10 original Form, Structure and Sense questions, easiest first. Agreement, tense, pronouns, modifiers, parallelism. Answer them all, then submit once to see every answer explained.
By the time the grant application was finally submitted, the research proposal ______ revised more than a dozen times.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
D — had been. The revising happened repeatedly before the submission, another past event, requiring the past perfect passive 'had been revised' to show the earlier completed action relative to the later past event.
Having spent four years compiling the archive, the collection ______ finally donated to the university library by its creator.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A — was. The collection was donated—a completed single past action, matching the singular subject 'collection'—requires simple past 'was,' not the plural 'were' or the non-finite 'having been.'
Neither the head chef nor the sous chefs ______ satisfied with the quality of the delivered produce.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
B — were. In a 'neither...nor' construction, the verb agrees with the subject closer to it—here, the plural 'sous chefs.' 'Were' is the correct plural past-tense verb.
The advisory panel, after examining dozens of proposals, ______ its final recommendation to the governor next week.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
C — submits. 'Advisory panel' is a singular collective noun acting as a unit, requiring the singular present-tense verb 'submits'; the interrupting phrase 'after examining dozens of proposals' does not change the subject's number.
The data gathered from the traffic sensors ______ reviewed by a team of urban planners before the intersection redesign was finalized.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
D — were. In formal Standard English, 'data' is treated as a plural noun (the plural of 'datum'), requiring the plural past-tense verb 'were.'
The principal's revised schedule, along with several supporting staffing notes, ______ distributed to teachers last Monday.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
B — was. The subject of the sentence is the singular 'schedule'; 'along with several supporting staffing notes' is a parenthetical phrase that does not change the subject's number. The singular past-tense verb 'was' agrees with 'schedule.'
Scientists believe that the newly identified asteroid, along with several smaller fragments, ______ traveling on a path that will bring it near Earth's orbit next decade.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
D — is. The subject is the singular 'asteroid'; 'along with several smaller fragments' is a parenthetical phrase that does not make the subject plural. The singular verb 'is' correctly agrees with 'asteroid.'
If the replacement lens had arrived sooner, the observatory ______ able to complete its scheduled observations without delay.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
D — would have been. This is a past hypothetical conditional ('If the lens had arrived...'), which requires the conditional perfect 'would have been' in the main clause to correctly match the past-perfect 'had arrived' in the if-clause.
If the delegation had arrived on time, the negotiations ______ able to conclude before the scheduled deadline.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
D — would have been. This is a past hypothetical conditional ('If the delegation had arrived...'), which requires the conditional perfect 'would have been' in the main clause to correctly match the past-perfect 'had arrived' in the if-clause.
Every one of the proposed revisions to the safety manual ______ reviewed by the compliance office before publication.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A — was. 'Every one' is a singular subject, taking the singular past-tense verb 'was,' regardless of the plural noun 'revisions' within the prepositional phrase that follows it.
Score:
Every question above is now marked up: the correct answer is highlighted, any wrong option you picked is flagged, and each explanation is open.
No. Every question here is original, written to the College Board's published Digital SAT Reading & Writing specification for the Form, Structure and Sense skill. No retired or copyrighted College Board material appears anywhere on this site.
Form, Structure and Sense covers the rest of Standard English Conventions: subject-verb agreement, verb tense and form, pronoun agreement and clarity, modifier placement, and parallel structure within a list or comparison.
For agreement, find the actual subject of the verb and mentally delete every phrase between them — the SAT inserts long prepositional phrases specifically to hide a singular subject behind a plural noun. For tense, find the other verbs and time markers in the passage and match them. For a modifier, check what the phrase sits next to: it modifies that, whether or not that is what the writer meant.
No, and deliberately so. This drill is 10 Form, Structure and Sense questions back to back; a real Reading & Writing module is 27 questions in 32 minutes drawn from all eleven skills. Use a drill to fix one weakness, then take a full module to practice the real thing.
No. The SAT has no penalty for a wrong answer — a blank and a wrong guess both score zero — so answer every question, including the ones you have to guess.