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NOTE: There is a set of sentence correction sample questions. These are timed and intended to be taken
online to best simulate the actual GMAT. Sample Questions.

  
I. Sentence Correction Introduction
   
Of all the topics you must study to prepare for the GMAT, there are two in particular that will have the greatest
benefit in real life after test day: the AWA Essay section and Sentence Correction section. Effective writing
is a vital part of business communication, and what you learn here will help you express your ideas more
clearly and effectively.

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.

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.

To help you learn this the 800score approach is to focus on the most common error types. We rely heavily on
graphic diagrams to help teach grammar concepts. Every sentence has its own structure and understanding
the engineering of the parts of a sentence is key to learning grammar.

The chapter is divided into five parts:

1. Sentence Correction Tips

A few basic tips to keep in mind.

2. Glossary of Grammar Definitions

3. Three Step Method for the Sentence Correction Questions

This section provides you with a clear, step-by-step method for tackling all Sentence Correction
questions.

4. Eight Types of Errors in the Sentence Correction Section

 This section provides you with an overview of the eight most common grammar mistakes found in
Sentence Correction sections. You will learn specific skills for handling individual questions.

5. Sample Questions
Timed online questions to simulate actual GMAT questions.

  
II. Sentence Correction Tips
   
1. GMAT grammar adheres to the rules of "Standard Written English"

"Standard Written English" refers to the grammar rules that you find in grammar books and in formal writing.
Since proper written English often differs from spoken English, the best answer will not always be the one that
sounds the best. You cannot rely on your ear alone; you must become familiar with the grammar rules of
written English.

2. The GMAT tests a limited number of grammar rules.

English grammar contains hundreds of very specific rules. The GMAT only tests a few of these, so devote
your energies to mastering the rules that most frequently come up.

3. Grammar is key - but style is important, too

The best answer must be clear, without unnecessary redundancy, and with proper punctuation. Idioms must
be used correctly. Style is a secondary concern. Look for grammar errors first, and then check for errors in
style.

4. Don't change the meaning of the sentence

In the sentence correction section, you'll sometimes find two answer choices that are equally correct in terms
of grammar and style conventions. When this happens, choose the answer that best maintains the meaning of
the original sentence. The correct answer will never significantly alter the original meaning.

5. Incorrect answer choices are incorrect

Sentence Correction answer choices are variations on the correct answer. Incorrect answers will almost
always be identifiable as such. Even if an answer choice sounds funny, if you can't find a definite error, then
don't rush to eliminate it.

  
III. Glossary of Grammatical Definitions
   
This is basic introductory information if you have a strong background in English, feel free to
skim or skip this section.

active voice in which the person or thing performing the action is the
subject of the verb
 John throws the pencil.

adjective modifies a noun or adverb

It was a happy coincidence.

adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb

The detective paced slowly around the room.

article word (a, an, the) that specifies or confines the meaning of a noun

Definite Article: The soldier died bravely.

Indefinite Article: A soldier never truly returns home.

clause in a sentence, a group of words that contains both a subject and

a predicate

I couldn't believe that Barbara said those things.

conjunction joins two or more words, phrases, clauses, or sentences

Sue and Sally have never been late; they are always on time.

collective noun indicates a group of persons, things, or animals treated as a

single entity

The fleet of ships arrives too late.

A chorus of angels quivers in her soul.

correlative pair of words which, separated from each other in a sentence,

conjunction act as a conjunction (joining two or more words, phrases, or
sentences) 

Either you are coming with me, or we will never see each other
again.

gerund noun formed from a verb, usually by adding -ing to the end

Running to catch a train can be very dangerous.

idiom expression comprising several words, the meaning of which

extends beyond the meanings of the individual words
 Chocolate tastes as good as ice cream.

The candidate claims to support tax cuts, in contrast to his prior

statements.

Neither Tom nor Sam has the necessary skills to finish the job.

impersonal pronoun that does not stand in for any particular noun, but
pronoun instead refers to "people in general" or fulfills the sentence's
syntactical need for a pronoun

One must pay close attention to a test's instructions.

It must be said.

infinitive dictionary form of a verb; in English, most often appears as "to

___ " ("to eat", "to run")

To sleep, perchance to dream, ay there's the rub.

modifier word, phrase, or clause that provides extra information about

another word, phrase, or clause

The soft pillow made up a bit for the hard bed.

mood verb form that indicates the speaker's position on the factuality of
the sentence; indicates if action/condition is true or unlikely, or if
the speaker is giving a command

Indicative Mood:(statement of fact )

Harry spends all of his money on comic books.

Imperative mood: (command or instruction) Spend all of your

money on comic books!

Subjunctive mood: (indicates probability or objective possibility)

I wish Paul were not spending his money so recklessly.

noun indicates a person, place, or thing

John ate pizza at the cafe with his friends.

object in a sentence, the noun or noun phrase that receives, or is

otherwise affected by, the action specified by the verb
 Geronimo ran to the cliff.

passive voice in which the person or thing performing the action is the
object of the verb

The batter was hit by the pitch.

phrase in a sentence, a group of words that contains either a subject or

a predicate and lacks the other

Noun Phrase: the mouse in the trap

Prepositional: under the full moon

Verb Phrase: runs around and around

Adjectival: golden slumber

Adverbial: happily oblivious

plural noun, pronoun, or adjective indicating multiple persons or things

Cows don't like sheep.

possessive pronoun pronoun indicating possession

Lucy's book is over there.

That book over there is hers.

predicate part of a sentence or clause that, as a whole, modifies the

subject; includes the verb, the object/s, or phrases presided over
by the verb

Ricky reads.

Ricky reads the newspaper.

Ricky reads the newspaper to his grandfather.

preposition shows relationship between words, phrases, or clauses

The man from Brazil had never seen snow.

The tax collector tapped on the door.

 pronoun stands in for a noun or noun phrase

John just meant to scare the boys. He made a terrible mistake,

though.

proper noun noun indicating a specific person, place, or thing

The Angkor Vat Temple in Cambodia is one of Cassandra's

favorite works of architecture.

relative pronoun pronoun that connects a subordinate clause to the rest of the
sentence

Harry is the boy who won the race.

Harry is the boy that Julie had a crush on.

sentence group of words that contains a subject and a predicate, and is

able to stand on its own

This is a sentence.

singular noun, pronoun, or adjective indicating one person or thing

The cow doesn't like the sheep.

subject in a sentence, the noun or noun phrase that performs the action
indicated by the verb; or which is explained or described by the
verb

The ship sailed through the night storm.

verb represents an action or state of being

We all know this already.

voice set of verb forms indicating the relationship between the subject
and the action or condition expressed by the verb

The big fish swallowed Jonah.

Jonah was swallowed by the big fish.

  
IV. Sentence Correction Three-Step Method
A Sentence Correction question looks like this:

1. When Charlene goes to the park, she likes to run, swim, and to play basketball.

A. she likes to run, swim, and to play basketball

B. she likes to run, swim, and play basketball
C. she likes running, to swim, and to play basketball
D. she likes running, swimming, and to play basketball
E. she likes all of the following, to run, swim, and to play basketball

You are given a sentence with one section underlined, and five answer choices. The underlined portion is
reproduced five different ways in the answer choices - choice A will always be identical to the underlined
portion of the sentence. Your task is to find the answer choice which is most grammatically correct according
to the rules of Standard Written English. Sometimes more than one answer choice will appear to be free of
grammatical errors. This is not a mistake. Style conventions must be taken into consideration as well. When
this occurs, you must look for the answer that is clearly expressed and concise.

800score Three-Step Method to Sentence Correction questions:

1.
Read the entire sentence. Do not simply read the underlined part of the sentence, because context
may be important in determining the correct answer. As mentioned above, choice A will always be a
copy of the original underlined part of the sentence.

Don't worry about spelling, capitalization, or punctuation; they are not covered in Sentence
Correction questions. If you do find an error in the underlined portion, or if you're not sure, proceed to
step two.

2.
The GMAT tests only a limited number of grammar error types. After you've read the sentence,
look for clues indicating which grammar rule the question is testing. These grammar rules, and
the clues to look for, will be covered in more detail in the next section.

Keep an eye out for:

Agreement Issues: Look for pronouns, verbs, and nouns: do they agree?
Modifiers: Look for introductory phrases set off by a comma: is the modifier used correctly?
 Parallels: Look for commas separating words in a list, as well as expressions such as not only...but
also, both...and, either...or, neither...nor: is everything parallel?

3.
After you've dissected the question, compare answer choices and note the differences. Look for the
answer choice that preserves the meaning of the original sentence and fixes its errors
without creating any new ones. Eliminate answer choices with grammar errors.

Now that you have a method for approaching the questions, it's time to move on to specifics: how to
recognize and correct the seven common grammar errors found in the GMAT.

  
V. Seven Error Types
   
The GMAT tests only a limited number of grammar error types. Therefore, you only need to learn a few of
grammar rules – you don't need to master every grammatical and stylistic rule of Standard Written English to
do well on the GMAT.

Seven Types of Errors

in the Sentence Correction Section

1. Subject-Verb Agreement
2. Modifiers
3. Parallelism
4. Pronoun Agreement
5. Verb Time Sequences
6. Comparisons
7. Idioms

  
1-A. Subject-Verb Agreement: Introduction

   

Subject-Verb Agreement

A. Introduction
B. Subject / Verb Separation
C. Collective Nouns
D. Plural / Singular
E. Neither / Either
F. Or / Nor
G. Subject / Verb / Object
H. Quantity Words
I. Sample Questions
Subjects and verbs must agree. The 'subject' of a sentence is the noun to which the verb in the sentence's
main clause refers, and the two must always agree in number: singular subjects must be paired with singular
verbs; and plural subjects, with plural verbs. Though it may sound simple, the GMAT uses tricky constructions
and phrasings that make these questions seem far more complicated than they actually are.

Test writers will try to fool you by writing unusual phrases that make it difficult to tell if the subject is singular or
plural. Below, you'll find a list of rules and tips for subject-verb agreement that will assist you in making sense
of the GMAT's intentionally confusing questions.

