Sentence Correction Tips for GMAT

April 18, 2007

  1. Look out for : none, each,....pronoun number errors.
  2. Verb agreement with subject w.r.t. number, tense, etc.
  3. Modifiers...recognise them.
  4. Possessive case --it's not the subject!!
  5. Dangling Modifiers -- modifiers which have no subject --- wrong!!
  6. Almost always Modifiers come immediately after the word they modify!
  7. IF Vs WHETHER -- If -- hypothetical... whether -- when you have to choose among options
  8. Maintain PARALLELISM -- rather than, instead of, to X is to Y, etc.
  9. Look out for sentences starting with "to"...maintain parallelism
  10. BOTH -- only two things!! and parallel too!!
  11. Look out for COMPARISONS --> LIKE, UNLIKE, SIMILAR TO...compare same types (number, type, etc.)
  12. Look for countable and non-countable nouns. (amount, sum,etc.)
  13. THAT Vs WHICH ...that is restrictive...which is non-restrictive.
  14. LIKE Vs AS ... like expresses similarity ... As compare clauses
  15. SUCH AS --> to give examples .. such X as x1, x2, x3.
  16. JUST AS --> again to compare actions, not nouns.
  17. BECAUSE Vs IN THAT ... because shows cause and effect ... in that is mostly correct on the gmat.
  18. USUAL Vs IS USUAL ... usual... compared to itself... is usual...when compared to a sub-group it belongs to.
  19. NATIVE OF Vs NATIVE TO ... Native of is used for a person...native to is correctfor person/thing..everything else.
  20. CAN Vs COULD -- can = ability, opportunity, possibilty. could = assumption, condition, polite request, suggestion
  21. WOULD --> a condition in the past, anticipation in the past
  22. BECAUSE Vs ON ACCOUNT OF --> former is preferred over the latter. both are correct.
  23. ECONOMIC Vs ECONOMICAL --> Economic is economy related... economical is money-saving
  24. 'Declining revenues' -- > is plural !!
These pointers only tell you what should get the bells ringing. When you see any of these, you should know that okay I got to look for errors here. For the rest, see the sentence correction post.


Suggested Books : Wren & Martin, Manhattan SC, Kaplan 800, Kaplan Verbal Workbook, Official Guide

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3 comments

  1. Anonymous9:10 PM

    Shouldn't it be #24. 'Declining Revenues' ARE plural? Of course I only got a 680.

    -Bill

    ReplyDelete
  2. Vineesh11:55 PM

    Hi Bill,

    No it should be is plural. Here he is talking about the combined word "Declining revenues" not actually of declining revenues.

    The expression "Declining revenues" IS plural.

    But in a real case,
    "Declining revenues are affecting the company. "

    'Declining' is only modifying the word revenues. Revenues is plural because we are talking about multiple kinds of revenue here. Hence there are many revenues. But revenue in itself is a collective noun.

    Someone, please correct me if I am wrong or I haven't explained clearly here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7:54 AM

    thanks for keeping it simple.

    ReplyDelete

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