Don’t worry, this is not nearly as complicated as it sounds. Knewton instructor Cole Entress lays it all out for you in this short lesson.
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“Because it sounds right!”

This refrain is often heard when a GMAT student is asked to explain why he or she has selected a specific answer.  At Kaplan, we disabuse students of the notion that sentence correction questions can be consistently solved simply by “sound.”  Instead, test takers need to look for specific grammatical errors.  Identifying most of these errors depends on the context in which they are used.  For example, if the subject of a sentence is singular, the verb must be singular as well.

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This week, we have another great article from Chris Ryan, Manhattan GMAT’s Director of Instructor and Product Development. Chris has some really interesting stuff for us this week on “layering” in Sentence Correction questions. Layering is a technique used by a test writer to make a question more difficult. Take it away, Chris!

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When confronting a sentence correction problem, one of the first error types for which test-takers (rightfully) search is an incorrect verb tense.  In order to identify the correct verb tense to use in a specific situation, students must be aware of the appropriate context of each tense.  This is especially important when one of the “perfect” tenses is in play.

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As we’ve previously explained, the authors of the GMAT are much more mechanics than they are artists (though their questions are, in most cases, masterpieces) in that their job is to create a standardized test, and not a random assortment of challenging questions.  To be a successful assessment for the purpose of MBA admissions, each question needs to be unique on the surface, but almost identical to others in its underlying composition.

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For many testers, GMAT Sentence Corrections can be a score destroyer. However, SC questions are somewhat less involved than Reading Comprehension and Arguments, and constitute roughly 40% of the Verbal questions. Thus, it’s absolutely essential to do well on SC in order to hit your target Verbal score range. In fact, performing effectively and efficiently on SC is the backbone to a great Verbal score: By getting almost all (if not all) of your SC right, you set yourself up for success on the Verbal section as a whole because SC allows you to get a high number of questions correct in less time per question than Reading Comprehension and Arguments take. As an added bonus, SC questions are based on actual content knowledge. Thus, you absolutely must take the sometimes tedious trek through Grammar 101 in order to master your core content. Once you’ve got that knowledge, you can then take control of those murky, shark infested sentences that GMAC throws at you. Below are some tips on how to apply your grammar knowledge to GMAT Sentence Corrections.

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The subjunctive usually refers to things that have not happened yet, whether we really want them to happen (commands, wishes) or not (suppositions, conditional statements, fearing). The subjunctive appears in very specific contexts; we shall cover the most common ones, and some of the less common ones!  Please note that the subjunctive on the GMAT is not common! If your Verbal scores are low, direct your studies toward:

• subject-verb agreement
• verb tense, comparisons
• parallelism (the GMAT loves parallelism so much, the two of them should get married)

The subjunctive exists in many languages, though other languages use it more than we do in English, where it’s a somewhat strange and slowly disappearing form.

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The subjunctive usually refers to things that have not happened yet, whether we really want them to happen (commands, wishes) or not (suppositions, conditional statements, fearing). The subjunctive appears in very specific contexts; we shall cover the most common ones, and some of the less common ones!  Please note that the subjunctive on the GMAT is not common! If your Verbal scores are low, direct your studies toward:

• subject-verb agreement
• verb tense, comparisons
• parallelism (the GMAT loves parallelism so much, the two of them should get married)

The subjunctive exists in many languages, though other languages use it more than we do in English, where it’s a somewhat strange and slowly disappearing form.

Read More

The subjunctive usually refers to things that have not happened yet, whether we really want them to happen (commands, wishes) or not (suppositions, conditional statements, fearing). The subjunctive appears in very specific contexts; we shall cover the most common ones, and some of the less common ones!  Please note that the subjunctive on the GMAT is not common! If your Verbal scores are low, direct your studies toward:

• subject-verb agreement
• verb tense, comparisons
• parallelism (the GMAT loves parallelism so much, the two of them should get married)

The subjunctive exists in many languages, though other languages use it more than we do in English, where it’s a somewhat strange and slowly disappearing form.

Read More

The subjunctive usually refers to things that have not happened yet, whether we really want them to happen (commands, wishes) or not (suppositions, conditional statements, fearing). The subjunctive appears in very specific contexts; we shall cover the most common ones, and some of the less common ones!  Please note that the subjunctive on the GMAT is not common! If your Verbal scores are low, direct your studies toward:

• subject-verb agreement
• verb tense, comparisons
• parallelism (the GMAT loves parallelism so much, the two of them should get married)

The subjunctive exists in many languages, though other languages use it more than we do in English, where it’s a somewhat strange and slowly disappearing form.

Read More

The subjunctive usually refers to things that have not happened yet, whether we really want them to happen (commands, wishes) or not (suppositions, conditional statements, fearing). The subjunctive appears in very specific contexts; we shall cover the most common ones, and some of the less common ones!  Please note that the subjunctive on the GMAT is not common! If your Verbal scores are low, direct your studies toward:

• subject-verb agreement
• verb tense, comparisons
• parallelism (the GMAT loves parallelism so much, the two of them should get married)

The subjunctive exists in many languages, though other languages use it more than we do in English, where it’s a somewhat strange and slowly disappearing form.

Read More

The subjunctive usually refers to things that have not happened yet, whether we really want them to happen (commands, wishes) or not (suppositions, conditional statements, fearing). The subjunctive appears in very specific contexts; we shall cover the most common ones, and some of the less common ones!  Please note that the subjunctive on the GMAT is not common! If your Verbal scores are low, direct your studies toward:

• subject-verb agreement
• verb tense, comparisons
• parallelism (the GMAT loves parallelism so much, the two of them should get married)

The subjunctive exists in many languages, though other languages use it more than we do in English, where it’s a somewhat strange and slowly disappearing form.

Read More

From previous posts, I’ve discussed the need to understand certain grammar concepts on the GMAT in order to do well.  As you continue to study for the GMAT, make sure you focus on these specific grammar areas.  Additionally, on any given question, the GMAT is often testing several of these concepts.  Thus, as we teach in our Kaplan classroom course, make sure you have a great strategy to keep all the moving parts organized.  The following conceptual topics appear often on the test:

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This week, we’re going to analyze a particularly tough GMATPrep® Sentence Correction question.

First, set your timer for 1 minute and 15 seconds and try the problem!

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The GMAT is in love with comparisons. In fact, one might say that the GMAT test-makers are more likely to be in love with comparisons than they are to be in love with any comparable sentence structure. See what I did there? The GMAT puts comparisons in all three verbal question types, and it does it as often as possible, which is why having a deep understanding of how comparisons work on the GMAT is a key test skill.

Why does the GMAT love comparisons so much? Let us count the ways:

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