1. What "Agreement" Means in English Grammar

"Agreement" is one of the fundamental rules of English grammar. Essentially, the rule dictates that
corresponding parts of a sentence must match – "agree with" – one another. What exactly does this mean? If
you've ever studied a foreign language, like French or Italian, then you're already familiar with the concept of
agreement: when you change the form of a word to make it fit properly into the sentence, like changing the
ending of a masculine adjective to feminine because the noun it modifies is feminine –- that's agreement.
Agreement allows us to show who's doing what in a sentence in a clear and unconfusing manner. Without
such a method of clarification – of indicating which adjectives in a sentence modify which nouns, or which
nouns are governed by which verbs – clear expression, in writing and speech alike, would be very difficult.

Because English is structured differently than French or Italian (or Spanish or Polish or Latin, etc.), the
changes you have to make in order to adhere to the rules of agreement will be different. But the basic concept
– of assuring a "match in form" between corresponding parts of a sentence – is the same.

2. Kinds of Agreement

In the English language, agreement applies to several different kinds of pairings: nouns and their verbs;
pronouns and their verbs; adjectives and the nouns they modify; prepositions and the verb(s) they govern.
Depending on the nature of the pairing, agreement may be required in terms of tense, number, or case.
Tense and number apply to verbs; number applies to verbs, nouns, and pronouns; and case applies to nouns,
pronouns, and modifiers:

Tense: indicates when an action happened, is happening, or will happen

Number: indicates "how many" - singular (one) or plural (more than one)
Case: indicates role of noun or pronoun in sentence. In English, nouns only change form for the possessive
case, while pronouns have different forms for the possessive, subjective, and objective cases.

Agreement requires that corresponding parts of a sentence match in as many of these ways as possible: for
example, a noun and verb can agree in terms of number (singular or plural) only, while a noun and a pronoun
can agree in terms of both number (singular and plural) and case (possessive or otherwise). For native
English speakers, agreement is for the most part instinctive, presenting little difficulty in simple constructions:
singular nouns agree with singular verbs, plural nouns with plural verbs, and so forth.
But more complex sentences - those containing several nouns, verbs, and/or pronouns – can sometimes
make even the simplest applications of agreement confusing.

3. Agreement in Action

In order to apply agreement rules, you must be able to recognize when agreement is required: what parts of
the sentence are "corresponding parts"?

Because a sentence can contain more than one noun and verb, subject-verb agreement helps to clarify which
noun is the subject, and by which verb it is governed. Refer to the main chapter for help on recognizing and
correcting subject-verb agreement errors on the GMAT.

  
1-B. Subject-Verb Agreement: Subject / Verb Separation

   
A subject and verb may be separated by an accompanying phrase without changing the agreement.

The child, together with his grandmother and his parents, is going to the beach.

This sentence is grammatically correct. When a phrase sandwiched by commas comes between a subject
and a verb, the subject and verb must still agree, even if the sandwiched phrase contains other nouns. The
accompanying phrase "his grandmother and his parents" only provides extra information and does not alter in
any way the grammatical relationship between the subject (the child) and the verb (is going).

Pay special attention to who or what is doing the action indicated by the verb, and make sure it agrees with
the verb. Ignore everything else.

Here's any easy way to handle this kind of "sandwich" agreement question. Take a look at the following
sentence and decide whether it is correct or incorrect:

Frank, accompanied by his students, were at the studio.

There are three nouns in this sentence, and two verbs. To clarify which of the three nouns is the subject
of the sentence, and with which of the two verbs the subject should agree, cross out everything inside
the commas, like so:
Two nouns remain: the subject is the noun in front of the crossed-out sandwich ("Frank"). The verb we're
looking for, the "main-clause" verb, is the only remaining verb in the sentence ("were").

To simplify the task of comparing the newly-identified subject and its governing verb, we'll next erase the
crossed-out sandwich. We're left with the following:

The subject of the sentence is now right next to its governing verb. But does this subject-verb combination –
"Frank were" – make sense? No. Frank is only one person – signifying singularity, not plurality - and so our
governing verb should also be singular.

The plural verb "were" has been changed to the singular verb "was." This final version pairs a singular noun
with a singular verb, which corrects the original agreement error (a singular noun with a plural verb).

It would be a good idea to practice this technique on your own before test day, because you often won't have
the time or space to work out each step at length. Once you have it down, this "cross-out" method is by far the
quickest and easiest way to identify agreement errors. Just by crossing out the section inside the commas in
this example, we were able to isolate, and then correct, the subject-verb relationship: since Frank, a singular
proper noun, is the subject of the sentence, not his students, a singular, not plural, noun is required: Frank
was at the studio.

Incorrect: Frank, accompanied by his students, were at the studio.

Correct: Frank, accompanied by his students, was at the studio.

Check for agreement in every question you see, and be aware of the different ways the error can pop
up. So how should you handle – or even identify – a subject-verb agreement error without obvious isolating
commas?

Here's are two types of filler phrases you will often see:

A. "Of" Phrases

A sentence will often begin with a noun, immediately followed by a group of words beginning with "of" that
includes another noun. When two or more nouns precede a verb, it can sometimes be hard to tell which noun
the verb should agree with. But that's where the concept of additive phrases can help us. In most cases, "of"
phrases are added just to complicate the sentence, and can be crossed out, leaving us with a simple noun-
verb agreement question.

Look at this sentence:

The goal of the architects are to create the most stunning and functional building in the city.

Does the verb agree with the subject? It's difficult to say at first glance, because we don't know yet what the
subject is. TWO nouns precede the verb: which is the subject?

If the plural noun "architects" is the subject, then the plural verb "are" is in fact correct. But if the singular noun
"goal" is the subject, then the plural noun "are" is incorrect.

To find the subject, cross out all the words between the first noun and the verb: this is the "of" phrase. As with
the sandwich questions, the best way to clarify agreement issues is to actually cross out the "filler" (the
additive phrase):

Once the filler phrase is crossed out, we can see that the plural verb "are" is not correct, because "goal," a
singular noun, is the subject of the sentence. The correct verb is the singular "is":

Thus, even though the plural noun "architects" is closer to the verb than the singular noun "goal", it holds no
weight in the sentence (in terms of agreement) simply because of its placement within the filler phrase. The
singular noun "goal" is the subject of the sentence, and a singular noun requires a singular verb: "is".

Incorrect: The goal of the architects are to create the most stunning and functional building in the city.

Correct: The goal of the architects is to create the most stunning and functional building in the city.
 

B. "For" Phrases

"For phrases" are similar to "of phrases" add extra information to a sentence, while their contents does not
affect noun-verb agreement in the main part of the sentence.
Look at these two sentences. Which is correct?

The book I bought for my students tells the story of a Russian immigrant's experience in the United States.

The book I bought for my students tell the story of a Russian immigrant's experience in the United States.

The portion of the sentence we're concerned with contains two verbs in addition to there being three possible
subjects: two nouns, and one pronoun.

How do you know which noun is the subject, and which verb is the important verb? First, cross out the "for"
phrase:

The book I bought for my students tells the story of a Russian immigrant's experience in the United States.

The book I bought for my students tell the story of a Russian immigrant's experience in the United States.

That eliminates one noun, and leaves us with a noun and a pronoun vying for subject, and two verbs. Next,
eliminate any cohered noun(or pronoun)-verb groups:

The book I bought tells the story of a Russian immigrant's experience in the United States.

The book I bought tell the story of a Russian immigrant's experience in the United States.

You can also cross this out with the "for" phrase, if it's easier for you. Remember, that in additive phrase
questions the subject and its verb will never be right next to one another: the function of the additive phrase is
to separate them in order to confuse you. So if you've already eliminated the "for" or "to" phrase and still have
other nouns and verbs remaining, eliminate any noun-verb or pronoun-verb groups that are right next to one
another. The remaining noun and verb are your targets.
The subject, the singular noun "book," requires a singular verb.

Correct: The book I bought for my students tells the story of a Russian immigrant's experience in the United
States.

Incorrect: The book I bought for my students tell the story of a Russian immigrant's experience in the United
States.

By using the same method as we used for the "sandwich" questions, we were able to isolate, analyze, and
eventually correct the subject-verb relationship. Once you identify a phrase as a "filler" phrase, you've made
the question as simple as a "sandwich". All that's left to do is cross out, analyze, and correct if necessary.

  
1-C. Collective Nouns
   
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 the members of the collective body act as
individuals. Collective nouns will usually be singular in Sentence Correction sentences. The difficulty
of these questions lies in identifying a noun as a collective noun.

A majority of the shareholders wants the merger.

These nouns usually look plural, but are in fact singular. Confused? If you're having trouble determining
singularity or plurality, it might be helpful to visualize what's actually going on in the sentence. Ask yourself
these questions:

Is the sentence talking about something that acts as a singular entity?

Or, is it talking about the individual elements within that entity?

In the sentence above we are presented with the noun "majority". The "majority of shareholders" likely
contains several shareholders; however, they are only spoken of as a group, not as individuals. There is no
indication that the sentence is referring to the individuals within the majority – even though it comprises
several people, the "majority" acts as one – as a singular entity - and therefore requires a singular verb,
"wants."

Here is another example:

The flock of birds is flying south.

This sentence presents another ambiguous noun – "flock" – followed by a plural noun, "birds". Again, the
confusing noun is referred to as a singular group: even though a flock comprises many birds, we're not talking
about each bird's direction of flight, but the direction of the flock as a whole. And because the flock as a whole
is singular, it therefore requires a singular verb to accompany it: the singular verb "is," not the plural verb
"are."

Here is an example of a collective noun that requires a plural verb. Even though you will not see this very
often on the GMAT, it's helpful to illustrate the importance of reading the entire sentence and visualizing what
it describes every time you come across a confusing noun.

The sentence above describes the fighting that occurs between the individual members of the team. Because
"team" refers to several individual members, it is a plural noun, and therefore requires a plural verb - "are" - as
a result.

The key to these questions is simplicity:

1. recognize the collective noun

2. visualize what's going on in the sentence to make sure it is a collective noun
3. proceed

These questions are included in the GMAT not because they are especially difficult, but because test writers
expect most students to be unfamiliar with the rules governing collective nouns. But if you know to look out for
those tricky collective nouns, then you have no reason to worry, because you're already ahead of the game.

