Sentence Correction Flashcards
1
Q
Sentence Correction on GMAT:
A
1:20 mins for each question.
Most wrong answers contain more than one error. You only need one valid reason to cross off any wrong answer.
The same error is often repeated in two or more choices.
Steps to Takle SC questions on GMAT:
- First Glance:
Take first glance to spot firs clues that provide hints. This helps to afterwards read the question stem with an idea already in mind of what the sentence may be testing.
HINTS:
- If underlined sentence is long it often signals issues with sentence structure, modifiers, and parallelism. - First underlined word and word right before can give clues about one of the issues tested in sentence. - There will always be at least one difference at the beginning of the answers. Differences among first word or two of answers give more clues and allow you to actively look for the relevant subject as you read the sentence in detail and for meaning.
- Read the Sentence:
If there’s an error in the underlined sentence immediately eliminate answer A the moment you spot the error and any other answers with that error. Then go back and read the whole original sentence to spot any other issues with meaning or sentence structure. You should see first if the meaning is clear. If not then that’s the problem you’re dealing with. If the meaning is clear in the original sentence, start looking for grammar issues. The meaning of the sentence is affected by using the wrong word, i.e. a word that has another meaning than the author intended.
- Find a Starting Point:
You can find the starting point by reading the original sentence and comparing answers. You can find one or more splits right when you read the original sentence.
- Eliminate all incorrect Choices:
While studying this part go through the explanations to understand what tricks make you eliminate a right answer and pick a wrong answer. Learn how you fell into the trap to make sure you won’t fall in it again.
2
Q
Including vs. Like
A
Including is used to introduce examples. Examples should always be introduced using the word including.
Like is used to indicated a similarity between two or more things.
3
Q
Although
A
Although is a contrast word so the sentence that follows must convey a contrast so that the use of this word (e.g. at top of sentence) makes sense.
4
Q
Principle of Concision:
A
It’s true that the GMAT prefers to say things in as few words as possible. But there might be traps too. GMAT often makes the right answer less concise than an attractive wrong answer. So focus on grammar and meaning issues as issues with concision are unlikely to help.
5
Q
Sentences and Clause:
A
Independent Clause:
Every correct sentence must have at lease one independent clause. An independent clause has at least one subject and one verb.
E.g. “She applied for the job.”
Dependent Clause:
A dependent clause also contains a verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence. The noun and verbs in dependent clauses cannot be the main subject or verb in a sentence.
E.g. “Although she didn’t have much work experience, she was offered the job.”
The first part of the sentence before the comma is the dependent clause. Without an independent clause, you have a sentence fragment.
“Although she didn’t have much work experience.”
This is just a sentence fragment.
A fragment is not a sentence that can stand by itself. The correct answer on GMAT must contain at least one independent clause, otherwise eliminate.
Also, an independent sentence has a working verb, a verb that can run a sentence by itself.
E.g. “the cat sitting by the stairs”
is not a sentence for the GMAT. “Sitting” is not a working verb here. This however is a sentence:
“The cat was sitting by the stairs.”
verbs with “ing” are never working verbs by themselves, only in connection with another word, here “was.”
6
Q
Modifier:
A
Adjectives are simplest modifiers.
E.g. “the happy child”
Where happy is the modifier.
Modifiers can also be more complex.
“The large dog, wich has black fur, is a Labrador.”
where “which has black fur” is called a non-essential modifier because the sentence would make sense without that part.
There are also essential modifiers:
“The job that she started last week is much harder than her previous job.”
where “that she started last week” is essential because otherwise the meaning of the sentence is murky unless it was specified before.
7
Q
Sentence Core:
A
The core of a sentence consists of any independent clauses along with some essential modifiers. Non-essential modifiers are not part of the core.
8
Q
Conjunctions:
A
Conjunctions are words that stick together two sentences, for instance two independent sentences.
Most common: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.
REMEMBER:
Two complete sentences can be connected using a comma plus a conjunction to create a compound sentence.
E.g. Lin drove to work, and Guy rode his bike.
both “Lin drove to work” and “Guy rode his bike” are complete, or independent sentences. They are connected by a comma and the conjunction “and.”
REMEMBER:
It is incorrect to connect two sentences using only a comma:
E.g. “Lin drove to work, Guy rode his bike”
is wrong. Any GMAT answer that connects two independent clauses via only a comma is incorrect.
SO: Use a comma plus one of the main conjunctions to connect two independent clauses. Cross off any answers that connect two independent clauses using only a comma.
Subordinate conjunctions: although, because, while, though, unless, before, after, if.
