Digital SAT Standard English Conventions (form): a complete guide to agreement, verb forms, pronouns, modifiers, apostrophes and parallelism

What the form, structure and sense skills demand

These are the grammar questions in Standard English Conventions, about 26% of the Reading and Writing section. Each question shows the same word in different grammatical forms and asks which fits the sentence. They are, with the boundaries questions, the most learnable points on the test. This guide ties together the matching dot-point pages, each with its own practice: subject-verb agreement, verb tense and form, pronoun agreement and clarity, modifier placement, plural and possessive nouns, and parallel structure and comparisons.

Subject-verb agreement

Find the true subject and match the verb's number. Ignore intervening phrases: in "the box of letters," the subject is "box." A prepositional phrase never holds the subject. Each, every, either, neither and the -one/-body/-thing words are singular; collective nouns (team, committee) are usually singular. In inverted and there is/are sentences, the subject follows the verb. The trap is matching the verb to the nearest noun rather than the true subject.

Verb tense and form

Match the verb's tense to the passage's time markers and keep it consistent. Use the past perfect ("had built") for the earlier of two past events, and the present perfect ("has built") for an action continuing to now. Make sure each clause has a finite (main) verb: a participle ("building," "having built") or an infinitive ("to build") cannot be the main verb, and using one leaves a fragment.

Pronouns

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number (the true antecedent governs, so "each" is singular), use the right case (between you and me), and have a clear reference (replace an ambiguous pronoun with the specific noun). Know the pairs: its/it's, who/whom, their/they're/there.

Modifiers

A modifier must sit next to the word it describes. An introductory modifier describes the subject right after the comma; if that subject is not what the phrase describes, the modifier dangles and is wrong.

Plurals, possessives and parallelism

For apostrophes: a plain plural takes none, a singular possessive takes apostrophe + s, a plural possessive ending in s takes s + apostrophe, and its is possessive while it's means "it is." For parallelism, list items and correlative pairs ("not only... but also") must share the same grammatical form, and comparisons must compare like with like ("the new city's population grew faster than the old city's").

How the form skills are examined

• Subject-verb agreement. True subject past intervening phrases; singular "each" and collective nouns; inverted subjects.
• Verb tense and form. Tense from time markers; past perfect for sequence; finite verb, not a participle.
• Pronouns. Agreement with the true antecedent; case; clear reference; its/it's, who/whom.
• Modifiers. Introductory modifier describes the following subject; fix dangling by naming the right subject.
• Plurals and possessives. Plain plural (none), singular (apostrophe-s), plural (s-apostrophe); its has no apostrophe.
• Parallelism and comparisons. Same form across a list or correlatives; compare like with like.

Check your knowledge

Answer these, then read the solutions.

1. In "the list of items," what is the subject, and what number is the verb? (2 marks)
2. When do you use the past perfect tense? (2 marks)
3. Correct the case: "The prize was shared between she and I." (2 marks)
4. Fix the modifier: "Running late, the bus was missed by Tom." (2 marks)
5. Write the plural possessive of "teacher" in "the ___ lounge" for several teachers. (1 mark)