 List of Common Collective Nouns

army clergy government

audience council jury

band (musical band) crowd majority

board (political) department minority

cabinet (political) enemy public

choir group school

class herd senate

committee faculty society

company family  

corporation team  
 

  
1-D. Subject-Verb Agreement: Plural / Singular

   

In this example, we see a list of three names. Because these names – Ted, John, I - are separated by the
word "and", the plural form of the verb is used, according to the rule stated above. Don't over-think this
one. It's an extremely straightforward grammatical construction: the subject is plural because it refers to more
than one person (or place, or thing, or event), and plural subjects require plural verbs. So we use a plural
verb.

In this example, we see another list, of two names. But this time the verb is singular, not plural. Why?
Because the names are separated by the word "nor." And according to the rule above, when a list of
things is separated by the word "nor," the singular form of the verb is used.

This construction is, as you can probably tell, the more complicated of the two. It looks very much like the
'and' construction, but means the opposite, and therefore requires the opposite verb. Think of it like this: what
does this sentence tell us exactly? It tells us that Ted is not going, and John is not going either. Since the two
people are referred to individually, as separate people, it wouldn't make sense to use a verb that refers to
them as one unit.

You could also think about it this way: neither one of the two is going – neither one nor the other. It's
just like the term "no one": would you say "no one are going"? Or "no one is going"? You'd say the latter. How
could "nothing" be plural? Do the same with "nor" and "or" constructions.

Here are some more words whose grammatical numbers (singular or plural) are commonly confused.

A. Pronouns

 A. The following pronouns are always singular:

anyone everything something

"She" is a pronoun, and pronouns (which stand in for nouns) are modified with adjectives. Thus the correct
sentence fixes our modification problem by replacing the adverb "well" with the adjective "good".

Incorrect: After she returned from the three-week vacation, she looked very well.

Correct: After she returned from the three-week vacation, she looked very good.

  
2-D. Modifiers: Misplaced Modifiers

Location of Modification – Misplaced Modifiers

What's wrong with this sentence?

Finally thinking clearly, the book was able to be understood by Rebecca.

The meaning of the sentence seems clear enough: that Rebecca finally understood the book after she started
thinking clearly.

But what does the sentence actually say? If you look closely, you'll see that, because of the placement of
certain words, the sentence makes the book, not Rebecca, the subject of the sentence: which makes it seem
as if the book were thinking clearly, not Rebecca. That's funny — how can a book think clearly? — but not
what we meant at all. What went wrong?

If you'll recall, modifiers are often adjectives or adverbs. But modifiers can also be groups of words –
known as adjectival or adverbial phrases or clauses – that describe another part of the sentence. Like
single-word adjectives and adverbs, these multiple-word modifiers must be placed as close as
possible to the word or group of words they're modifying. Those modifiers that fail to observe this
rule are called "misplaced modifiers".

Misplaced modifiers can be highly deceptive - and are extremely common on the GMAT. Because we know
what the sentence means to say, it's easy to miss this type of placement error, unless we have our eyes open
for them.

Let's look again at the example:

Even though the modifier is followed immediately by the book, we might very easily assume that because a
book can't think, we can overlook its placement in the sentence, as the phrase Finally thinking clearly must
refer to Rebecca. But the GMAT isn't testing our ability to understand mangled sentences; it's testing our
understanding of English grammar. And according to the rules of English grammar, a modifier must always
be placed as close as possible to the word it's modifying. Thus, the modifier in this sentence must be
describing the book. So this sentence is misleading - and incorrect - because the modifier Finally
thinking clearly is not immediately followed by what it is modifying: that is, Rebecca.

Try this next example:

On arriving at the train station, his friends greeted Jay and took him immediately to his speaking engagement
in Springfield.

Once again, it's likely that this sentence sounds fine at first glance: Jay gets to the train station, after which his
friends meet him and take him to his important engagement. Take a closer look: let's break it down, and
check to make sure that the modifiers (and the objects being modified) are placed where they belong.

First find the modifying phrase: look for a descriptive group of words set off by a comma or commas.
Here, we have one phrase that looks like that: On arriving at the train station. After identifying the modifier, the
next step is to figure out which word/s it should be modifying, and which word/s it is modifying. Who is arriving
at the train station - Jay or his friends? Because the modifier is followed directly by the phrase his friends, it
sounds like Jay's friends are arriving, rather than Jay himself. We want Jay to be arriving at the station.

In this version of the sentence, it's suddenly quite clear that Jay arrived at the train station, and his friends
greeted him and took him away. This was accomplished by placing the modifier On arriving at the train station
right next to Jay - the person whom the modifier was meant to describe.

Incorrect: On arriving at the train station, his friends greeted Jay and took him immediately to his speaking
engagement in Springfield.

Correct: On arriving at the train station, Jay was greeted by his friends, who immediately took him to his
speaking engagement in Springfield.

Misplaced modifiers won't always occur at the beginning of sentences: any descriptive phrase or clause is a
potential misplaced modifier. Just make sure the modifying phrase or clause is as close as possible to the
word/s being modified.

Descriptive phrases are not always set off by commas. These pronouns often indicate modifying phrases:

which (refers to things)

that
 who (refers to people)
whose
whom

In addition to helping you identify modifying phrases, these pronouns can be helpful when you're trying to fix a
seemingly incorrect sentence. Look at the examples below:

Sounds Funny: Joan's father, preferring meat to vegetables, made a breakfast of eggs and bacon every
morning.

Better: Joan's father, who preferred meat to vegetables, made a breakfast of eggs and bacon every
morning.

Sounds Funny: Your tea kettle, having a leak in the bottom, was thrown away last week.

Better: Your tea kettle, which had a leak in the bottom, was thrown away last week.

Note the different uses of "who" and "which": "who" is used in the first example because it introduces a phrase
that describes a person ("Joan's father"). "Which" is used to introduce a phrase that describes a thing (the
"tea kettle"). "That" is also used to describe things, as opposed to people.

 Don't forget!
Its is the possessive of it, and it's is the contraction of it and is.

The dog licked its paw.

It's about to rain.

  
2-E. Modifiers: Sample Questions

EASY

1. Previously thought to have been extinct, a team of biologists rediscovered the New Caledonia crested
gecko in 1994.

a) a team of biologists rediscovered the New Caledonia crested gecko in 1994.

b) a team of biologists, in 1994, rediscovered the New Caledonia crested gecko.
c) in 1994 the New Caledonia crested gecko was rediscovered by a team of biologists.
d) in 1994 a team of biologists rediscovered the New Caledonia crested gecko.
e) the New Caledonia crested gecko was rediscovered by a team of biologists in 1994.

 
Explanation: This question tests modifiers. The modifier Previously thought to have been extinct refers to the
New Caledonia crested gecko. Thus the modifier must immediately precede that which it is modifying. Only
(E) does this. (A) and (B) change the meaning of the sentence to make the biologists appear to have been
extinct, while in (C) and (D) the modifier is not modifying anything at all.

HARD

2. Erasmus's tomb lies inside the Basel Munster, located in Switzerland, an architectural monument which
having survived medieval earthquakes, and remains one of Switzerland's most well-known buildings to this
day.

a) Erasmus's tomb lies inside the Basel Munster, located in Switzerland, an architectural monument which
having survived medieval earthquakes, and
b) Erasmus's tomb lies inside Switzerland's Basel Munster, an architectural monument which survived
medieval earthquakes and
c) Switzerland's Basel Munster, a monument of architecture which survived medieval earthquakes, houses
Erasmus's tomb
d) The Basel Munster, in Switzerland, an architectural monument which, having survived medieval
earthquakes, is now home to the tomb of Erasmus
e) The tomb of Erasmus, being housed inside Switzerland's Basel Munster, is an architectural monument
which survived medieval earthquakes and

Explanation: This question tests misplaced modifiers, as well as changes in meaning and wordiness. (A)
places the modifier (an architectural monument…) directly after Switzerland, which, though not as confusing
as some misplaced modifiers, is still incorrect, as other choices are offered which place the modifier closer to
the intended subject, Basel Munster. (C), while free of grammatical errors, changes the meaning of the
sentence by making the Basel Munster the subject of the sentence instead of Erasmus's tomb. (D) does the
same, and is also excessively wordy and omits the necessary and at the end of the underlined portion. (E) is
excessively wordy, and includes the word being, which is awkward in this context. (B), the best choice, is free
of grammatical and stylistic errors, and maintains the meaning of the original sentence.

  
3. Parallelism: Introduction

Parallelism

A. Introduction
B. Lists of Verbs and Parallel Constructions
C. Lists of Adjectives or Adverbs
D. Comparisons Between Multiple Pronouns
E. Sample Questions
"Parallelism" refers to sentences in which all items are described in the same format. Unlike some of
the other grammatical topics covered in this chapter, parallelism is a pretty intuitive concept to master; there
are no exceptions to memorize, no strange rules to remember. Once you understand the concept, you're
pretty much good to go. But why, if it's so simple, is parallelism included so often on the GMAT? For the same
reason that misplaced modifiers, subject-verb agreement, and other "simple" topics are included: because
parallelism can be tricky to recognize.

 How to recognize a parallelism

Parallelism is a rule of English grammar that demands consistency in a
sentence's structure. Any lists of ideas, places, activities, or descriptions that
have the same level of importance – whether they be words, phrases, or clauses -
must be written in the same grammatical form. Some examples:

activities: running, biking, and hiking

places: the store, the museum, and the restaurant
ideas: how to read, how to write, and how to learn
descriptions: quickly, quietly, and happily

Note the grammatical consistency in each list: the activities all end in ––ing; try to
be consistent with articles such as the, and or a; the ideas all begin with how to; the
descriptions are all adverbs . In each list, whatever grammatical form is applied
to one item is applied to all items. On the GMAT, this rule – what applies to one
must apply to all – is pretty much all you need to remember.

Parallelism means something very similar to what it means in mathematics. Think of parallel lines:

They're straight, they're equally spaced, and they're very clearly "parallel".

To translate this mathematical concept to grammar, first think of a sentence. A sentence can be split up in
many different ways: by word, by phrase, by part of speech, by items in a list. What parallelism says is that
these similar parts of a sentence must "track" one another, in the same way that parallel lines track one
another. For example, every item in a list must use the same form as the others.

