominent botanist, emerged as a powerful voice in India’s environmental conservation movement. Her exhaustive chromosomal survey of plants in Silent Valley, a pristine tropical forest in Kerala, India, that is home to nearly 1,000 species of native flora (many of which are endangered), _____ instrumental in the government’s decision to preserve the forest.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A. are
B. were
C. have been
D. was
Source: SAT Educator Question Bank
To make sure that the subject and verb agree, we need to identify the subject and then pick the verb that matches. There’s a lot of clutter in this sentence, but once you’ve cleared it out of the way, the question becomes pretty straightforward.
Her exhaustive chromosomal survey of plants in Silent Valley, a pristine tropical forest in Kerala, India, that is home to nearly 1,000 species of native flora (many of which are endangered), ___ instrumental in the government’s decision to preserve the forest.
The subject is “survey,” which is singular, so we need a singular verb, too. Only option D fits the bill: all the other choices are plural verbs.
Guided example: subject-verb agreement
Now let’s look at a practice question for the other verb forms question type on the SAT.
The artistic talents of Barbara Chase-Riboud, most known for her 1979 historical novel Sally Hemings and the conversation it inspired, _____ limited to the realm of prose: she first excelled in sculpture, where her affinity for bronze—a material she described as “timeless” due to its use across eras and cultures—became part of her artistic identity.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A. hasn’t been
B. wasn’t
C. isn’t
D. aren’t
Source: SAT Educator Question Bank
The answer choices are a clue that we’re looking at a question about subject-verb agreement. Three of the choices (A, B, and C) are singular verbs. Only D is a plural verb.
What’s the subject of this sentence? To find it, cut the clutter:
The artistic talents of Barbara Chase-Riboud, most known for her 1979 historical novel Sally Hemings and the conversation it inspired, ____ limited to the realm of prose.
The subject is “talents,” which is a plural noun. That means we also need a plural verb. D is the only option that works.
Next Steps
Now that you’re familiar with the types of verb questions you can expect to see on the SAT, you’re ready to take your studying to the next level.
When preparing for any standardized test, it can be a huge help to work with someone who’s deeply familiar with the test format. All PrepMaven’s SAT tutors have been trained specifically for the new digital SAT, and our students have been accepted to schools like Notre Dame, Princeton, the University of Virginia, and more across the country.
Get in touch with our team for a free consultation to figure out whether the SAT MasterClass or individual tutoring could be helpful for you.
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Ro
Rosamond graduated summa cum laude from Princeton. During college, she worked as a peer tutor for Italian, French, Greek, and academic writing. Since graduation, she’s continued to tutor students of all ages in French, Italian, Latin, English, and math, some of them for several years. She’s currently a graduate student studying the relationship between religion and secular law, and she works as a freelance journalist and translator.