Error types tested on GMAT - Aristotle Flashcards
What are fragments?
Sentences that do not contain a main verb, which indicates the time of when the action occurred in the sentence, are called fragments.
Always remember the main verb of the sentence will never be found in a relative clause
What are run-on sentences or comma splice?
Sentences that join two independent clauses inappropriately are called run-on sentences e.g.
Michael Phelps is a great swimmer, he has won 22 Olympic medals
The above sentence is a run-on because it has two IC but they are joined using only a comma. To fix the sentence we must use coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS) or use a semicolon or use a full stop
How is S-V issue tested on GMAT?
- Placing subject and verb far away from each other by the use of appositives, relative clauses, and prepositional phrase (read the sentence after excluding these to see, if Subject and verb agree in number)
- Using additive phrases like along with, as well as, accompanied by, etc. (No additive phrase except ‘and’ makes the subject plural)
- Either or/Neither Nor ( Verb has to agree with the noun which is closer)
- Collective nouns (Usually singular most of the time)
- Each & Every (always singular, even if they appear plural)
- The number/ A number - The number always singular, a number - depends on the noun present in the prepositional phrase
- Expression of Quantity - Verb has to agree with the noun present in the preposition e.g. Half of the money is stolen; Half of the books are stolen
When discussing the majority, remember majority is itself singular but when it refers to a set of people then it is plural e.g,
A majority is always right vs A majority of students are right
- One of (the noun) + that/which + Plural verb
vs One of (the noun) + Singular verb - Inverted sentences
- Indefinite pronouns - Three categories to it
a. All indefinite pronouns of type -one/-body/-thing are always singular
b. SANAM indefinite pronouns depend on the noun of the preposition phrase
c. “Both”, “few”,”Several”, and “Many” these indefinite pronouns are always plural
Collective noun majority and minority
These can be considered singular or plural depending on the contexts in which they appear e.g.
- A majority of the students are already applying for jobs
- In today’s world, in which most people have some knowledge of geography, only a small minority believe Earth to be flat
In the first sentence, it is the individual students who are applying for jobs, not the majority itself so we use a plural verb
In the second sentence small minority refers to a group of people hence we use the plural verb believe
- A two-thirds majority of the ministers was required for the passage of a new amendment
- A large enough minority is sufficient for blocking the passage of the new amendment
In 3rd and 4th, the sentences are not based on ministers but rather on 2/3 hence we have used a singular verb
Use of has/have had vs had had
Has/have had - This is the present perfect form of ‘to have’ where you use has/have to depend on the subject of the noun while ‘had’ is the past participle form of ‘have’ which represent ownership e.g.
Tim has several passenger cars (This is in simple present tense)
Tim has had several passenger cars (Present perfect tense - He had them in the past and continue owning them in the future)
Time had had several passenger cars before he decided to buy a sports car
What is wrong with the below sentences?
Alan was having his breakfast when the bell was ringing
vs
Alan was having his breakfast when the bell rang
Notice in the first sentence, how both the tenses are in past continuous, but please take heed to the usage of ‘when’ given, it is used to represent action at a particular time not over a period unlike while it won’t make sense to say when the bell was ringing rather we should say when the bell rang
What is wrong with the below sentence?
The Alpaca was native to South America and was introduced to North America in the 1950s
It is wrong to say ‘was’ native because a native is always a native, so it should be in the simple present tense
What are three kinds of issue tested in Pronouns
- Pronoun reference - Pronoun should refer back to only one logical referent
- Pronoun Agreement - Pronoun should agree in number with the noun
- Pronoun Case - Pronoun should be used in the same case as the other noun
What is wrong with the below sentence?
- John’s methods are extremely unconventional, like those of Harry’s, so they did not receive much support from his colleagues
- X-rays, which are used to detect bone fractures, are different from those that are used to detect chest infections.
- in the sentence demonstrative pronoun ‘those’ clearly refers to methods, so usage of the possessive noun with Harry is redundant
- Since we are comparing two different types of X-rays we should use that to restrictively modify X-ray of one kind, with non-restrictive ‘which’ it seems that we are comparing one kind of x-ray with another’
What is wrong with the below sentences?
- Having spent most of his time in tropical countries, John found the Russian weather unbearable cold
- To ensure that a product sells well, it has to be introduced gradually to the market
- The noun modifier ‘Having spent most of his time in tropical countries’ correctly modifies the noun John but towards the end of the sentence adjective ‘unbearable’ is incorrectly modifying the verb found, so it should be unbearably
- Noun modifier ‘To ensure that a product sells well’ should have a noun which it should modify, so the correct sentence would be
To ensure that a product sells well, the company decided that the product has to be introduced gradually to the market
What is wrong with the below sentence?
- A person’s appearance can be ruined by poor cared for shoes
- The car in front of me was moving so slow that I had to overtake it from the wrong side
- Adjective poor should be adverb poorly
2. Adjective slow is incorrectly modifying the verb move, it should be slowly not slow
What is wrong with the below sentence?
- Shedding his usual reticence, the President of the citizen’s group spearheaded a sharp attack on the city Municipal Commissioner, forced the Commissioner to unconditionally withdraw his disparaging reference to the economically backward citizen of the city
There are below issue with the sentence
It seems to connect to IC clauses without FANBOYS but in the sentence, after the comma, so one way to fix would be to use ‘and’ after ‘Municipal Commissioner’
but then an ‘and’ would imply that the President did two things, spearheaded and forced. Another way to fix the sentence would be to convert force into a present participle, which would indicate how he was able to do so
How to identify parallel structures?
Parallel structures are all about consistency. Whenever you come across a sentence that contains a list or series of items or actions (typically separated by commas), you should immediately know that you have come across a Parallel structure question e.g.
Jerry likes walking and to swim
The above is incorrect as one is present participle walking while other is infinitive ‘to swim’
Jerry likes walking and swimming
Jerry likes to walk and to swim (to after swim is optional, you can either keep it or remove it because the first ‘to’ before ‘walk’ can supplement for it)
Observe the below sentences
Tom can go to his school by bus, train, or cab
vs
Tom can go to his school by bus, train, or by cab
vs
Tom can go to his school by bus, by train, or by cab
The first one is correct, as it is understood that the ‘by’ would repeat before ‘train’ and ‘cab’
The second one is incorrect as it only uses ‘by’ partially
The third one is correct, even though it has used ‘by’ repeatedly
Few examples of parallel structures
- Parallel structure with Nouns
She bought a skirt and a blouse
- Parallel structure with Adjectives
The canoes are light but sturdy
- Parallel structure with Adverbs
The tiger walked slowly and menacingly towards its prey
- Parallel structure with Verbs
John prepared the presentation on the train and delivered it at the meeting
- Parallel structure with Infinitives
Tom can go to his school by bus, train, or cab - Parallel structure with Gerunds/Participles
John likes hiking, swimming, and biking - Parallel structure with Clauses
The teacher suggested that the students come to class on time and that they complete their homework assignments regularly
Please note, if you don’t include second ‘that’ after the and, it would mean that the teacher only suggested one thing that wasn’t the case though