Think of it like this: pretend that the parts of a sentence are lined up, one on top of the next, along their own
parallel lines. Consider the sentence "Joe was trying to decide between eating, running, and to walk to the
store". There are three items in the list of activities that Joe is considering, so separate these and imagine
them on their own parallel lines:

eating

running

to walk

To be parallel, all verbs must look identical. In this case, one sticks out like a sore thumb: "to walk". Here's the
correct version:

eating
running

walking

The concept of parallelism is easy to master - but recognizing a parallelism question is more difficult.
This section will show you how to do both.

  
3-B. Parallelism: Lists of Verbs and Parallel Constructions

All elements in a list – whether it's a list of nouns, of infinitives, of gerunds, of prepositional phrases,
or of clauses - should be in similar form. "Similar form" means that all of the items in the list must
agree.

On the test, you'll often see a list of three verbs, in which two agree, but one does not. In order for the
sentence to be correct, all three verbs must agree:

Patty ate macaroons, drank soda and was dancing the tango.

This is a list of activities – more specifically, those activities undertaken by Patty. Parallelism dictates that all
the things Patty did must be listed in the same form, and since "all the things Patty did" are verbs, all verbs in
the sentence must agree in tense and number. Do they?

This chart identifies each verb form in the sentence. The list of verbs in this version of the sentence contains
two singular simple past tense verbs (ate and drank) and one singular past progressive verb (was dancing).
Because the verbs are placed together in a list, this cannot be correct. The verbs should all match:

This version correctly changes the mismatched past progressive verb, was dancing, to the simple past tense,
danced, so that it looks and sounds exactly like the other verbs in the list, ate and drank. This sentence now
exhibits proper parallelism.

Incorrect: Patty ate macaroons, drank soda and was dancing the tango.

Correct: Patty ate macaroons, drank soda and danced the tango.
Here's another example using a list of gerunds:

Incorrect: All business students should learn word processing, accounting, and how to program
computers.

Correct: All business students should learn word processing, accounting, and computer programming.

The verb "to program" must be changed to "programming," because the rest of the verbs are already in the
-ing form.

You'll often see lists of infinitives on the GMAT: the "to ___" verbs (to walk, to talk, to eat, to chat, to drink…).
With infinitives, a very simple rule applies: the word "to" must either go only before the first verb in the list, or
before every verb in the list. For example:

Correct: He likes to swim, to sail, and to dance.

Correct: He likes to swim, sail, and dance.

Incorrect: He likes to swim, sail, and to dance.

The first two sentences are equally acceptable variations. The third sentence is incorrect because it lacks
consistency; the verb changes from to swim to sail, and then back to to dance. This violates the rules we've
laid out.

 List of infinitives: Options

To ______________, ______________, and ______________.

To ______________, to ______________, and to ______________.

The principle governing lists of infinitives applies, in fact, to any words that might
come before each item in a series: prepositions (in, on, by, with), articles (the, a,
an), helping verbs (had, has, would) and possessives (his, her, our). Either repeat
the word before every element in a series or include it only before the first item.
Anything else violates the rules of parallelism.

Here is a full list of possible parallel constructions, and examples of each:

Nouns Adjectives Nouns with Adjective

clocks clumsy Modifiers
books cheerful red balloon
sofas bright rusty bicycle

Verbs Participial Phrases Infinitives

walked mastering a language play guitar
talked reading a novel write a book
chewed gum make a discovery
 Adverbs Adverbial Phrases or
bitterly in frustration to play guitar
sadly in anger to write a book
to make a discovery

  
3-C. Parallelism: Lists of Verbs and Parallel Constructions

Just like how verbs, adverbs or adjectives in a list must agree. Descriptive words are easy to replace
with wordy phrases, and test writers will try to trip you up by including a verb or phrase among a list
of adjectives or adverbs:

On the morning of his fourth birthday, Johnny was giggly, energetic, and couldn't wait for the party to begin.

If you read through the sentence quickly, it might sound acceptable. However, the list includes one item that
doesn't belong:

This looks to be a list of adjectives until you reach the third item in the list: it's not an adjective, it's a verb! The
"list of adjectives" won't be complete until the last item falls into step with the others:

This example replaces the verb phrase couldn't wait with the descriptive phrase very eager — which indeed
includes an adjective.

Watch for consistency in item type as well as consistency of form.

Incorrect: On the morning of his fourth birthday, Johnny was giggly, energetic and couldn't wait for the
party to begin.

Correct: On the morning of his fourth birthday, Johnny was giggly, energetic and very eager for the party
to begin.

  
3-D. Parallelism: Lists of Verbs and Parallel Constructions
Sometimes, you'll come across sentences with multiple pronouns. In many cases, parallelism
requires that the pronouns be identical.

Incorrect: Those who exercise in addition to maintaining a healthy diet are likely to be in better health than
the people who maintain a healthy diet but don't exercise.

Correct: Those who exercise in addition to maintaining a healthy diet are likely to be in better health than
those who maintain a healthy diet but don't exercise.

In the first sentence, the pronoun those who, in the first part of the sentence, is matched with the phrase "the
people who" in the second part of the sentence. Notice how much cleaner and easier to understand the
second sentence is.

Look at the sentence below:

If one decides to break the law, they must be willing to take responsibility for any repercussions.

This sentence contains two pronouns. Do they match?

When using the word one as a pronoun referring to an unspecified person, the only acceptable match is one.
The first sentence inserts they instead, which is incorrect. The same rule applies for the pronoun you when it's
used to refer to an unspecified person. The GMAT does not prefer one to the other, but one and you cannot
be used interchangeably in the same sentence:

Incorrect: If one decides to break the law, you must be willing to take responsibility for any repercussions.

Correct: If one decides to break the law, one must be willing to take responsibility for any repercussions.

Correct: If you decide to break the law, you must be willing to take responsibility for any repercussions.

Both of latter versions are correct.

Be consistent: use whichever pronoun you choose all the way through.

 Final tips on recognizing a parallelism

Look for:
 Lists
Clauses or phrases separated by commas
Comparisons using multiple pronouns

  
3-E. Parallelism: Sample Questions

EASY

1. Some of the many renovations set for Memorial Field in the coming years include building additional
seating, improving safety, and the construction of a new varsity athletics center.

(A) and the construction of a new varsity athletics center.

(B) and constructing a new varsity athletics center.
(C) and also the construction of a new varsity athletics center
(D) and a new varsity athletics center
(E) and a new varsity athletics center under construction.

This question tests parallelism. All items in a list must be parallel, meaning they must be in the same format
grammatically. The original list in (A) is not parallel. the construction does not match building additional
seating and improving safety. The last item must be changed to constructing in order to fit the progressive
verbs building and improving. Only (B) does this.

HARD

2. Richard is not only a terrific pianist, but also great at playing hockey.

a) Richard is not only a terrific pianist, but also great at playing hockey.
b) Richard not only is a terrific pianist, but also is great at playing hockey.
c) Not only great at playing hockey, Richard also is a terrific pianist.
d) Richard is not only a terrific pianist, but also a great hockey player.
e) Also great at playing hockey, Richard is a terrific pianist.

This question tests parallelism. Not only…but also is a case for parallelism, meaning that both things which
are compared must be in the same grammatical format. A terrific pianist does not match great at playing
hockey because pianist is a noun and playing hockey is a verb/noun. What does match a terrific pianist is a
great hockey player. Only (D) does this and is therefore parallel.

3. The philosophical doctrine of Incompatibility posits an inherent irreconcilability among the doctrine of
Determinism, in philosophy, which holds that each state of affairs is necessitated by the states of affairs that
preceded it and the existence of free will.

A. among the doctrine of Determinism, in philosophy, which holds that each state of affairs is necessitated by
the states of affairs that preceded it and the existence of free will
B. between the doctrine of Determinism, holding each state of affairs as necessitated by the states of affairs
that preceded it, and the existence of free will
C. in the doctrine of Determinism, which in philosophy holds the idea that each state of affairs is necessitated
by the states of affairs preceding, and free will's existence
D. between the doctrine of Determinism, which holds that each state of affairs is necessitated by the states of
affairs preceding it, and the existence of free will
E. among the doctrine of Determinism, which holds that each state of affairs may be necessitated by the
states of affairs preceding it, and free will existing

This question tests redundancy, parallelism, and idiom usage. Because the non-underlined portion of the
sentence establishes the context within philosophy, choices A and C, which repeat in philosophy, are
redundant and wordy. By introducing what is supposed to be the description of Determinism with the word
holding 'instead of which holds, choice B implies that Incompatibility holds the idea, not Determinism. Choice
E fails to maintain parallelism (which holds and existing). Choices A and E, and C, also use incorrect word
choice: because the irreconcilability involves only two things, the word 'among' (used in A and E), which
refers to more than two, is incorrect; irreconcilability in' (choice C) is incorrect as well; it should be
irreconcilability between. Choice D contains no errors in grammar or usage, and is the best choice. The
answer is D.

  
4. Pronoun Agreement: Introduction

Pronoun Agreement

A. Introduction
B. Subject vs. Object
C. Who vs. Whom
D. Singular and Plural Pronouns
E. Possessive Pronouns
F. Objects of to be verbs
G. Relative Pronouns
H. Sample Questions
Pronouns stand in for nouns in a sentence. When replacing any noun (Matt, the cheerleader, the chair)
with a pronoun (he, she, it), the pronoun must match the form of the missing noun. A noun has three
elements: number, gender, and case.

Number: A noun may be either singular (one) or plural (more than one) and the pronoun must reflect that.
For example: Matt went to the store. Because Matt is singular (one person) the correct pronoun would be he
as in He went to the store and not They went to the store. The pronoun they would be appropriate only if more
than one person were going to the store. For example, The students went to the store would change to They
went to the store because there is more than one person.

Gender: This refers to whether the noun is masculine or feminine. The pronoun must reflect this. For
example, Matt went to the store should be rewritten as He went to the store and not She went to the store
because Matt is male.

Case: Keep in mind whether the noun is the subject or object of the sentence and use the appropriate
pronoun. The subject of the sentence is the noun that is doing the action. In the sentence Matt went to the
store, Matt is the person going, so replace Matt with he: He went to the store. The subject of the sentence is
the thing receiving the action. Take the sentence The ball struck Matt in the arm. In this case Matt is the one
being struck, therefore use the objective pronoun (him). The ball struck him in the arm.