9
Q
Aggravate vs. Aggravating:
A
Aggravate = worsen Aggravating = irritating
10
Q
Known as vs. Known to be:
A
Known as = named
Known to be = acknowledged as
11
Q
Loss of vs Loss in:
A
Loss of = no longer in possession of
Loss in = decline in value
12
Q
Mandate (verb) vs. have a mandate:
A
Mandate (verb) = command
Have a mandate = have authority from voters
13
Q
Native of vs. Native to:
A
Native of = person from
Native to = species that originated in
14
Q
Range of vs. Ranging:
A
Range of = variety of
Ranging = Varying
15
Q
Rate of vs. Rates for:
A
Rate of = speed or frequency of
Rates for = prices for
16
Q
Rise vs. raise:
A
Rise = general increase Raise = bet or salary increase
17
Q
Try to do vs. Try doing:
A
Try to do = seek to accomplish
Try doing = experiment with
18
Q
Helping Verbs:
A
Helping Verbs like:
Such as, may, will, must, should
are verbs that if exchanged can completely change the meaning of a sentence.
19
Q
Should vs. Must:
A
- The court ruled that the plaintiff MUST pay full damages.
- The court ruled that the plaintiff SHOULD pay full damages.
“Should” means “moral obligation” while “must” indicates a legally binding obligation. Sentence 1 is correct as we’re talking about a court decision.
REMEMBER: on GMAT “should” almost always indicates “moral obligation,” not “likelihood.” So GMAT doesn’t like to use “should” in place for “is likely to”
20
Q
If…., … Would:
A
REMEMBER:
If they met, they would discuss mathematics.
Not:
If they met, they discussed mathematics.
It’s always: “If…(past tense verb)…, …..would (present tense verb…”
21
Q
Word Order:
A
Placing short words such as “only” or “all” in different places can completely change the meaning of a sentence.
E.g.
- The council granted city officials the right to make legal obligations.
- The right to make legal obligations to city officials was granted by the council.
22
Q
Word Connections Must Make Sense:
A
Connections between two words in a sentence must make sense.
E.g. Unlike Alaska, where the winter is quite cold, the temperature in Florida rarely goes below freezing.
It’s illogical to compare Alaska to the temperature (in Florida).
23
Q
Redundant Words:
A
Redundancies confuse the meaning of a sentence.
REMEMBER: No right answer on the GMAT will contain redundant words.
Pay special attention to redundant time expressions in sentences as it’s easy to sneak them in. Most of the time you only need one time expression. If there are two it needs to be for a meaningful reason.
24
Q
Rose and Increase (redundancy):
A
“Rose” and “increase” both indicated growth and only one is needed per sentence.
E.g. The value of the stock rose by 10% increase (WRONG)
The value of the stock rosy by 10% (RIGHT)
The value of the stock increased by 10% (RIGHT)
25
Sum and Total (redundancy):
Sum and total convey the same meaning so only one is needed.
E.g. The three prices sum to a total of $11. (WRONG)
The three prices sum to $11. (RIGHT)
The three prices total $11. (RIGHT)
26
Although and Yet (redundancy):
"Although she studies night and day for 3 months, yet she did not do well on her exam."
Already already conveys a contrast. Yet is redundant.
27
Costs to vs. Costs of:
"Costs to X" is what X has to pay.
"Costs of X" is how much someone must pay to buy X.
28
Farther vs. Further:
Farther refers only to distance.
Further refers to degree of something other than distance.
29
As Though:
Expression "as though" is used to discuss things that are untrue or did not happen.
30
"...ing" Verbs:
"...ing" verbs are not working verbs. They need to stand in connection with other words, e.g. "was"
"was sitting" is a working verb.
31
Because and Which Sentences:
"Because" and "which" are connecting words. They add extra information to a sentence but they are not sentences by themselves.
E.g. not sentences:
Because the dog was never mine.
Which will be approved tomorrow.
32
Subject of the Sentence:
The subject of the sentence decides whether the verb is single or plural. GMAT hides subjects so it's hard to tell sometimes.
E.g. "The discovery of new medicines (was/were) vital to the company's growth."
"was" is right here because the subject of the sentence is "discovery," not "new medicines." "New medicines" is part of the propositional phrase. A noun in a propositional phrase can't be the subject of a sentence.
33
Compound Subjects:
Compound subjects are connected by word "and" and are plural.
E.g. Lin and Guy drive to work.
BUT:
Lin, as well as Guy, drives to work.
That's because the two nouns are not connected by "and" to make them compound subjects. So only Lin is the subject here.
34
Prepositional Phrases:
Prepositional Phrases are used by GMAT to hide hide the subject subject and independent clause of a sentence.
