What this lesson covers
- Time markers (in 1885, currently, by next year) set the tense
- Verbs in a series must stay consistent
- "Since" or "over the past" signals present perfect, not simple past
Chapters
- 0:00The sentence already told you
- 0:25Two signals that pick the tense
- 0:56Time markers: match the anchor
- 1:38Consistency: match the other verbs
- 2:14Your turn: the "since" signal
- 2:56Three traps
- 3:28Recap
Lesson transcript
The narration of the video, word for word, under its chapter headings.
0:00The sentence already told you
Welcome to SAT Climb. In 1885, the town blank its first library. Builds? Will build? Built? Most students guess by which one sounds smooth. But you don't have to guess. The sentence hands you the answer, if you know where to look.
0:25Two signals that pick the tense
Here's the whole approach. The sentence has a timeline, and the timeline picks the tense. Two things reveal it. First, time markers. Words like in 1885, currently, since, or by next year. Second, the tense of the other verbs already in the sentence. So don't ask what sounds right. Find the time anchor, then make your verb match it.
0:56Time markers: match the anchor
Back to our sentence. In 1885, the town blank its first library. Find the anchor. In 1885. That's a specific, finished moment in the past. So the verb has to be past. Builds is present, wrong. Will build is future, wrong. Has built, present perfect, is for an unspecified time or something still going, not a fixed year like this. The one that matches a completed past moment is simple past. Built. The date did the work for you.
1:38Consistency: match the other verbs
Second signal. Sometimes there's no date, just other verbs. Each spring the river rises, floods the low fields, and blank by July. Look at the verbs already there. Rises. Floods. Both present tense, describing a repeating pattern. The blank is the third item in that series, so it must match. Recedes. If you picked receded, past tense, you'd break the parallel series right in the middle of the sentence. Consistency wins.
2:14Your turn: the "since" signal
Your turn. Since the factory opened in 2010, it blank more than a million cars. Pause and think about the frame. Since a past starting point, running all the way up to now. That specific frame, since then until now, is exactly what present perfect is for. Has produced. Simple past, produced, would slam the door shut in the past, but the cars are still being made. The word since is your signal. Present perfect.
2:56Three traps
Three traps. One, choosing by sound. The smooth-sounding option is the bait. Find the time marker and let it decide. Two, shifting tense inside one sentence. If the other verbs are present, yours is present too. Keep the series consistent. Three, missing present perfect. When you see since, or over the past few years, the action reaches up to now, and that's present perfect, not simple past. Read the timeline, then choose.
3:28Recap
Verb tense, solved. Find the time anchor, match your verb to it, and keep every verb in the sentence consistent. When you see since, reach for present perfect. Start practicing free at satclimb.com. Your SAT is closer than you think.
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