This mini-lesson covers everything you need to know about verbs for standardized tests, with a focus on subject–verb agreement and verb tense—the two ways verb questions are tested on the SAT and the ACT. You’ll learn how to correctly identify the true subject of a sentence (ignoring prepositional phrases and non-essential clauses), recognize singular vs. plural trap words (like group, team, family), and use your “grammar ear” to spot agreement errors.

The video also explains how to choose the correct verb tense by using context clues (time markers, surrounding verbs, historical context) and emphasizes that on the SAT/ACT, simplest is best—shorter verb forms are usually correct when tense is the same. Through progressively harder examples, you practice deciding whether a question tests agreement, tense, or both, eliminating wrong answers efficiently, and avoiding meaning errors caused by misplaced modifiers. Big takeaway: verb questions are about structure and logic, not memorization.