KS2 SATs 2019 — English GPS Paper 1: Questions

The idea

Tense tells you when a verb happens. The simple past describes a finished action ('we visited'), the present perfect links the past to now using 'has' or 'have' plus the past participle ('we have visited'), and the progressive uses 'is' or 'was' with an '-ing' verb for an action in progress.

Modal verbs such as 'might', 'must', 'should' and 'could' show how certain or necessary something is, and they are followed by the base verb: 'she might win', never 'she might wins'.

Agreement is the other trap: the verb must match its subject in the present tense. 'The list of names is on the desk' — the subject is 'list', singular, not 'names'. Find the real subject before you choose the verb.

Worked example

Complete the sentence with the correct forms of 'write' and 'choose': She ___ a story yesterday, and she has ___ a title for it.

1. 'Yesterday' means a finished past action, so use the simple past of 'write': wrote.
2. After 'has' you need the past participle of 'choose': chosen (choose, chose, chosen).
3. Check the subject: 'she' is singular, so 'has' agrees correctly.

Answer: She wrote a story yesterday, and she has chosen a title for it.

Watch out

• Writing 'she has wrote' — after 'has' or 'have', always use the past participle.
• Letting a nearby plural noun trick you into a plural verb when the true subject is singular.