Prepositional Phrase is a group of words headed by a preposition.
Most common prepositions:
of, for, by, in, with, at, to, on, from
Prepositions are followed by nouns or pronouns which will never be the subject of the sentence. Prepositional phrases modify or describe other parts of the sentence.
35
"That" after a Working Verb:
When the word "that" appears just after a working verb, it acts as a "re-set" button in the sentence: a new subject-verb-object structure will follow.
("that" also serves other roles)
E.g. Despite some initial concerns, the teacher is confident THAT her students mastered the lesson.
REMEMBER: in spoken English you could drop the "that" but not on the GMAT!!!
36
Semicolon:
A semicolon can be used to connect two closely related statements that can each stand alone as independent sentences. The sentences have to be independent sentences.
E.g. Earl walked to school; he later ate his lunch.
The semicolon is often followed by a transition expression, such as "however," "therefore," or "in addition." These are not true conjunctions like "and." So, you can use semicolons, not commas, to join sentences.
Wrong: Andrew and Lisa are inseparable, THEREFORE, we never see them apart.
Right: Andrew and Lisa are inseparable; THEREFORE, we never see them apart.
Rare but correct use of Semicolon: Separate items that themselves contain commas:
E.g. "I listen to Earth, Wind & Fire; Wow, Owls; and Blood, Sweat & Tears."
37
Modifiers on GMAT:
Modifiers describe or provide extra information about something else in the sentence. GMAT often uses several complex modifiers in a sentence.
Many modifiers answer questions WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, or WHY.
38
Adjectives and Adverbs (Modifiers):
Adjective modifies ONLY a noun or pronoun.
Adverb can modify anything but a noun or pronoun. E.g. can modify verbs, adjectives, prepositional phrases, even entire clauses.
REMEMBER: GMAT sometimes uses adjectives where there should be an adverb to trick you. For example answers have alternated between adverb and adjective forms of these in the past:
corresponding, frequent, independent, rare, recent, seeming, separate, significant, supposed, and usual.
To find the right form ask yourself what the word is modifying, a noun, pronoun or something else?
39
Noun Modifiers:
When you can ask a WHO, WHAT, WHICH, or WHERE question about a noun, and the answer points to a modifier, you have a noun modifier.
REMEMBER, depending on whether a comma is used in these examples, the meaning changes a bit:
E.g. The cat, which lives next door, is very noisy.
The cat that lives next door is very noisy.
In the first example you would already have to know which cat is being talked about and the sentence just provides more info. It's a NONESSENTIAL modifier because it can be taken out of the sentence and the main part still keeps its full meaning. The second sentence is used to distinguish between multiple cats when you don't know which cat the speaker wants to discuss. It's an ESSENTIAL modifier. It's necessary for the meaning of the sentence.
Essential modifiers trump nonessential modifiers and are placed closer to the noun, usually right next to it.
REMEMBER: possessive nouns show ownership. E.g. Bill's celebration. They are not nouns, but more like adjectives. So noun modifiers cannot point to possessive nouns.
E.g. Happy about his raise, Bill's celebration included...
Noun modifiers are often introduced by relative pronouns:
E.g. Which That Who Whose Whom Where When
40
Position of Noun Modifiers:
Noun modifiers should be places as closely to each other as possible, preferably right next to each other. Otherwise sentence can be illogical.
41
Pronoun "That":
If "that" follows right after a noun it's a noun modifier. If it follows after a verb it signals another structure.
42
Pronouns "Who" And "Whom":
Who and Whom must modify people.
Pronoun Whom can follow a preposition:
E.g. the senator for whom we worked...
43
Pronoun "Which":
Which cannot modify people.
The pronoun which can follow a preposition:
E.g. the canal through which water flows....
44
Pronoun "Whose":
Whose can modify people or things.
45
Pronoun "Where":
Where can be used to modify a noun place, but not a "metaphorical" place, like a condition, situation, case, etc.
Wrong: We had an arrangement WHERE he cooked and I...
Right: We had an arrangement IN WHICH he cooked and I...
When and In Which can both be used to modify a noun event or time, such as a period, age, 1987, decade etc.
46
Prepositions as Noun Modifiers:
If a preposition follows immediately after a noun it's a noun modifier. The preposition can forma prepositional phrase that modifies the noun.
E.g. "The executive director OF THE COMPANY resigned.
47
Participles as Noun Modifiers:
If a participle is not separated out from the rest of the sentence by a comma it's a noun modifier.
E.g. "Researchers discovered that the most common risk factor RESULTING IN CHOLERA EPIDEMICS is the lack of a clean water supply.
Present Participles end in -ing, past participles mostly in -ed.
