How to Answer SAT Questions on Verb Number Tense and Voice

Verb number, tense, and voice is the key that unlocks some of the easiest SAT questions. They’re not easy in the sense that you can get the right answer without thinking hard or leaning anything.  They’re easy in the sense that if you learn the facts and apply them in a systematic way, you can find the correct answer every time. In other words, with a little learning and practice, you should be able to completely master these questions. So here are the facts you need to know about verb number, tense, and voice. There are also several practice questions at the end of this article, so you can hone your new skills right away.

1. Number means whether the verb is singular or plural.
2. Tense means whether the verb is present, past, or future.
3. Voice means whether the verb is active or passive.

Subject-Verb Agreement

The most commonly assessed grammar skill on the SAT is Subject-Verb Agreement. This means the subject and verb have to be in the same number. Everyone seems to know that plural nouns usually get an “s” on the end, but did you know that singular verbs also usually get an “s”? Furthermore, singular nouns are paired with singular verbs, and plural nouns need to be paired with plural verbs. Check out these simple examples:

Singular: The boy plays.

Plural: The boys play. 

For a singular sentence, put the “s” on the verb. For a plural sentence, put the “s” on the noun. On the SAT, it’s far more common for a question to require you to select the correct verb than the correct noun. So, you will need to frequently remind yourself that the singular verb gets the s.

Verb Number Strategy: Odd Man Out

When you approach a SAT question about verb number, tense, and voice, READ THE OPTIONS FIRST. If those options are all verbs – especially if you see a verb with and without an “s” at the end – then your strategy is to label each verb as singular or plural. Do this before you even read the prompt. Once you determine whether each option is singular or plural, there’s a good chance that you will have three of one kind and one of the other. In these cases, you should select the one-of-a-kind answer. Some of my students remember this as the odd man out strategy.

Let’s say you see this combination of options:

A) play

B) plays

C) were playing

D) have played

The first thing you should do is determine whether each option is singular or plural.

A) play – plural 

B) plays – singular (remember – the singular verb gets the s)

C) were playing – plural

D) have played – plural

At this point, you can be 99% sure the correct answer must be B because there are three plural verbs, but only one singular.  The SAT always gives you three wrong answers and one correct, so the odd man out strategy tells you the singular is correct here.  

Should you still read the sentence? Of course! The SAT is very important, so we don’t want to take any unnecessary risks. When you read the sentence, look closely for the subject that goes with the verb in question. Since we picked the singular verb here, we’re almost certain to find there will be a singular subject as well.  

The actor in my favorite historical dramas ________ the roles with remarkable passion and authenticity. 

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

A) play

B) plays

C) were playing

D) have played

When you read the sentence, ask yourself “who is doing the playing?” It’s the actor. Since actor is singular, it makes sense that plays should also be singular. If you’re not sure, mentally put the words “actor plays” right next to each other. It sounds much better than “actor play”, “actor were playing”, or “actor have played.”  

You might have noticed the prepositional phrase “in my favorite historical dramas” that was placed between the subject and verb to make it harder for you to mentally “hear” the correct answer. Remind yourself that the object of a preposition can never be the subject of a sentence, so there’s no way that historical dramas could be the subject here. 

Verb Number Practice

Now practice verb tense, number, and voice with these two examples on your own. Scroll down to the bottom to check your answers. Remember to READ THE OPTIONS FIRST:

1.) In her paintings of the southwestern desert, artist Georgia O’Keeffe sought to capture the stark beauty of the landscape through bold strokes of color. Interestingly, the rock formation representing the region’s geological history _____ among the few recognizable shapes in her artwork.

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

A) were

B) is

C) have been

D) are

 

2.) Due to the deleterious effects of ocean acidification, marine organisms that depend on calcium carbonate for their shells or skeletons _______ a bleak future.

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

A) faces

B) face

C) has faced

D) was facing

One last thing: this SAT strategy hinges on you being able to tell the difference between singular and plural verbs, so here’s a video to help you out with that. Typically, “was” or “has” are used with singular verbs and “were” and “have” are used with plural verbs. 

Notice that not all tenses have different endings depending on whether the verb is singular or plural. For instance, “the boy played” and “the boys played” are both correct. So, when you see an option that ends in “-ed” you’ll need to use a different strategy. In these cases, the SAT question is likely designed to be assessing tense or voice rather than subject-verb agreement.  

For even more practice with SAT grammar, check out World Class Tutoring’s YouTube channel.

Tense and Voice

When you are working on an SAT verb question and you notice the options are all forms of the same verb, you should start with the odd man out strategy. However, sometimes you will notice that the answers contain some verbs that could be either singular or plural. In that case, the question is likely assessing verb tense and/or voice.  

The three simple tenses in English are past, present, and future. However, these tenses can go beyond simple by becoming continuous, perfect, or perfect continuous. Perfect is another word for past, so present perfect would mean something that is somehow in both the past and the present. Past perfect can be interpreted as past past, meaning something that is two steps back into the past. Continuous means an action or event is happening in an ongoing way rather than once-and-done.  

You can see examples of all these tenses below. Notice that some of the tenses (but not all) use different helping verbs depending on whether the subject is singular or plural. 