Because pronouns follow the same agreement rules as nouns, it is important to be clear about what noun it is
replacing. The first step in tackling a pronoun question is to locate and identify the pronouns in the
sentence.

Simple Pronouns Possessives

Used as Used as
Subject Object
Adjective Pronoun
I me my mine
you you your yours
he him his his
she her her hers
it it its its
we us our ours
they them their theirs
everyone everyone everyone's everyone's

  
4-B. Pronoun Agreement: Subject vs. Object

Once you've found a pronoun in a Sentence Correction question, check whether it's acting as the
SUBJECT or the OBJECT of the sentence or phrase. Is the following sentence correct or incorrect?

How could she blame you and he for the accident?

The first step is to identify the pronoun(s). There are three in this sentence: "she," "you," and "he":
Next, try to define whether each pronoun is acting as a subject or object. Here, she is the subject, and the
pronouns you and he are acting as the objects of the sentence:

How do we know this? Because she is doing the action (blaming) and you and he are receiving it (getting
blamed). However, he does not seem to be in the correct form. Refer to the chart in the previous section, or to
the proper answer to the question "Who did she blame?", which is him not he. ("Who did she blame? She
blamed him.")

Both pronouns acting as objects must be in the objective case; as indicated in the graphic above, him is
objective — while he, used in the first sentence, is subjective, and therefore incorrect

Incorrect: How could she blame you and he for the accident?

Correct: How could she blame you and him for the accident?

Let's look at another example:

Incorrect: Her was better suited for the job.

Correct: She was better suited for the job.

Here, the pronoun is the subject of the sentence, as the job is clearly not the subject, and there are no other
nouns in the sentence. Because the pronoun stands in for "the woman" (some woman), the pronoun should
be the subject form of the her/she pronoun as indicated by the chart: meaning, "she".

Now let's look at a case that often causes confusion:

John and me drank a bottle of wine.

Because it's confused so often in spoken language, it can be difficult to tell when the pronoun in the phrase
"someone else and me/I" is used incorrectly. But it's actually quite easy to remember when to use "me", and
when to use "I": cross out everything in the "someone else and me/I" phrase except the pronoun.

"Me drank a bottle of wine" sounds like caveman-speak and the proper pronoun is clearly "I".

Incorrect: John and me drank a bottle of wine.

Correct: John and I drank a bottle of wine.

Let's try it again on the following sentence:

The dinner was eaten by John and I.

Perform the test:

The dinner was eaten by John and I. ?

or
The dinner was eaten by John and me. ?

The second sentence is grammatically correct ("I/me" is acting as the object), so the proper pronoun is "me."
This test works for many instances of misused pronouns, but to be safe, you should memorize the
subject/object pronoun chart.

Incorrect: The dinner was eaten by John and I .

Correct: The dinner was eaten by John and me.

  
4-C. Pronoun Agreement: Who vs. Whom

'If the pronoun is acting as a subject, use who. If it is acting as an object, use whom.

I don't know whom Kate married.

Why is "whom" correct? Because Kate is the subject of this sentence – not the person she married. To
simplify who/whom questions, try rearranging the sentence into a question, and then answer it. Let's try it:

Question: Who/m did Kate marry?

Answer: Kate married him.

You wouldn't say "Kate married he," right? Since the pronoun used in the answer is "him," an object pronoun,
the pronoun in the original sentence should also be an object pronoun: whom.

Here's another one to try:

Who took out the trash?

Because the sentence is already a question, you can't run the test as we did above. But not to worry: all you
need to do is answer the question:

He took out the trash.

You wouldn't say "him took out the trash," so the pronoun in the original sentence must match the form of the
pronoun "he," which is a subject pronoun: who is correct.

  
4-D. Pronoun Agreement: Singular and Plural Pronouns

Pronouns also act like nouns in the realm of verb agreement. For some pronoun questions, you also
need to check if the pronoun and its verb agree in number.

  All of the following pronouns are singular:

anyone anything each
either everyone everything
neither no one nothing
what whatever whoever

These are plural:

both several few
many others

Consider these two sentences:

Incorrect: Everyone on the project have to come to the meeting.

Correct: Everyone on the project has to come to the meeting.

Referring to the chart above, you'll see that the pronoun everyone is singular. Its verb must therefore be
singular as well: has is correct, not have.

Incorrect: Neither his bodyguards nor he was were there. (was is correct!)

Correct: Neither he nor his bodyguards were there.

As covered in an earlier section of this chapter, the constructions "either... or" and "neither.. .nor" always take
the verb form that matches the noun that is closer to the verb. (In these constructions, either and neither are
actually not pronouns at all, but conjunctions.)Thus, were is incorrect in the first sentence because he a
singular pronoun, is closer to the verb than bodyguards a plural noun; but were is correct in the second
sentence because the order of the subjects is reversed, so that the plural noun bodyguards is closer to the
verb.

  
4-E. Pronoun Agreement: Possessive Pronouns

When you come across possessive pronouns such as yours, theirs, his, and hers, check to see whether they
agree with other pronouns in the sentence. Most possessive pronouns are used messily in spoken
language, so be careful to take special note when you see two pronouns in a sentence.

Incorrect: I brought my beer, and I'm glad to see that some of you brought theirs.

Correct: I brought my beer, and I'm glad to see that some of you brought yours.

In this sentence, the possessive pronoun towards the end of the sentence should match the pronoun following
"Some of". Because the earlier pronoun is "you", the possessive pronoun must be yours, not theirs. Theirs
would only be correct if the clause began ...and I'm glad to see that some of them brought...

Incorrect: If anyone comes over to take your name, you take theirs.

Correct: If anyone comes over to take your name, you take his or hers.

The subject is anyone, which is singular, and which therefore requires a singular pronoun such as his or hers.
This error has become common because of the demand for political correctness; instead of saying his or hers,
people will often just say theirs. Either his or hers alone is technically correct, but writing his or hers, is also
acceptable.

  
4-F. Pronoun Agreement: Objects of to be verbs

Very simple: objects of to be verbs are in the subject form. Watch for pronouns following "to be" verbs
such "it should have been," "it is," "it could have been," "it was", and make sure they are in subject form. This
is another error common in speech; but it's easy to identify.

Incorrect: It must have been her who called.

Correct: It must have been she who called.

"It must have been" is a "to be" verb, so the pronoun must be in subject form: she, not her.

  
4-G. Pronoun Agreement: Relative Pronouns

Which, that and who are relative pronouns. A relative pronoun must refer to the word immediately
preceding it. If the meaning of the sentence is unclear, the pronoun is in the wrong position.

Which introduces non-essential clauses; that introduces essential clauses

Who refers to individuals; that refers to a group of persons, class, type, species, or one or more things.

Incorrect: John was met at the door by a strange man, which he, being afraid, opened slowly.

Did John open the man? Probably not. This sentence is definitely confusing, but its meaning can be clarified
by adjusting the placement of the nouns in the sentence.

Correct: John was met by a strange man at the door, which he opened slowly out of fear.

It's now clear what John is opening, and why.

On the GMAT, the pronouns "one" and "you," which are part of a class of pronouns called "impersonal
pronouns," are often improperly matched with their respective possessive pronouns. You may have heard
that using "you" is less proper than using "one," but on the GMAT, all that matters is that the
pronouns agree – there's no word-choice preference one way or the other. Look at these examples:

Incorrect: One should have their teeth checked every six months.

Correct: One should have one's teeth checked every six months.

Correct: One should have his or her teeth checked every six months.

Correct: You should have your teeth checked every six months.

Incorrect: One should take your responsibilities seriously.

Correct: One should take one's responsibilities seriously.

Correct: One should take his or her responsibilities seriously.

Correct: You should take your responsibilities seriously.

As long as one isn't paired with your, or you with one's, the sentence is probably correct.

 A summary of how to recognize pronoun errors.

Look for:
Subject or object pronouns
Who or whom
Pronoun agreement
Relative pronouns

  
4-H. Pronoun Agreement: Relative Pronouns

EASY

1. The choir sang passionately, as they moved through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies.

a) as they moved through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies.

b) as they were moving through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies.
c) moving themselves through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies.
d) as it moved through elaborate and challenging four-part harmonies.
e) moving elaborately through challenging four-part harmonies.

Explanation: This question tests pronoun agreement. The sentence in (A) contains incorrect agreement
because The choir is singular. Though it is made up of many members, the choir is a group and functions as a
singular subject. Thus, the pronoun referring to the choir should also be singular. They is plural. (B) uses they
and (C) uses themselves’ Thus neither is correct. (E) changes the meaning of the sentence, by rewording it
such that the movement is elaborate, not the harmonies. Only (D) uses the pronoun it to agree with the
singular subject the choir.

HARD

2. Marston was an early seventeenth century dramatist and it is likely that him and Shakespeare borrowed
ideas from one another.

a) it is likely that him and Shakespeare borrowed ideas from one another.
b) it is likely that they borrowed ideas from one another.
c) it is likely that him and Shakespeare borrowed ideas from each other.
d) it is likely that himself and Shakespeare borrowed ideas from one another.
e) it is likely that he and Shakespeare borrowed ideas from one another.

Explanation: This question tests pronoun agreement. The pronoun him in the original sentence replaces
Marston. It is in the wrong case. Instead of the objective case, the pronoun should be in the subjective case,
since Marston is the subject of the sentence. Therefore (E), which uses the subjective pronoun he, is correct.
(B) is wrong because, though they is subjective, it eliminates any meaning of Shakespeare from the sentence,
making the pronoun ambiguous.

  
5. Verb Time Sequences: Introduction

Verb Time Sequences

A. Introduction
B. Verb Tense
C. Mood
D. Voice
E. Sample Questions
Mastering verb usage is extremely important in conquering the verbal portion of the GMAT. Here is a
detailed primer on tense:

A. Time

"Tense" tells about time. That is, a verb's tense indicates when the action specified by the verb took place. An
action or event can take place in the past, the present, or the future.

