SAT Reading & Writing: Verb Tense Consistency
33+ practice questions in Praczo
The concept, explained
- 1
Verb tense must be consistent within a sentence and across a passage unless there is a logical reason for a shift.
- 2
Simple past (walked), simple present (walks), and simple future (will walk) — identify the established tense of the passage first.
- 3
The SAT will underline one verb and ask you to choose the correct tense based on surrounding context.
- 4
Sequence of events can require different tenses: "She had finished her exam before the bell rang" (past perfect + simple past).
- 5
Perfect tenses: present perfect ("has finished") = relevant to now; past perfect ("had finished") = completed before another past event.
- ✗ Switching tense in the middle of a passage without reason — if the passage is in past tense, keep all events in past tense.
- ✗ Using present perfect ("has gone") when simple past ("went") is needed for a completed event with a specific time marker.
SAT-style practice
By the time the committee reviewed the proposal, the design team _____ three revisions.
Ready to master this concept?
Praczo tracks your mastery on all 179 SAT concepts — not just broad topics. One sample question is a start; drilling to mastery is how scores move.
3-day free trial — no credit card required