E.g. Playing Played
Managing Managed
The -ing form can act as a verb in a sentence but only if it follows another verb, E.g. IS Playing...
Any -ing from that is not an acting verb ans also not separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma is either a noun itself:
E.g. Playing Soccer is fun...
Or it's a noun modifier:
E.g. The girl playing soccer is my sister.
48
Comma -ing Modifiers:
Comma -ing structures are adverbial modifiers. The comma -ing phrases, or modifiers, refer to the entire clause to which they are attached.
E.g The CEO declared that everyone had to work every day through the holidays to make the production deadline, but IN CALLING FOR SUCH AN EXTREME MEASURE, she upset her employees to the point of mutiny.
The comma -in modifier is correctly attributed tot eh CEO. An adverbial modifier such as a Comma -Ing modifier does not necessarily have to be places as close as possible to what it modifies but it can't be structurally closer to another clause.
49
Adverbial Modifiers:
Adverbial modifiers can modify anything that isn't a noun or pronoun, e.g. adjectives, verbs, whole clauses, prepositional clauses etc.
In contrast to noun modifiers, adverbial modifiers can be placed more freely without creating meaning issues. But you have to pay attention that the placement is still logical.
50
Subordinate Clause:
Subordinate clauses modify the main clauses to which they are attached but they are not complete sentences. They are lead on by a Subordinate:
Although Before Unless Because That So That If
Yet Yet After While Since When
E.g. Although the economy is strong, the retail industry is struggling.
Rules: Make sure the connecting word, or subordinate, makes sense and use only one per "connection" to avoid redundancy.
Wrong: Although I need to relax, yet I have so many things to do.
Separate a subordinate clause starting with a subordinate conjunction such as "because" with a comma from the main clause.
E.g. The budget is likely to be approved, because few legislators want to anger voters.
51
Which vs. Present Participle -ing:
Use "which" only to refer to nouns - never to refer to an entire clause.
Wrong: Crime has recently decreased in our neighborhood, which has led to a rise in property values.
Right Option: Crime has recently decreased in our neighborhood, leading to a rise in property values.
52
Modifier vs. Core:
On harder and longer sentences on GMAT, if two long non-essential modifiers in a row make the sentence awkward and incorrect, the right GAMT answer will be a sentence that is modified and rephrased so that one of the modifiers becomes part of the core of the sentence.
Wrong: George Carlin, both shocking and entertaining audiences across the nation, who also struggled publicly with drug abuse, influenced and inspired a generation of comedians.
Right: Both shocking and entertaining audiences across the nation, George Carlin influenced and inspired a generation of comedians yet struggled publicly with drug abuse.
53
Countable Modifiers vs. Uncountable Modifiers:
```
Countable Modifiers:
MANY hats
FEW stores
FEWER children
FEWEST shoes
NUMBER of chairs
NUMEROUS books
```
```
Uncountable Modifiers:
MUCH patience
LITTLE merchandise
LESS money
LEAST greed
AMOUNT of furniture
GREAT courage
```
More, most, enough, all work with both countable and uncountable nouns.
Pay attention to whether the uncountable noun is single or plural as it may make it countable if it's plural:
E.g. He drank a lot of soda.
He drank A Number of sodas.
Both are correct. In the second sentence sodas are now thought of as countable things.
54
Less vs. Fewer:
Don't use less for word with countable items, but use fewer.
Wrong: There are less kings than emperors.
Right: There are fewer kings than emperors.
In unit nouns such as dollars or gallons use "less" with unit nouns when you really want to indicate something about the underlying quantity:
Right: We have less than 20 dollars.
55
Between vs. Among:
Use "between" only with TWO things or people. When you have more than two use "among."
56
Greater Than vs. More Than with word "Numbers"
In comparisons where you use word "numbers," use GREATER THAN, not more than.
Right: The rare bird is not extinct; its NUMBERS are now suspected to be much GREATER than before.
57
Same Pronoun for Parallel Relative Clauses:
When relative clauses are parallel, they should start with the same relative pronoun.
E.g. Mary buys the sweetener SugarFree, WHICH tastes as sweet as the corn syrup that her brother loves but WHICH has fewer calories than does an equivalent amount of corn syrup.
58
"Which" vs. "That":
If a relative clause, modifying clause, is essential because the main clause would not make sense without it or would change its meaning without the information use THAN and no comma. Don't use commas with the "That" form.
If a relative clause is non-essential, meaning the main clause would still be complete without it and not change meaning in any significant way, then use the "comma which" form.
That applies to other pronouns in connection with commas too, such as ..., who... The combination of comma and the pronoun make the clause that's enclosed by the comma nonessential. Use without comma if the relative clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence.