1. Present

Verbs in the present tense indicate an action that is taking place right now, in the present moment only.
Present tense verbs can also indicate unchanging states of being or action, or repeated actions:

I am happy right now.

Here, the present tense verb am indicates something happening right now: the speaker is happy at this
present moment in time.

I am a happy person.

In this sentence, the present tense verb am indicates an unchanging state: the speaker is generally a happy
person, or that his state of being is one of unchanging happiness.

I study Greek for two hours every day.

Here, the present tense verb study indicates a repeated action: the speaker studies once a day, every day.

Present tense verbs are formed by taking the uninflected (unaltered) form of the verb, which is found by
removing "to" from the infinitive form: for example, the present tense walk from the infinitive to walk, the
present tense talk from the infinitive to talk, or the present tense eat from the infinitive to eat.

2. Past

Verbs in the past tense indicate an action that took place in the past: that is, at some point prior to the
present moment.

Yesterday, I walked to the store.

Here, the past tense verb walked indicates an action that took place yesterday, and is no longer happening.

Past tense verbs are usually formed by adding an –ed to the uninflected (or present tense) form of the verb:
for example, talk becomes talked, walk becomes walked and balk becomes balked. (Irregular verbs, such as
to eat and to have, are not formed in the same way; if you are unfamiliar with these forms, consult a basic
English grammar guide.)

3. Future

Verbs in the future tense indicate an action that takes place in the future: that is, at some point after the
present moment.

Tomorrow, I will eat dinner with friends.

Here, the future tense verb will eat indicates an action that will occur, in its completion, tomorrow.

Future tense verbs are usually formed by adding will or shall to the uninflected (or present tense) form of the
verb: for example, talk becomes will talk or shall talk, walk becomes will walk or shall walk, eat becomes will
eat or shall eat.

B. Aspect

In addition to an event's place in time, verb forms can also indicate how long the event continued, or for what
duration it occurred. "Aspect" describes the event's completion, duration, or repetition: did the event happen
only once, in the past? or did it begin to happen in the past, and still happening? or will it happen, and
continue to happen for some time, at some later time? or does it happen every so often, but not continuously?

Each basic tense (past, present, future) has a perfect, progressive, and perfect progressive forms:

1. The perfect form indicates an action that is completed.

Past Perfect is used to describe events or activities that took place in the past, before another event or
action. The past perfect is formed by adding had to the past participle form of the verb, which usually ends in
-ed:

By the time Michael arrived, the party had ended.

Present Perfect is used to describe events or activities that were begun in the past. The present perfect is
formed by adding was or were to the past participle form, which usually ends in –ed:

I have played the game.

Future Perfect is used to describe events or activities that will begin at some point in the future, before
another event or activity. The future perfect is formed by adding will have to the past participle form, which
usually ends in –ed:

Michael is always late. By the time he arrives tonight, the party will have ended.

2. The progressive form indicates an action that is ongoing.

Past Progressive is used to describe an event or activity that was occurring when a second event or activity
occurred. The past progressive is formed by using was or were with the form of the verb that ends in –ing:

We were playing basketball when the car smashed through the gate.

Present Progressive is used to describe an event or activity that is happening currently: at the moment the
sentence is written. The present progressive is formed by adding am, is, or are to the form of the verb that
ends in –ing:

We are eating dinner right now.

Future Progressive is used to describe an event or activity that will occur in the future, and will continue to
happen for an extended period of time. The future progressive is formed by adding will be or shall be to the
form of the verb that ends in –ing:

For the next several months, Michelle will be traveling through Europe.

3. The perfect progressive form indicates an action that is ongoing, but will be completed at some definite
time.

I have been studying.

  
5-B. Verb Time Sequences: Verb Tense

Verb tenses exist in order to allow us to specify at what point in time some event occurred – did it
happen at one point in the past, or is it still happening? Is it happening now, or will it happen in the future?
Because so many different tenses exist, GMAT questions are often extremely complicated, using several
different tenses in a single sentence. The correct tense (or tenses) makes the sequence of actions clear.

Here's an example of a relatively simple verb tense error, and its correction:

Incorrect: After he had finished his performance, he would go to the party.

Correct: After he had finished his performance, he went to the party.

Why is the second sentence correct? Because the order of events is well clarified. Both events — the
performance and the party — happened in the past, but the performance happened first, and the party
second. Thus, both verbs should be in the past tense: had finished in past perfect, to indicate that the
performance happened first, and then went in simple past. The incorrect sentence implies that the
performance happened once in the past, but that his after-performance party attendance was ongoing —
which doesn't make any sense.

Here's another example.

If the cyclist wins the race, it will be representing an extraordinary comeback from his earlier cancer.

To determine whether this sentence is correct, let's break it down into its constituent parts:

The "if clause" at the beginning of the sentence indicates a hypothetical: a sentence written in if...then... form.
This kind of sentence requires that the dependent event be in the simple future tense: meaning that the event,
if it happens, will happen once, at some time in the future, following the first event's occurrence. It will not
keep happening. Here, however, the dependent event is in the future continuous, not the simple future.

Incorrect: If the cyclist wins the race, it will be representing an extraordinary comeback from his earlier
cancer.

Correct: If the cyclist wins the race, it will represent an extraordinary comeback from his earlier cancer.

Why is the second sentence correct? Because a positive outcome of the race, which is as yet undetermined,
is only going to represent his comeback once – as soon as it happens. The first sentence implies that the
cyclist's victory is going to keep representing a comeback for the duration of his victory – which is confusing,
and doesn't make much sense.

To help determine whether the verbs in a sentence are in the proper tenses, pick one event as a "base"
action, and then try to figure out when other events occurred in relation to that event. Try to discern whether
the events occurred prior to the base action, or after the base action; or at the same time as the base event
took place. Keep in mind that actions that start before the base may continue after the base.

Ask yourself: "What happened first, second? What makes sense logically?"

This is only half of the process: after you determine when the events took place, you still need to know what
verb form corresponds to the time sequence you've identified. This requires a working knowledge of verb
tense, as well as of mood and voice - it's very important to study them.

 Tips for recognizing verb tense errors:

1. Watch for –ing forms.

Typically, –ing forms are used as junk answers on the GMAT; you will often be
given a better alternative.

I am walking
I was walking
I had been walking

2. Watch for time sequences.

Be alert for the appearance of several verbs indicating the occurrence of several
 events that happen (or happened) at different points in time. Pick one verb as the
"base" in time sequence, and determine the order of events relative to the base
event.

  
5-C. Verb Time Sequences: Mood

In Modern English, "Mood" describes the manner in which the action or state expressed by a verb is viewed
with respect to its factuality, possibility, or command. Highly inflected languages, such as German and
Japanese, typically possess numerous possible moods. English, a weakly inflected language, has only three
basic classes of mood: Indicative, Imperative, and Subjunctive.

1.Indicative Mood states a fact or asks a question of fact. The indicative is, by far, the most commonly used
mood.

Harry spends all of his money on comic books.

It’s simple enough: any statement related to a claim of fact is in the indicative mood. Mood is not affected
if it is unlikely Harry actually spends all of his money on comic books; all that matters is that the verb usage is
in the form of an assertion of fact.

How does Harry spend all of his money?

If we begin to answer with Harry spends all of his money on…, we can see that the question is inquiring into
factuality in the same indicative sense as the previous sentence asserted factuality.

2. Imperative Mood expresses a command, request, or prohibition.

Spend all of your money on comic books!

Paul, please try to spend your money on something worthwhile.
Stop spending all of your money, boy.

Each sentence here illustrates a different shading of the imperative, but all of them issue a direct address in
the second person. The basic bluntness and singular addressing relegate the imperative predominately to
familiar speech and dialogue, but it can also be powerfully utilized in rhetoric ("Ask not what your country can
do for you...".).

3. The Subjunctive Mood is used chiefly to express the speaker’s attitude about the likelihood or factuality of
a given situation. It has a present and past form.

A. The present subjunctive is most familiar to us in stock phrases such as God help him, be that as it may,
come what may, and suffice it to say. It also occurs in "that clauses" used to state commands or to express
intentions or necessity:

We demand that Paul stop spending all of his money on comic books.
It is necessary that Paul stop this behavior.
B. The past subjunctive is sometimes called the "were subjunctive", since were is the only subjunctive form
that is distinct from the indicative past tense. It appears chiefly in
"if clauses" and in a few other constructions expressing hypothetical conditions:

If Paul were not spending all of his money, he would not be happy.
I wish Paul were not spending his money so recklessly.

These constructions might ring a bit funny and archaic to the ear, but, when used properly, express
subtleties of situation and condition that can sometimes be lost when the indicative is used.

  
5-D. Verb Time Sequences: Voice

Transitive verbs possess a voice that describes the relationship between the subject and the action of
the verb.

Verbs in the active voice place the actor of the action in the subject role and the person or thing that is acted
upon sits in the object position.

These are sentences that contain verbs in the active voice:

Andy throws the baton.

The octogenarian plays the harp

The performers of the action—Andy and the octogenarian —are the subjects of the sentence, and the things
acted upon—the baton and the harp—are the objects.

The situation is reversed in the passive voice. The previous object that is acted upon becomes the subject,
and the actor finds himself in a prepositional phrase beginning with "by" or is excised from the sentence
altogether:

The baton was thrown (by Andy)

The harp was played (by the octogenarian).

Regular use of the passive voice without a specific contextual cause is awkward, wordy, and
unnecessarily, well, passive.

  
5-E. Verb Time Sequences: Sample Questions

1. Valerie recalls her college years with such nostalgia that she often lost herself in reminiscence.

A. she often lost herself in reminiscence.

B. she often had lost herself in reminiscence.
C. she often loses herself in reminiscence.
D. she often will be losing herself in reminiscence.
E. she often will have lost herself in reminiscence.

Valerie recalls her college years with such nostalgia that she often lost herself in reminiscence.

Grammar issue presented: verb tense

recalls sets up a situation in the present. Though Valiere's college years took place in the past, she
remembers them now, and therefore loses herself in reminiscence (present tense).

