ACT Preparation / Unit 3 ACT 0212 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Choosing the Verb Form
The idea
Verb-form questions are answered in three steps. First, find the governing tense of the passage from the verbs around the underlined one. Second, ask whether the time actually changes at this point; if not, match the governing tense. Third, check the form: after has, have or had, use the past participle, and in an unlikely or untrue condition, use were.
In practice
Worked example: "Last summer the town held its first fair. Crowds (fill, filled) the square, and by evening the vendors had (ran, run) out of food. If the weather (was, were) always that mild, the fair would run all season." The passage is in the past and nothing changes, so filled. After had comes the participle, run. The condition is untrue, so were.
Where people slip
The present tense is not wrong in itself. A passage told in the present keeps the present; the error is the slide, not the tense.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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