59
Relative Clauses With only "Be" Verb:
Avoid relative clauses whose only verb is a form of "to be", because they can generally be expressed in a simpler way.
Wrong: People who are well-informed...
Right: Well-informed people...
60
Use of AND:
Use "and" to separate two main clauses.
His resolve...was sorely tested AND he found that....
AND is the most common parallelism marker. As a parallelism marker each parallel part (with AND dropped) can logically finish the sentence. If it can't that answer is not right. Use it without a comma. There AND can be part of the core sentence structure:
E.g. The manager AND her team were praised.
In one terrible day, the account manager lost a client AND greeted the CEO of her company by the wrong name.
The AND structure can also be part of a modifying phrase or clause, where each parallel clause could logically finish the root phrase, dropping the AND marker. Remember that there s not comma before the AND here even though usually you could have a comma before the participle "giving." The AND makes the comma unnecessary:
E.g. A rapid improvement in motor function AND vision was observed.
Historians have uncovered new evidence, confirming several theories AND giving rise to new hypotheses.
Rule for AND to memorize:
NOUNS:
Noun with noun: cat AND dog
Action noun with action noun: eruption AND destruction
Gerund (noun form of verb) with gerund: the rising AND the running
Gerund with action noun: the rising AND the escape
VERBS:
Working verb with working verb: ran AND played
eats AND drank (you can pair working verbs in different tenses if it makes sense. E.g. she eats apples all the time and drank some apple juice yesterday)
Infinitive with infinitive: to run AND to play
PARTICIPLES:
Participle with participle: jumping AND yelling
consulted AND advised
fatigued AND dreaming (you can pair present and past participles. E.g. the cat slept in the sun, fatigued by play and dreaming of the mouse that got away).
PREPOSITION:
Preposition with preposition: in the house AND on the roof
CLAUSES:
Clause with clause: I work AND she plays
I think the children learn responsibility by taking care of pets AND that cats make the best pets.
AND can be part of lists. If there are three or more items in a list there should be a comma before the AND:
E.g. In today's news, technology stocks are up, while pharmaceutical, energy, and retail sectors are down.
There is a comma in a list like this though:
Voters want to elect a president who genuinely cares about health car, the environment and the travails of ordinary men and woman, AND who has experience, wisdom, and the strength of character required for the job.
61
Parallelism in Sentence Structure:
Comparable sentence parts must be structurally and logically similar.
E.g. The employees were upset by the company's low PAY, poor Work CONDITIONS, and SHORTAGE of outlets for employees' creativity.
Not all words must be parallel, but the main words in each element must be parallel, here, PAY, CONDITION, and SHORTAGE. When that's the case the root phrase ("the employees were upset by the company's") can be finished by each of the parallel parts.
62
Parallelism Markers:
Common markers that indicate parallelism in sentences:
And Apples, pears, and oranges
Or Happy or Sad
Rather than Play tennis rather than climb a mountain
Both/And Both men and women
Either/Or Either she works or she plays
Not/But Not running but jogging
Not only/but also Not only the manager but also her team
From/To From the house to the end of the road
Signal words can help remove ambiguity about where the parallelism begins:
Wrong: I want to retire to a place WHERE I can relax and pay low taxes.
Right: I want to retire to a place WHERE I can relax and WHERE I pay low taxes.
Where is the signal word that has to be repeated in the second parallel part otherwise the meaning would change and the sentence become ambiguous.
The signal words do not have to be the same words.
E.g. There are many people WHO speak English BUT WHOSE parents do not.
REMEMBER that anything after the first portion of the marker only applies to the first element and you have to repeat it for the second element too:
Wrong: Ralph likes BOTH those who are popular AND who are not as well-liked.
Right: Ralph likes BOTH those who are popular AND those who are not as well-liked.
Some verbs can split apart so that the first word or words count across all of the elements:
E.g.:
"The division WAS opening offices, hiring staff, AND investing in equipment."
"The railroad CAN lose more money OR solve its problems."
"They wanted to increase awareness, spark interest, AND motivate purchases."
But pay ATTENTION to MEANING of sentence and BE AWARE to not overuse parallelism:
Right: Sal applied himself in his new job, arriving early every day, skipping lunch regularly, AND leaving late every night.
Wrong: Sal applied himself in his new job, arrived early every day, skipped lunch regularly, AND left late every night.
The second version has a different meaning, by setting all elements parallel to the first part of the sentence, the three activities do not have to have any connection to Sal's job.