1. Simple past – Describes events that have already happened and have finished happening. Regular verbs are typically put into the simple past tense by adding an -ed to the end. Ex: Jason shoveled the snow.  The three children shoveled the snow. 
2. Simple present – Describes an event that is happening right now. Ex: Jason shovels the snow. The three children shovel the snow.
3. Simple future -Describe events that are likely to happen in a time yet to come. The simple future tense is formed with the use of the helping verb will. Ex: Jason will shovel the snow.  The three children will shovel the snow. 
4. Past Continuous – Describes ongoing events that started in the past, continued for a length of time, and finished while still in the past. They are usually formed by adding the helping verbs was (for singular) or were (for plural). Ex: Jason was shoveling the snow for more than an hour.  The three children were shoveling the snow for more than an hour. 
5. Present Continuous – Describes ongoing events that are happening now. They are typically formed by using the helping verb is (for singular) and are (for plural). Ex: Jason is shoveling the snow. The three children are shoveling the snow.
6. Future Continuous – Describes ongoing activities or events that will start at some point in the future. This tense uses the helping verbs will be. Ex: Jason will be shoveling the snow tomorrow. The three children will be shoveling the snow tomorrow.
7. Past Perfect – Describes events that happened earlier than other past events. In other words, they are two steps back in time. This tense is formed with the helping verb had. Ex: Before Mom left for work, Jason had shoveled the snow. Before Mom left for work, the three children had shoveled the snow. 
8. Present Perfect – Describes events that were done in the past and are maybe still happening now. They are typically formed by using the helping verbs has (for singular) and have (for plural). Ex: Jason has shoveled snow before. The three children have shoveled snow before.
9. Future Perfect – Describes events that will happen in the future, but compares them to events that will happen even further into the future. The future perfect tense uses the helping verbs will have. Ex: By the time Mom leaves for work, Jason will have shoveled the snow.  By the time Mom leaves for work, the three children will have shoveled the snow. 
10. Past Perfect Continuous – Describes events that were both ongoing and happened further back in the past than another past event. This verb tense typically uses the helping verbs had been.  Ex: Before Mom left for work, Jason had been shoveling the snow for more than an hour. Before Mom left for work, the three children had been shoveling the snow for more than an hour.
11. Present Perfect Continuous –  Describes events that started in the past and are definitely still happening now. This tense is formed with the helping verbs has been (for singular) and have been (for plural). Ex: Jason has been shoveling the snow for more than an hour. The three children have been shoveling the snow for more than an hour.
12. Future Perfect Continuous – Describes ongoing events that will happen in the future, but in relation to another event that will happen even further in the future. The future perfect continuous uses the helping verbs will have been. Ex: By the time Mom leaves for work, Jason will have been shoveling the snow for more than an hour.  By the time Mom leaves for work, the three children will have been shoveling the snow for more than an hour.

Let’s talk about the voice part of “verb number, tense, and voice”. Any verb can be in the active or passive voice. All of the tense examples above were given in the active voice. The passive voice would be used if the subject changed to the snow itself. The snow isn’t doing anything: somebody else is shoveling it.  

1. Active Voice – is used when the subject of the sentence is doing the action described by the verb. Ex: Jason is shoveling the snow. Jason had shoveled the snow. Jason will be shoveling the snow.  
2. Passive Voice – is used when the subject of the sentence is receiving the action described by the verb. Ex: The snow is being shoveled by Jason. The snow had been shoveled by Jason. The snow will be shoveled by Jason.  

SAT Strategy: Tense and voice

So what does verb number, tense, and voice have to do with the SAT? When you are working on an SAT grammar question, READ THE OPTIONS FIRST. If the options are all verbs, pay attention whether they are singular or plural. If there are three of one kind and one of the other, you can use the odd man out strategy. If some of the options could be either singular or plural, you will need to check tense and voice in addition to subject-verb agreement.  Here’s the strategy:

1. READ THE OPTIONS FIRST
2. If the options are verbs, determine if they are singular or plural. If you have three of one type and one of the other, predict that the answer will be the odd man out. Read the prompt to double check.
3. If there isn’t a single odd man out, read the prompt, identify the subject, and determine whether it is singular or plural. Eliminate any options that don’t agree in number. 
4. Next, check the tense by looking for time-related clues in the prompt such as “next week” or “in 1854”. You can also look for other verbs in the prompt, determine what tense they are, and select the same tense for your answer. 
5. If necessary, check the voice by determining whether the subject is doing or receiving the action.

Tense and Voice Example

]Let’s try an example with the following four options. 

A) was expanded

B) expanded

C) expands

D) were expanded

You should start by determining whether each verb is singular or plural.

A) was expanded – singular

B) expanded – can’t tell

C) expands – singular

D) were expanded – plural

Since we can’t tell whether “expanded” is singular or plural, we’ll have to read the prompt and carefully identify the subject of this missing verb.

The Panama Canal, one of the world’s most important shipping routes, __________ in 2016 to accommodate larger vessels and increase the capacity of the waterway. The project involved the excavation of millions of cubic meters of rock and soil and the construction of new locks and dams.

