form, structure, and sense part 2

Form, Structure, and Sense part 2
SAT Prep Class

What are verb forms?

Verbs can take many different forms. They can change in tense and aspect. They can also be transitive or intransitive. Additionally, there are modal verbs, auxiliary verbs, and many other types.

The grammar behind these various verb forms is complex. Fortunately, you don't need to dive into this detailed classification to do well on the SAT.

Choosing the Correct Verb Form

You've already encountered various verb forms in your everyday studies, and you likely use them without thinking. By trusting your instincts and understanding of Standard English, selecting the correct verb form should feel natural.

Incorrect:Yesterday, I am running to the lake.

Correct:Yesterday, I ran to the lake.

In this example, "am running" is in the present tense and progressive aspect. However, since the sentence refers to an action that happened "yesterday," the correct choice is the past tense with the simple aspect: "ran."

How to identify verb form questions

When tackling form, structure, and sense questions, it's essential to recognize which Standard English conventions are being tested.

You should look for verb form errors if:

• Different options use different verb tenses (past, present, future)

• Some choices add or remove helping verbs

If you don't notice either of these differences in the options, the question is likely not testing verb forms.

Multiple Choice

While many spiders use webs to catch their food, others capture prey using hunting or burrowing techniques. Spiders from the family Ctenizidae, often called trapdoor spiders, ______ their burrows with doors, using their silk for hinges.

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

• cover

• are covering

• will have covered

• had covered

What can make verb form errors difficult to spot?

Complex sentence structures
Missing helping verbs

Multiple Choice

Author and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, whose active period spanned from 1925 to 1950, famously ___ many different types of literary works, including novels, plays, and essays.

• writes

• wrote

• writing

• had wrote

Multiple Choice

Phosphorous, an impurity which can cause steel to be too brittle, ___ commonly found in raw iron ore."

• has commonly found

• was commonly found

• is commonly found

• will commonly found

What is subject-modifier placement?

Subject-modifier placement is a rule in Standard English that requires a subject and its modifier to be placed next to each other.
Here's an example of subject-modifier placement:

Incorrect:The dog with a brown coat ran quickly.

Correct:The dog ran quickly with a brown coat.

In the incorrect sentence, the modifier "with a brown coat" is placed too far from the subject "dog," creating ambiguity. In the correct sentence, the modifier is placed right after the subject, clarifying the meaning.

Multiple Choice

Consumed in the form of sugars and starches,.....................

• the human body

• carbohydrates

Multiple Choice

Rabinal Achí is a precolonial Maya dance drama performed annually in Rabinal, a town in the Guatemalan highlands. Based on events that occurred when Rabinal was a city-state ruled by a king, ______ had once been an ally of the king but was later captured while leading an invading force against him.

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

• Rabinal Achí tells the story of K’iche’ Achí, a military leader who

• K’iche’ Achí, the military leader in the story of Rabinal Achí,

• there was a military leader, K’iche’ Achí, who in Rabinal Achí

• the military leader whose story is told in Rabinal Achí, K’iche’ Achí,

Multiple Choice

Having returned from the ocean to the stream where it was born, an adult salmon's life cycle ends when it spawns and dies, after which its offspring start the cycle anew.

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

• an adult salmon's life cycle ends when it spawns and dies,

• an adult salmon spawns and dies, completing its life cycle,

• the spawning and death of an adult salmon complete its life cycle,

• the life cycle of an adult salmon is complete when it spawns and die,

Multiple Choice

While popular depiction might characterize surfing as a summer sport, the reality is that winter conditions are considered better for surfing. Generated by seasonal storms far off the coast, ______

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

• surfers highly prize the large, predictable sets of waves that are created by winter swells.

• winter swells reach the shore as large, predictable sets of waves that are highly prized by surfers.

• the shore causes large winter swells to break in predictable sets of waves highly prized by surfers.

• winter is highly prized by surfers for large swells that break in large, predictable sets of waves.

What are plurals and possessives?

Plurals are nouns and pronouns that refer to more than one thing.

Possessives are nouns and pronouns that show possession.

There are similarities and differences in how plurals and possessives are formed that can cause confusion. In particular, confusion can arise over when to use or not use apostrophes.

Multiple Choice

One cannot overstate the importance of ___ to the pollination of ___ blueberry crop.

• bee's, Michigan

• bees, Michigan's

• bees', Michigan

Multiple Choice

Slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo’s debut novel The Poet X, winner of the 2018 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, is composed of ______ protagonist, fifteen-year-old Xiomara Batista.

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

• poem’s putatively written by the novel’s

• poem’s putatively written by the novels’

• poems putatively written by the novels’

• poems putatively written by the novel’s

Multiple Choice

Labor unions are formed in order to protect ______ through collective bargaining, which gives employees greater leverage while ensuring they are treated equally by management.

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

• workers' rights

• worker's rights

• workers rights'

• workers' rights'

Reorder

How to approach form, structure, and sense questions?

• Investigate the blank

• Find the focus

• Eliminate the obvious errors

1

2

3

• 1
• 2
• 3

How to approach form, structure, and sense questions?

Step 1: Analyze the Blank
Read the passage carefully. What’s missing? A noun phrase, verb phrase, or something else? Compare the choices. Do they differ in verb tense or pronouns? Identifying patterns helps us narrow down the focus.

Step 2: Identify the Focus
Based on the differences you’ve noticed, determine which grammar rule is being tested. For example, if the choices vary in verb conjugation, focus on verb forms and subject-verb agreement.

Step 3: Eliminate Obvious Errors
Test each choice in the blank, keeping the grammar rules in mind. Eliminate options with obvious mistakes, and choose the one that fits best.