63
Linking Verbs in Parallelism:
Used to describe what a subject is of what condition the subject is in. IS (and all its forms, past tense etc.) is most common linking verb.
Wrong: The bouquet of flowers WAS a giving of love.
Right: The bouquet of flowers WAS a gift of love.
"giving" is a gerund and can not be parallel to normal nouns, only to action nouns. the noun bouquet must be parallel to a noun.
Other linking verbs:
appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, represent, resemble, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, turn.
64
"To" and "to" in Parallelism:
"to" is only repeated in parallel elements if it's used as a preposition, not if it's used in front of a verb.
E.g. the game was as exciting to us as TO the people sitting behind us.
No "to" necessary in second parallel element here:
Many teachers choose to seek employment in the suburbs rather than face low salaries in the city.
65
Preposition in "Interested":
Interested in
uninterested in
Wrong: She was uninterested to make friends.
Right: She was uninterested in making friends.
66
Comparisons:
Comparisons are a subset of parallelism. REMEMBER that in comparisons the two elements have to be the same kind of things to be compared logically: people to people, plans to plans etc.
Comparison Markers:
"Like" is the most common comparison markers.
E.g. Frank, like his brother, has a muscular body.
Frank's body, like that of his bother, is muscular.
A comparison can also use a pronoun (like "that" of) to stand in for the noun first mentioned.
Or you can omit the second main word of the comparison as long as the second element (here brother's) clearly refers back to the main word of the first sentence (here body):
E.g. Frank's body, like his brother's, is muscular.
Contrasts follow the same rules.
Common comparisons an Contrasts on GMAT:
Like:
Like the cat, the dog is friendly.
The cat, like the dog, is friendly.
Unlike:
Unlike per parents, she has green eyes.
In California, Unlike Florida, the humidity is moderate.
As:
Divya is smart, as is Abby.
Than:
You have earned a better score than I have.
Cisco's revenues are considereably higher than starbuck's.
As (adjective) as:
Mira is as likely as Sam to win the promotion.
Different from:
My current job is quite different from my last one.
In contrast to/with:
Canada's housing market did not suffer many difficulties during the economic downturn, in contrast to the housing market in the United States.
Comparisons follow basic parallelism rules. The compared elements have to have the same grammatical structure:
E.g. The athlete enjoyed lifting weights more than running around the track.
67
Apostrophe-s and s-apostrophe:
An apostrophe-s structure indicates a singular noun. Here Brian is a noun:
E.g. My car is bigger than Brian's.
A s-apostrophe structure indicates a plural noun. Here Smiths' refers to the whole Smith family:
E.g. My house is smaller than the Smiths'.
68
Omitted Words in Comparisons:
You can omit the second main word of the comparison as long as the second element clearly refers back to the main word of the first sentence.
Omit noun:
My car is bigger than Brian's.
Omit verb:
I walk faster than Brian
Omit a unit:
Whereas I drink two quarts of milk a day, my friend drinks three.
Omit whole clause:
I walk as fast now as when I was younger. (omitted: I walked)
But CAREFUL: don't omit if it causes ambiguity:
Wrong: I like cheese more than Yvette.
Unnecessary words:
The GMAT occasionally allows unnecessary helping words:
Right: Apples are more healthy to eat than caramels.
Also right: Apples are more healthy to eat than caramels ARE.
69
Live vs. As:
Use LIKE to compare nouns, pronouns, or noun phrases, NOT to compare a clause or a prepositional clause.
E.g. Like her brother, Ava aced the test.
Use AS to compare two clauses:
WRONG: Like her brother did, Ava aced the test.
Right: As her brother did, Ava aced the test.
The phrase "her brother did" is a clause. Therefore, use AS to make comparison between two clauses, Ava aced the test, her brother did too. "did" stands for "aced the test."
There is no difference between "Like her brother, Ava aced the test" and "As her brother did, Ava aced the test." One compares two nouns, the other two phrases (what they did) but both have the same meaning and are grammatically correct.
Use AS to compare two prepositional phrases:
Juggling is a favorite pastime for me, as it is for you.
Here as is used to compare phrases "for me" and "for you."
70
Comparative and Superlative Forms:
Use comparative form of adjective to compare two things:
E.g. "She is SHORTER than her sister."
"Thomas is more interested in video games than (he is) in his girlfriend."
It's OK to omit "he is" because the parallelism between "in video games" and "in his girlfriend" makes the meaning clear.
Use superlative from of adjective or adverb to compare more than two things:
E.g. You are the MOST INTERESTING person here.
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Comparing Adverbs:
Don't compare adverbs ending in -ly by changing ending to -er:
Wrong: Adrian runs quickly. He runs quicker than Jacob.