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

A) was expanded – singular

B) expanded – can’t tell

C) expands – singular

D) were expanded – plural

The subject is The Panama Canal, which is singular.  So, we can eliminate D.  Next, notice the time clue of 2016, which is in the past.  Additionally, the next sentence in the prompt has the verb involved, which is also in the past.  You can eliminate C because expands is in the present tense.  

A) was expanded 

B) expanded 

C) expands – eliminate because it is present tense

D) were expanded – eliminate because it is plural

Since we still have two options remaining, we need to check the voice. Did the Panama Canal expand all by itself, or did someone else do the expansion to it?  Logic tells us there was probably a construction crew that did the actual work, and the Panama Canal passively received this work.  In other words, the Panama Canal was expanded by this construction crew.  A is the correct answer.  

A) was expanded – correct answer

B) expanded – eliminate because it is active voice

C) expands – eliminate because it is present tense

D) were expanded – eliminate because it is plural

 

Tense and Voice Practice

Here’s an example for you to try yourself:

3.) The team of archaeologists who are excavating the ancient city in Greece _______ several important artifacts. Among them are pottery, coins, and tools that give insight into the daily lives of the city’s residents.

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

A) uncover

B) uncovers

C) have uncovered

D) were uncovering

We won’t give away the answer here, but you can see it at the end of the article. By the way, the odd man out strategy works beautifully for this question. However, sometimes students second guess the strategy on this question because the correct answer doesn’t sound right to them. Remember, the correct subject here is team, not archeologists. Archeologists is the object of a preposition, so there’s no way it can be the subject of the sentence. So you have to pick the only singular verb. Furthermore, are excavating is in the present tense, so you do need a present verb for your answer.

Mixed Verb Practice

If you want to completely master the SAT verb questions, your next step is to practice what you just learned! The following 10 questions should help. Each one is an example where the answers are all the same verbs in different forms. Answer them by checking to see if there is an odd man out, then checking the tense and voice. Just like on the SAT, there are a few more topics mixed in, such as how to use an apostrophe or dash.

4.) The role of renewable energy sources in reducing carbon emissions _______ critical to addressing global climate change.

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

A) is

B) are

C) have been

D) were

 

5.) In cities throughout the world, urban planners have focused on designing sustainable cities that prioritize green spaces and public transportation. City officials in Copenhagen, for example, have implemented bike-friendly infrastructure. This strategy _______ traffic congestion and promotes healthy living.

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

A) was reducing

B) will reduce

C) had reduced

D) reduces

 

6.) The intricate analysis of climatic patterns by meteorologists _______ extreme weather events and natural disasters.

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

A) were helping to predict

B) help to predict

C) help predict

D) helps predict

 

7.) In recent years, literary scholars have delved into the works of the Spanish poet Antonio Gamoneda, exploring themes of memory and loss. Critics in Spain, for example, analyze his use of vivid imagery. This approach ________ the deeper emotional layers in his poetry.

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

A) unveils

B) had unveiled

C) would have unveiled

D) will have been unveiling

 

8.) The publication of Li-Young Lee’s “Night Mirror” introduced readers to a profound meditation on identity and loss. This poem — a lyrical composition that intertwines delicate metaphor with deep introspection _______ Lee’s mastery of language and earned him a place among celebrated modern poets.

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

A) emphasized —

B) — emphasized

C) — emphasizing

D) emphasizing —

 

9.) In the early 20th century, Marie Curie conducted groundbreaking research on radioactivity, earning Nobel Prizes in both Physics and Chemistry. Advancing scientific knowledge and medical applications of radiation _______ of particular importance to Curie, who remains an inspirational figure in science.

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

A) has been

B) was

C) are

D) were

 

10.) Studying the dynamics of sound waves in underwater environments _______ for understanding marine biology and acoustics.

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

A) is essential

B) are essential

C) has been essential

D) was essential

 

11.) Techniques such as vivid imagery and delicate wordplay in the poem “Caterpillar” by Christina Rossetti _______ imaginations.

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

A) captivates readers’

B) captivate readers

C) captivate readers’

D) captivates readers

 

12.) In modern schools, educators have emphasized the importance of integrating technology into the classroom. Teachers in Finland, for example, utilize digital tools like interactive whiteboards. This method ________ student engagement and learning outcomes.

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

A) will have been enhancing

B) enhances

C) would have enhanced

D) had enhanced

 

13.) The discovery of gravitational waves by the LIGO collaboration marked a milestone in astrophysics. This finding—a result of detecting ripples in spacetime caused by colliding black holes—validated Einstein’s predictions and _______ new avenues for exploring the universe.

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

A) was opening

B) had opened

C) opened

D) opening

 

Answers

1. B
2. B
3. B
4. A
5. D
6. D
7. A
8. B
9. B
10. A
11. C
12. B
13. C

Great job learning how to strategize on SAT questions about verb tense, number, and voice! 

Don’t forget to visit the World Class Tutoring website for more information on our small group classes and private tutoring.  We also have a page of free practice on SAT topics beyond verb tense, number, and voice, including several math topics.