Study on the fly›SAT›Reading and Writing › Form, Structure, and Sense (verbs, agreement, modifiers)
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Form, Structure, and Sense (verbs, agreement, modifiers) — SAT practice questions
On the SAT Reading and Writing test, Form, Structure, and Sense (verbs, agreement, modifiers) covers Standard English conventions inside short informational passages. A student must pick the option that supplies a verb agreeing with the real subject, a tense consistent with the rest of the sentence, or a modifier and comparison that attach to the intended idea. Items usually place a blank in a sentence crowded with extra phrases, so a nearby plural noun, a neither-nor pair, or a compared-with opening can lure the reader toward the wrong singular or plural form or a dangling comparison. The choices are near-identical forms that differ in agreement, tense, or what they modify.
Section: Reading and Writing 54 questions on the paper
253 practice questions in the app
Sample questions
Question 1
Astronomers use twelve low-frequency antennas spread across a desert basin to detect faint radio emissions from distant galaxies. Neither the desert array nor the coastal backup stations currently the astronomers to distinguish genuine signals from local electronic noise. Planned software upgrades may enable the astronomers to make that distinction.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Aallows
Ballow
Callowed
Dhas allowed
Show answer
Answer: B — allow
The nearer subject is the plural noun ‘stations,’ so ‘allow’ agrees with it and expresses the present situation described in the passage.
Question 2
Researchers studying whale communication must limit the underwater noise produced by their own vessels. The marine sanctuary’s permit requires that each research vessel, including those operated by partner institutions, sonar transmissions whenever observers identify whales within a designated distance. The restriction helps ensure that recorded calls reflect the whales’ ordinary behavior rather than a response to the research equipment.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Asuspends
Bhas suspended
Csuspend
Dsuspended
Show answer
Answer: C — suspend
After the mandative construction “requires that,” Standard English uses the base-form subjunctive “suspend.” The singular subject “each research vessel” does not change that subjunctive form.
Question 3
Sculptors often debate which material better holds fine detail after finishing. Workshop manuals from the last century dwell on how a finished plane either catches or swallows a carved line, treating that difference as a property of the surface itself. Compared with that of polished marble,
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Aunfinished slate has a noticeably rougher surface.
Bgreater roughness can be felt on the surface of unfinished slate.
Cthe surface of unfinished slate feels noticeably rougher.
Dstoneworkers describe unfinished slate as noticeably rougher.
Show answer
Answer: C — the surface of unfinished slate feels noticeably rougher.
“That” stands for the surface of polished marble, so it must be compared with the surface of unfinished slate rather than with slate, roughness, or stoneworkers.
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