A. she often lost herself in reminiscence.

Proper tense? NO (past)

B. she often had lost herself in reminiscence.

Proper tense? NO (past-perfect)

C. she often loses herself in reminiscence.

Proper tense? YES (present)

D. she often will be losing herself in reminiscence.

Proper tense? NO (future)

E. she often will have lost herself in reminiscence.

Proper tense? NO (future perfect)

(C) is the only choice which uses the correct tense, remaining consistent with the situation that is described in
the non-underlined portion of the sentence.

2. Before it will be made available to the public, the painting was sold to a private collector and is currently on
hold at the auction house awaiting pick-up.

A. Before it will be made available to the public

B. Before it can be made available to the public
C. Before it could have been made available to the public
D. Before it has been made available to the public
E. Before it was made available to the public

Before it will be made available to the public, the painting was sold to a private collector and is currently on
hold at the auction house awaiting pick-up.

Grammar issue presented: verb tense

The underlined portion of the sentence is in the wrong tense. We are setting up a hypothetical situation,
saying that the painting could not be made available to the public, because it was sold to a private collector
before the public was able to gain access to it. We need to use the future perfect.

The correct sequence of events is this:

1) Sold to a private collector
2) Hypothetically: would have been available to the public
3) On hold at auction house

A. Before it will be made available to the public

Proper tense? NO (future progressive)

B. Before it can be made available to the public

Proper tense? NO (present)

C. Before it could have been made available to the public

Proper tense? YES (past progressive)

D. Before it has been made available to the public

Proper tense? NO (past)

E. Before it was made available to the public

Proper tense? NO (past)

(C) is the only choice which uses the correct tense. It sets up a hypothetical situation in the past, from which
the other events in the sentence end up taking the place of (also in the past).

3. In 79 CE, when Vesuvius erupted, the Villa of the Papyri was being covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and
was preserved as the sole library of Antiquity.

A. was being covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and was preserved

B. was covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and was preserved
C. was covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and had been preserved
D. had been covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and is preserved
E. is covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and was preserved

In 79 CE, when Vesuvius erupted, the Villa of the Papyri was being covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and
was preserved as the sole library of Antiquity.

Grammar issue presented: verb tense

The beginning of the sentence sets up a situation: when Vesuvius erupted. This means that the rest of the
sentence is going to tell us what happened during the time of the eruption. Since the eruption happened in the
past, the rest of the sentence will have to be in the past as well.

A. was being covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and was preserved

Proper tense? NO (past progressive): was being, the past progressive, does not make sense with the rest of
the sentence: was preserved would have to also be in the past progressive for this to work

B. was covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and was preserved

Proper tense? YES (past)
Additional errors? NONE

C. was covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and had been preserved

Proper tense? YES (past)
Additional errors? YES 'had been preserved' (past perfect)

D. had been covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and is preserved

Proper tense? NO (past-perfect progressive)
Additional errors? YES is preserved (present)

E. is covered in 90 feet of volcanic ash, and was preserved

Proper tense? NO (present)

(B) correctly contains the past tense throughout.

4. In the history of life on earth, there have been five mass extinctions; the most recent is the K-T extinction,
which occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period and wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs, among many
other species.

A. the K-T extinction, which occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period and wiped out
B. the K-T extinction, which had occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period and wiped out
C. the K-T extinction, which, occurring at the end of the Cretaceous period had wiped out
D. the K-T extinction which, began occurring at the end of the Cretaceous period and wiped out
E. the K-T extinction which, occurs at the end of the Cretaceous period and wiped out

In the history of life on earth, there have been five mass extinctions; the most recent is the K-T extinction,
which occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period and wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs, among many
other species.

Grammar issue presented: verb tense

The beginning of the sentence tells us that there have been five mass extinctions. Because the sentence uses
have been, the present perfect progressive tense, describing an action that began in the past and continues in
the present, we know that mass extinctions are ongoing phenomena. However, the rest of the sentence
describes extinctions of the past, and so, must also be in the past.

A. the K-T extinction, which occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period and wiped out
Proper tense? YES (past)

B. the K-T extinction, which had occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period and wiped out
Proper tense? NO (past-perfect, past): Since we are only discussing one event: the K-T extinction, the past-
perfect is unnecessary. Using the past perfect makes the details of the K-T extinction seem to be separate
events from the extinction itself.

C. the K-T extinction, which, occurring at the end of the Cretaceous period, had wiped out
Proper tense? NO (present, past-perfect)
Additional errors: Run-on!

D. the K-T extinction, which began occurring at the end of the Cretaceous period and wiped out
Proper tense? YES (past)
Additional errors: Unclear! The extinction happened long ago, so it is not necessary to state when it began
or that it continued on. Doing so makes it unclear whether the event had a definite end or if it is still in
progress.

E. the K-T extinction, which occurs at the end of the Cretaceous period and wiped out
Proper tense? NO (present, past)

(A) uses the past tense throughout the description of the K-T extinction. It is the most clear, and
therefore, the best choice.

  
6. Comparisons: Introduction

Comparisons

A. Introduction
B. Comparisons as Parallelism
C. Comparative and Superlative Forms
D. Sample Questions
You should only compare things that can be logically compared. Faulty or nonsensical comparisons
account for a significant number of the errors in GMAT Sentence Correction questions. Most of these
errors derive from a very simple concept: you can't compare apples to oranges. You are entirely welcome,
however, to compare apples to apples, or a long sweater to a long coat, or even the baking of apple turnovers
to the baking of pineapple turnovers. That is, on the GMAT, you want to compare only those things that are
grammatically or logically similar. For instance, you can't logically compare a person ("Joe") to a quality
("purple"), or an item ("a banana") to a group ("the NYPD"). You have to compare one individual to another
individual, one quality to another quality, or one group to another group.

Often, a comparison will sound as though it's acceptable, but will be missing a few necessary words:

Incorrect: The view from this apartment is not nearly as spectacular as from that mountain lodge.

If you read it quickly, this sentence makes perfect sense: the view from the apartment is being compared to
the view from the mountain lodge. But if you look more closely, you'll see that the sentence actually compares
the view from the apartment to something about the lodge — but what about it?

The comparison needs to be clarified.

Just like misplaced modifier questions, comparison questions can't be judged by the ear alone: even though
you might understand what the writer is trying to say, trying doesn't cut it on the GMAT. You have to make
sure the sentence actually says what it means to say. Here's the correct version:

The insertion of two little words - "the one" - makes this sentence grammatically correct, because "the view
from" now has a partner in comparison: "the one from." An alternative would be to repeat "the view (from),"
instead of "the one (from)," in the latter portion.

Incorrect: The view from this apartment is not nearly as spectacular as from that mountain lodge.

Correct: The view from this apartment is not nearly as spectacular as the one from that mountain lodge.

Correct: The view from this apartment is not nearly as spectacular as the view from that mountain lodge.

Let's look at another example.

Shakespeare's plays are different from any other playwrights of his era because they exhibit an exceptional
mastery of verse.
Once again, the sentence sounds ok, but it actually compares Shakespeare's plays to other playwrights. The
comparison should be between his plays and the plays of other writers.

How can we fix it? We can make the sentence reasonable by inserting a few choice words that clarify the
nature of the comparison:

Like the phrase "the one from" in the last example, the phrase "those of" in this example makes it very clear
that Shakespeare's plays are being compared to other playwrights' plays – not other playwrights.

Incorrect: Shakespeare's plays are different from any other playwrights of his era because they exhibit an
exceptional mastery of verse.

Correct: Shakespeare's plays are different from those of any other playwrights of his era because they
exhibit an exceptional mastery of verse.

 You should look out for key comparison words, such as:
like as compared to
less than more than other
that of those of

Comparison, as a concept, is closely related to parallelism. The basic idea theme is that you should always
make perfectly clear to the reader the entities being compared.

Some common phrases used in comparisons are as much as, more than, less than, just like, as, and that of.

  
6-B. Comparisons: Comparisons as Parallelism

Comparisons are a special case of parallelism. A number of comparison-specific constructions call for you
to always express ideas in parallel form. These constructions include:

Either X or Y...
Neither X nor Y...
Not only X but also Y...

X or Y can stand for as little as one word, or as much as an entire clause, but in every case, the grammatical
structure of X or Y must be identical. For example, the sentence Either drinking or to eat will do violates the
rule by mismatching verb forms:

This is a comparison, and requires parallelism. Both verbs must be in the same form: because they aren't
currently in the same form, one must be adjusted.

Both verbs are now in the –ing form. Though in many cases of parallelism either verb form is fine, for
Either/Or comparisons such as this one, both verbs must be in the –ing form.

Here's another example, using Neither/Nor:

Neither an interest in history nor to be adept in a foreign language is going to help you learn to sing.

This sentence lists two talents one could possess, in a neither/or format. They are not, however, in the same
form.

In this sentence, a noun is compared to a verb. Though it's a different kind of mistake than the missing-
information and verb-form errors we've looked at, it should be dealt with in the same way: by changing one of
the forms to match the other.

Both phrases are now in the same form: "an interest in" and "an adeptness in". In this instance, the verb had
to be changed to match the noun, instead of the other way around, because "to be" verbs don't belong in
comparison (either/or, neither/nor) sentences.

Incorrect: Neither an interest in history nor to be adept in a foreign language is going to help you learn to
sing.

Correct: Neither an interest in history nor an adeptness in a foreign language is going to help you learn to
sing.

  
6-C. Comparisons: Comparative and Superlative Forms

Some comparison words are just special forms of adjectives; instead of describing one thing, they
describe the relationship between two or more things. For most adjectives, use the following guidelines
when forming or using comparatives or superlatives:

Comparative:
used when comparing two things
usually formed by adding "–er" to the end of the word: happier, softer, faster, taller

Superlative:
used when comparing more than two things
usually formed by adding "–est" to the end of the word: happiest, softest, fastest, tallest

Special rules apply for irregular forms. Below is a list of those adjectives which have irregular comparative
forms; beneath each is listed its comparative and superlative form.

good many
better / best more / most

bad little
worse / worst little, lesser, less / least

much far
more / most farther, further / farthest, furthest
   
6-D. Comparisons: Sample Questions

EASY

1. Even though he does not like crowds, John still likes New York City more than Sybil.

a) John still likes New York City more than Sybil.

b) New York City is still liked more than Sybil by John.
c) John is still liking New York City more than is Sybil.
d) John still likes New York City more than Sybil does.
e) New York City is still more liked by John than Sybil.

