Sentence Correction
Of
all the topics you must study to prepare for the GMAT, there
are two in particular that will have the greatest benefit after
test day: the preparation for the AWA Essay section and Sentence
Correction section. Effective writing is a vital part of business
communication. The skills you learn here will carry far beyond
test day.
About 14 of the 41 Verbal section questions
are Sentence Correction.
The directions for these questions
look like this:
Directions: The following questions
consist of sentences that are either partly or entirely underlined.
Below each sentence are five versions of the underlined portion
of the sentence. Choice (A) is a copy of the original version.
The four other answer choices change the underlined portion of
the sentence. Read the sentence and the five choices carefully
and select the best version.
These questions test your knowledge
of correct grammatical usage and your sense of clear and economical
writing. Choose answers according to the norms of standard written
English for grammar, word choice, and sentence construction.
Your selected answer should express the intended meaning of the
original sentence as clearly and precisely as possible, while
avoiding ambiguous, awkward, or unnecessarily wordy constructions.
There are two things you should
note about these directions:
1. "Standard Written English" Standard Written English is not
what we use for casual communication, and it is not as formal
as the English used in scholarly writing.
2. "Clearly and precisely" You are also looking for answers that are
concise and not redundant.
This chapter is divided into two parts:
I. Eight
Types of Errors in the Sentence Correction Section (this is an
overview of grammar rules--many students can skim through
this section because some parts are basic).
II. Three Step Method for the Sentence Correction Questions (this
is an overview of strategy to approach the Sentence Correction
section).
The scope
of this grammar guide is to give you a basic introduction to
grammar. If you still need help, consider buying a book on grammar.
I. Eight
Types of Errors in the Sentence Correction Section
The
GMAT tests only a limited number of grammar error types.
A. Subject-Verb
Agreement
B. Modifiers
C.
Parallelism
D.
Pronoun Agreement
E.
Verb Time Sequences
F.
Comparisons
G.
Idioms
A. Subject-Verb
Agreement
The verb and subject must agree.
If the subject is singular, then the verb must be singular. If
the subject is plural, then the verb must be plural. Test writers
will try to fool you by using unusual phrases that make it difficult
to tell if the subject is singular or plural.
1. If a singular subject is
separated by a comma from an accompanying phrase, it remains
singular:
The child, together with his
grandmother and his parents, is going to the beach.
wrong: Frank, accompanied by his student,
were at the studio.
right: Frank, accompanied by his student, was at
the studio.
2. Collective nouns, such
as family, majority, audience, and committee
are singular when they act in a collective fashion or represent
one group. They are plural when they act as individuals.
Collective nouns will
usually be singular in Sentence Correction sentences.
A majority of the shareholders
wants the merger.
Here the "majority"
acts as a singular and therefore has a singular verb, "wants."
The jury were in disagreement.
Collective noun, plural verb (because they are acting as individuals).
Note: this is very rare and highly unlikely to come up on test
day.
3. Phrases separated by and
are plural; phrases separated by or are singular.
Ted, John, and I are going.
Because they are joined
by and, the plural form is used
4. Neither/nor and
either/or are a special case. If two subjects are joined
by or or nor, the verb should agree with the subject
that is closer to it.
Neither the supervisor nor the staff members were able to
calm the distressed client.
5. Be careful to choose the right subject in sentences in
which the verb precedes the subject.
wrong: There is many reasons why I can't help
you.
right: There are many reasons why I can't help
you.
Here reasons is the subject.
Beware of confusing singular/plural words:
|
Singular |
Plural |
|
Medium |
Media |
|
Datum |
Data |
w B. Modifiers
If you have any more questions or suggestions, email 24hourtutor@800score.com
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