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SAT Reading and Writing skill page

SAT Verb Tense Practice

Use time clues and surrounding verbs to keep the sentence timeline consistent.

Practice verb tense in Dolphin SATPractice questions
10-16 min practice time3 questions on pageStandard English Conventions
Practice time10-16 min
Question bank3 questions
Best forStandard English Conventions

What this tests

What to know for this SAT skill

Dolphin question bank

Practice your skill

Question 1 of 3Easy

In 1881, French chemist Camille Faure redesigned the rechargeable lead-acid battery. Faure’s design greatly increased the amount of electricity that the original battery, which the French physicist Gaston Planté fifteen years earlier, could hold.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
  1. is inventing
  2. will invent
  3. invents
  4. had invented
Show answer and solution
Correct answerD. had invented

Solution walkthrough

  1. Choice D is the best answer.
  2. Faure redesigned the battery in 1881, and the original battery was invented “fifteen years earlier.” Notice that this is the only choice in the past tense.
  3. To indicate that a past occurrence took place before another past occurrence, we need to use “had” + the past tense form of the verb.
  4. This is called the “past perfect” tense.
Why the other choices miss
Choice A is incorrect. This choice creates a tense error. Planté invented the original battery in the past, so we shouldn’t use the present tense “is inventing.” Choice B is incorrect. This choice creates a tense error. Planté invented the original battery in the past, so we shouldn’t use the future tense “will invent.” Choice C is incorrect. This choice creates a tense error. Planté invented the original battery in the past, so we shouldn’t use the present tense “invents.”
Question 2 of 3Easy

For thousands of years, people in the Americas the bottle gourd, a large bitter fruit with a thick rind, to make bottles, other types of containers, and even musical instruments. Oddly, there is no evidence that any type of bottle gourd is native to the Western Hemisphere; either the fruit or its seeds must have somehow been carried from Asia or Africa.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
  1. to use
  2. have used
  3. having used
  4. using
Show answer and solution
Correct answerB. have used

Solution walkthrough

  1. Choice B is the best answer.
  2. The convention being tested is finite and nonfinite verb forms within a sentence.
  3. A main clause requires a finite verb to perform the action of the subject (in this case, “people in the Americas”), and this choice supplies the finite past perfect tense verb “have used” to indicate what people in the Americas used the gourd for. Choice A is incorrect because the nonfinite to-infinitive “to use” doesn’t supply the main clause with a finite verb.
Why the other choices miss
Choice C is incorrect because the nonfinite participle “having used” doesn’t supply the main clause with a finite verb. Choice D is incorrect because the nonfinite participle “using” doesn’t supply the main clause with a finite verb.
Question 3 of 3Easy

From 1912 to 1951, Charlotta Bass owned and operated the newspaper The California Eagle. While it was under Bass’s leadership, The Eagle one of the US’s most influential Black-owned newspapers.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
  1. will become
  2. became
  3. is becoming
  4. to become
Show answer and solution
Correct answerB. became

Solution walkthrough

  1. Choice B is the best answer.
  2. The conventions being tested are the use of verbs to express tense and the use of verb forms within a sentence.
  3. In this choice, the past tense verb "became" is consistent with the other past tense verbs ("owned," "operated," and "was") used to indicate that, at a period of time in the past, Bass’s leadership resulted in her newspaper becoming one of the most influential Black-owned newspapers in the US.
  4. In addition, "became" supplies the main clause with a finite (tensed) verb, which is required to perform the action of the subject (in this case, "The Eagle").
Why the other choices miss
Choice A is incorrect because the future tense verb "will become" isn’t consistent with the other past tense verbs used to discuss Bass and her newspaper. Choice C is incorrect because the present progressive verb "is becoming" isn’t consistent with the other past tense verbs used to discuss Bass and her newspaper. Choice D is incorrect because it results in an ungrammatical sentence. The nonfinite to-infinitive "to become" doesn’t supply the main clause with a finite verb.

Avoid these traps

Common mistakes on this skill

Choosing a tense by proximity alone

The correct tense follows the event timeline and time markers, not merely the tense of the nearest verb.

Changing tense without a change in time

Unnecessary shifts make the sequence of events unclear.

Study plan

How to practice this skill in Dolphin

  1. Mark time clues and place the events in chronological order.
  2. Choose the tense that expresses each event's relationship to the others.
  3. Read the full sentence and surrounding text to confirm that any tense shift has a reason.
Practice verb tense in Dolphin SAT

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FAQ

Questions about SAT Verb Tense Practice

When is past perfect useful?

It marks an action completed before another past action, usually with had plus the past participle.

Must every verb in a paragraph use the same tense?

No. Tense can change when the timeline changes, but every shift should communicate a real time relationship.