This question tests comparison. (A) is improperly compared because it compares how much John likes New
York City to how much he likes Sybil, NOT to how much Sybil likes New York City. (B) and (E) moves around
the words, but still maintain improper comparisons. (C) uses ‘is liking’ which is grammatically incorrect. (D) is
the only choice which compares John’s affinity for New York City to Sybil’s affinity for New York City, without
adding new errors.

HARD

2. In his work, George Santayana is more reminiscent of Plato's poetic narratives and Henry David Thoreau's
obsessive detailing than Bertrand Russell’s scientific precisions.

a) In his work, George Santayana is more reminiscent of

b) George Santayana writes more like
c) George Santayana reminds one more of
d) George Santayana's work is more reminiscent of
e) George Santayana’s work more resembles that of

This question tests comparison. Because the sentence compares the styles of several writers, it must be
made clear that Santayana's work is the subject of the sentence, not Santayana himself. Choice C, omitting
any mention of 'work', is therefore incorrect. Though choices A and B do mention work, they fail to do so in a
manner that maintains parallelism with the non-underlined part of the sentence, which refers to Plato's
narratives and Thoreau's detailing. Choice D makes incorrect use of the word 'reminiscent', which is not
generally used in literary comparisons. Choice E maintains parallelism and uses the word 'resembles', which
is preferable to 'reminiscent', and is therefore the best choice.

  
7. Idioms: Introduction
Idioms are not hard and fast rules of grammar. Instead, they're verbal habits and preferences that have
become ingrained in the English language after many years of repeated use. To prepare for idiom questions,
take a look at the list of common idioms below, split them into two lists – those you know, and those you don't
know – and memorize the ones you don't know. It can also help to start reading every day, as idioms appear
in almost every kind of reading material available.

Look for these common tricks on GMAT questions:

 Consider, regard... as, think of...as: there is no as after consider, while both regard and think of
need the as.
 To be/being: In general, avoid the construction to be/being because they are usually passive. To
be/being are commonly used in junk answer choices.

  
7. Idioms: List of Idioms
Idioms in Bold tend to be more common on the GMAT.

A  

access to The company has access to large capital reserves.

act as The poison pill in the contract acts as a preventative measure

against hostile takeovers.

acclaimed as He was acclaimed as a brilliant director.

allows for The design of the robot arm allows for great flexibility.

as...as Chocolate tastes as good as ice cream.

associate with He associates beer with potato chips.

attribute to The poor first quarter results are attributed to the restructuring.

a responsibility to The CEO has a fiduciary responsibility to all shareholders.

a result of The recent Nasdaq decline is a result of higher interest rates.

a sequence of The Sumerian text was a sequence of incomprehensible

symbols.

agree with The Teamsters do not agree with the Republicans on many
issues.

among Used when discussing more than two items. He was the finest
 policeman among the hundreds of rookies.

as good as/or better than The new software is as good as or better than anything on the
market.

as great as The new house looks as great as I had hoped.

attend to (someone) The emergency room doctor attended to the injured victim.

attribute X to Y/X We attribute the results to the new management.

attributed to Y The extinction of the dinosaurs has been attributed to an asteroid

collision.

B  

based on The results are based on a comprehensive ten year study.

begin to He will begin to study twelve hours before the test.

believe X to be Y After seeing the flying saucer, I believe UFOs to be a real

phenomenon

between Used when discussing two things (if there are more than two,
then use among instead). He could not decide between Corn
Flakes and Raisin Bran.

C  

care about How much do business schools care about your score?

centers on + noun The GMAT centers on the knowledge of basic math and
writing/reading skills.

choose to The number of students who choose to go to business school

has increased in the last ten years.

consistent with Your grades are not consistent with your abysmal GMAT scores.

contend that He contends that the GMAT has a cultural bias.

consider + noun How important do you consider the test?

continue + to If you continue to study, you will succeed.

contrast A with B If you contrast A with B, you can see the difference.

convert to You may convert muscle to fat if you study too much.

compare A to B Compare to stresses similarities. The music critic favorably

compared him to Bob Dylan.

compare A with B Compare with stresses differences. Broccoli is good for you
compared with ice cream.

count on + noun He counts on management support.

concerned with They are concerned with investor relations more than actual
profitability.

conform to When you work at a new company, you should try to conform to
its corporate culture.

D  

decide to We decided to continue.

decide on We decided on the new format.

depend on The global economy depends on improving productivity.

different from The CAT is very different from the paper and pencil GMAT.

difficult to Many students find the CAT difficult to take.

distinguish between X Distinguish between domestic and international production.

and Y

distinguish X from Y Juries must attempt to distinguish truth from falsehood.

depends on whether Our place in the playoffs depends on whether we win tonight.

E  

to be + essential to + Speed is essential to success in the Internet marketplace.

noun

except for He did well on the GMAT, except for the sentence correction
questions.
F  

flee from The convict fled from the country.

G  

grow from Dell Computer grew from a start-up to a Fortune 500 company in
less than fifteen years.

grow out of Needless to say, they quickly grew out of their first office.

H  

help + noun + to Their direct business model helped them to grow rapidly.

I  

indicate that Dell's recent stock trouble may indicate that their growth will not
continue to be as rapid.

invest in He is too risk-averse to invest in the stock market.

identical with His DNA is identical with his twin's.

in contrast to The candidate claims to support tax cuts, in contrast to his prior
statements.

independent from The Federal Reserve Board is supposed to be independent from

political considerations.

indifferent towards Some countries are indifferent towards human rights.

L  

leads to Rapid growth often leads to problems.

like Usually used only for direct comparison: He walks like Joe walks.

localized in Most Internet venture capital is localized in a few areas of the

world.
N  

native to There is a unique business culture native to the U.S.

a native of It infects those who are not even a native of America.

need to Living in New York City is an experience everyone needs to try.

to be + necessary + to It is necessary to get a high GMAT score to get into Stanford.

neither...nor Neither Tom nor Sam has the necessary skills to finish the job.

not only...but also Stanford not only has the highest GMAT average, but also the
highest GPA.

P  

prohibit from + gerund You are prohibited from using a calculator on test day.

potential to A graduate of a top business school has the potential to make

over $150,000.

R  

range from X to Y The GMAT scores at top business schools will range from 650 to
750.

refer to If you have any more questions, you should refer to a grammar
book.

regard as Wharton's finance program is regarded as the finest in the world.

require + noun + to You require a GMAT score to go to most U.S. business schools.

rivalry between X and Y The rivalry between the Boston Red Sox and the New York
Yankees is one of the most celebrated in professional sports.

responsible for The manager is responsible for seven entry level employees.

retroactive to The tax policy change is retroactive to last year.

S  
 save for Save for William, no one else passed the exam.

save from Many people use business school to save them from dull jobs.

so that So should not be used as an adjective: GMAT preparation is

so... boring. Use it with "that." This guide is designed so that you
may raise your score.

subscribe to Business school students should subscribe to the Wall Street

Journal.

T  

tie to The contract should be tied to concessions.

transmit to The communications system will transmit to anyone within range.

U  

used + infinitive Japan used to be the model industrial economy.

to be + used to + gerund After five practice tests, he was used to the GMAT CAT format.

Once again - the most effective way to learn idioms is to practice them. Whenever you get an idiom
question wrong, write down the idiom. There are a finite number of idioms that could be tested on the GMAT,
and with enough practice, you should be able to cover most of them.

Examples

1. When choosing a car you often have to choose (between/among) practicality and performance."
"Between" is correct. Use "between" to distinguish two things, such as "practicality" and "performance." Use
"among" for more than two things: "The five bank robbers divided the stolen money among themselves."

2. A small order of french fries has (fewer/less) fries than the super-sized order.
"Fewer" is correct. "Fewer" answers the question "How many?", while "less" answers the question "how
much?". That is, "fewer" refers to things that can be counted (birds, airplanes, french fries, blades of grass),
and "less" refers to things that can't be counted individually, and are usually referred to en masse, such as
pudding, water, or flour.

3. I prefer Mozart (to/over) Beethoven.

"Prefer…to" is the proper expression.

4. Timothy talks (like/as) his friends do.

This is one of the few instances where "like" should be used in English. "Like" is used here as a direct
comparison.

5. He was studying (in/at) a rate of two practice GMAT's per day.

The proper expression is "at a rate of," not "in a rate of."

6. The joint-venture contract covers such questions (like/as) the division of profits and costs.
"Covers… as" is better here. "Like" should be used very rarely, only for direct comparisons (Joe looks like his
brother).

7. Dan Marino is regarded (as/to be) one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play football.
The proper idiom in this example is "regarded as."

  
7. Idioms: Sample Questions
EASY

1. Sheila is a successful business pioneer, who attempted at creating her own company at a very young age.

a) who attempted at creating

b) and she attempted at creating
c) who has attempted to be creating
d) who attempted to create
e) and she attempted to be creating

Explanation: This question tests idiom usage. Because the proper expression is attempt to, (A),(B), and (C)
are incorrect. With the use of has attempted to be creating, choice (E) is wordy, and a confusing mix of past
and present tenses. (D) is grammatically correct and is also the most concise way to convey the sentence’s
meaning.

HARD

2. In 1904, the Abbey Theatre of Dublin, Ireland, was founded by theater supporters who were concerned at
reviving appreciation for Irish culture through playwriting and literature.

a) was founded by theater supporters who were concerned at

b) became founded by theater supporters who were concerned at
c) was founded by theater supporters who were concerned with
d) had been founded by theater supporters who had to become concerned with
e) was founded by theater supporters who have concerns about

Explanation: This question tests idiom, as well as tense and wordiness. (A) contains the incorrect concerned
at. The verb concerned takes with or about. Therefore, (B) is also incorrect. (D) is confusing. Had been
founded is unnecessarily in the past perfect, while had to become indicates that the founders were forced into
feeling concerned, changing the meaning of the sentence. (E) uses the present have concerns to continue a
description of people from the past. Only (C) is in the past tense throughout, is clear in meaning and uses a
proper idiom.

NOTE: There is a set of sentence correction sample chapter. These are timed and intended to be taken online
to best simulate the actual GMAT. Sample Questions

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