Right: Adrian runs quickly. He runs more quickly than Jacob.
BUT: some adverbs that do not end in -ly are made into comparatives by adding -er:
E.g. Adrian runs fast. He runs faster than Jacob.
REMEMBER always use "than" with a comparative adjective otherwise you can't make the comparison explicit:
Wrong: With winter coming, I will have higher energy bills (than what?)
Right: I will have higher bills than last year.
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Pronouns:
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. The noun that it takes the place of it knows as the antecedent.
```
Common pronouns on GMAT:
it (singular)
its (singular)
they (plural)
them (plural)
their (plural)
```
If any of these appear on GAMT check the answers and if there are differences in pronouns used check whether antecedent is singular or plural.
If answer choices offer different pronouns, they could be the split in the sentence.
REMEMBER: Adjectives cannot be antecedents of pronouns. The antecedent that the pronoun refers to must exist as a noun in the sentence. Pay attention to the meaning as GAMT tries to trick you. Replace the pronoun with the antecedent to make sure that the sentence makes sense at all.
E.g. Although the term "supercomputer" may sound fanciful or exaggerated, it is simply an extremely fast mainframe that can execute trillions of calculations every second.
Here the noun is TERM but the pronoun "it" refers to "supercomputer" so this sentence is not meaningful and it's wrong.
GMAT likes to test number agreement between pronouns and antecedents. If the antecedent is singular the pronoun has to be too. Same applied to if the antecedent is plural. Check for that!
Wrong: Confronted by radical changes in production and distribution, modern Hollywood studios are attempting various experiments in an effort to retain its status as the primary arbiter of movie consumption.
pronoun ITS makes no sense here because it's singular while STUDIOS is plural. Depending on which part of the sentence is underlines you either have to change it to "STUDIO" or "THEIR."
THIS, THAT, THESE, and THOSE can be used as adjectives to make "new copies" of antecedent. It's important to note that this new copy is modified from the original antecedent, it's not the same thing anymore and it requires description to make that distinction clear.
E.g. The MONEY spent by her parents is less than that spent by her children.
The money spent by the children is different from the money spent by the parents. It's two different pots of money.
But if you use one of the pronouns IT, ITS, THEY, THEM, THEIR, the pronoun refers to the exact same thing as the antecedent.
Pay attention to numbers in any new copy which have to agree with the numbers of the previous version. You have to repeat the pronoun if you have to change numbers.
Right: Her COMPANY is outperforming that of her competitor.
Wrong: Her COMPANY is outperforming those of her competitors.
Right: Her COMPANY is outperforming the companies of her competitors.
Pay attention to not use THAT or THESE unless it's a new copy. If it's just referring to the same antecedent, use THEY or THEM.
Wrong: Her products are unusual; many consider these unique.
Right: Her products are unusual; many consider them unique.
REMEMBER: Never use THIS or THESE in place of nouns on GMAT.. GMAT considers sentences like "This is great" as unacceptably vague.
On the GMAT it is preferable to have pronouns of the same class (e.g. it and its, or they, them and their) refer to the same noun. But it's not a rule. Some correct GMAT sentences do use different pronouns of the same class to refer to different nouns.
E.g. Researchers claim to have developed new "nano-papers" incorporating tiny cellulose fibers, which they allege give them the strength of cast iron.
This usage is correct although it's a bit ambiguous. If there is a better answer (where they don't use the pronoun but the regular noun again to avoid ambiguity) chose that one if not, this is acceptable as the GMAT allows some ambiguity.
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Simple Tenses for Verbs:
Simple Present: Sandy PLAYS well with her friends.
Simple Past: Sandy PLAYED well with her friends.
Simple Future: Sandy WILL PLAY well with her friends.
Simple present is often used to express "eternal" states or frequent events. It's not used to expressed what's happening right now.
GMAT prefers simple tenses, unless the sentence requires a more complex tense.
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Changing Tenses to Reflect Different Times:
Some sentences talk about different periods of time and the tenses need to change to reflect that.
E.g. He IS thinner now because he WENT on a strict diet 6 months ago.
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Past Perfect:
Past perfect is used to expressed things that occurred at different times in the past. The past perfect is the "past of the past." Use past perfect for the earlier action in the past, and simple past for the later action.
E.g. The film had started by the time we arrived at the theater.
Time markers also indicated past perfect:
E.g. By 1945, the U.S. had been at war for several years.
The teacher thought that Jimmy had cheated on the test.
BUT: When the meaning of the sentence is already clear, and a certain word indicates that something happened before something else, you don't need to use past perfect but can just use simple past.
E.g. Laura locked the deadbolt before she left for work.
