Form, structure and sense

Digital SAT · Reading and Writing · Standard English Conventions. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

These questions test grammar, not punctuation. The options are forms of the same word: "is" or "are," "its" or "their," "made" or "had made." Three checks solve most of them.

Agreement. Find the real subject of the verb. Cross out the phrases between subject and verb, then match singular with singular and plural with plural. A pronoun must match the noun it stands for in the same way.

Tense. Look at the other verbs and the time words ("in 1863," "since 1990," "by the time"). Keep the same tense unless the time changes. Modifiers. A describing phrase at the start of a sentence must be followed at once by the thing it describes.

Rules to remember

Ignore phrases between subject and verb: "The box of old letters is heavy."
"Each," "every," "one of" and "the number of" take a singular verb. An -ing phrase used as a subject is singular: "Growing crops takes time."
Two subjects joined by "and" take a plural verb. In a reversed sentence the subject comes after the verb: "Among the trees are two wells."
Pronouns: its (one thing), their (more than one). it's = it is; they're = they are.
Plural, no apostrophe: "the rivers flow." Possessive: "the river's banks" (one river), "the rivers' banks" (several).
"Since" + a past date: has/have + past participle ("has grown since 2010"). An earlier event before another past event: had + past participle.
After an opening describing phrase and its comma, name the person or thing it describes.

Common mistake

Matching the verb to the nearest noun instead of the real subject. In "The results of the survey ______ clear," the subject is "results," so the verb is "are."

Worked example

"Walking along the beach at dawn, ______" Which ending conforms to Standard English: (A) a rare shell was found by the children, or (B) the children found a rare shell?

The opening phrase "Walking along the beach at dawn" has no subject of its own.
The noun right after the comma must be whoever was walking.
In (A) that noun is "a rare shell," and a shell cannot walk. In (B) it is "the children."

Answer: (B) the children found a rare shell.

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