Here "before" indicates the sequence of events clearly. This answer would be acceptable on GMAT.
In hard GMAT questions the past perfect verb is not the earliest action in the sentence:
Right: The band U2 WAS just one of many new groups on the rock music scene in the early 1980s, but less than ten years later, U2 HAD fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in the pantheon of popular music.
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Present Perfect:
Present perfect tense is used for actions that started int he past but continue into the resent or remain true or have an impact on the present.
E.g. This country has enforced strict immigration laws for thirty years.
They have know each other since 1987.
The child has drawn a square in the sand.
In the last example the action of drawing is over but its effect is still relevant to the present moment.
Use present perfect in sentences that indicate time with phrases like "since..." or "within the past...years..." or "in the last...days...." Don't use present past if the time DOES NOT include the present.
Wrong: Veronica has traveled all over the world in 2007.
Right: Veronica travelled all over the world in 2007.
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"Comma -ing" Modifiers and Main Verb:
"Comma -ing" modifiers follow on from the tense of the main working verb to which they are attached to.
E.g. PEERING out of the window, she WATCHED her dog.
She was "peering out" when she was watching, so all in the past. The modifier "peering out" picks up the time frame of the main verb "watched."
Since the "comma -ing" structure takes over the time of the main verb, it cannot be used if it confuses times:
Wrong: The country's economy is unstable, the result of a stock market crash occurring ten years ago.
Right: The country's economy is unstable, the result of a stock market crash that occurred ten years ago.
In the first example the "comma -ing" structure incorrectly indicates that the crash is happening now since the main verb "is" is in present tense.
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Conditional Tense:
The conditional tense expresses the future from the point of view of the past. It's formed by combining "would" with the base from of the verb.
These types of sentences use either Present + Future tense or Past + Conditional tense.
Present + Future:
Right: The scientist believes that he machine will be wonderful.
Wrong: The scientist believes that eh machine would be wonderful.
Past + Conditional:
Right: The scientist believed that the machine would be wonderful.
Wrong: The scientist believed that the machine will be wonderful.
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Active and Passive Voice:
Verbs are written either in active voice or passive voice.
Active: The hungry students ate the pizza.
Passive: The pizza was eaten by the hungry students.
The passive answer often sounds awkward but that doesn't mean it's incorrect. GMAT will sometimes put a small error in the better-sounding active answer to trick you although the awkward-sounding active answer is correct.
Awkward but right: It has been decided by Jason that he will not attend college next fall.
You don't have to make active and passive voice parallel throughout the sentence.
Right: The shuttle launch TOOK place flawlessly and WAS SEEN on television.
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Idioms:
Memorize these common idioms on the GMAT:
ABILITY:
Ability to do sth. (not ability for or of doing sth.)
ALLOW:
Allow to do sth. (no allow for to do sth, allow for doing sth.)
Allow for ...noun.... (e.g. the demolition allows for new constructions)
AND:
We are concerned about the forests AND the oceans.
We work all night, AND we sleep all day (note comma!!)
AS:
AS I walked down the street...
AS I had already paid...(because)
AS we did last year, this year....(in the same way)
AS the president of the company, she....
AS a child, I worked....(not while in childhood)
AS part of the agreement, she...(not "as a part of the agreement....)
AS GREAT AS (not so great as..., so great that..., as great that...)
NOT AS GREAT AS
AS MANY....AS (not: equivalent to what we picked yesterday)
THREE TIMES AS MANY...AS (not: not three times as many more than...)
AT LEAST AS MANY...AS
ABOUT AS MANY AS
His knowledge springs AS MUCH from experience AS from schooling.
His knowledge springs NOT SO MUCH from experience AS from schooling.
He wins frequently, AS MUCH because he plays SO hard AS because he cheats. (not: He wins frequently as much because he plays as hard as because he cheats)
BECAUSE:
BECAUSE the sun SHINES...
BECAUSE of the sun, plants grow. (not: because of the sun shining, as a result of the sun shining )
BY SHINING, the sun makes plants grow.
Plants grow, FOR the sun shines (very formal) (not: BEING THAT the sun shines, plants grow)
BEING:
BEING infected does not make you sick.
The judges saw the horses BEING led to the stables.
Being appears in more wrong than right answers. But it can be used correctly as gerund or participle even if it sounds Less preferred: E.g. correct: BEING an advocate of reform, I would like to make a different proposal.
```
BELIEVE:
She BELIEVES that Gary IS right.
She BELIEVES Gary TO BE right.
IT IS BELIEVED THAT Gary IS right.
Gary IS BELIEVED TO BE right.
Less preferred: Gary is BELIEVED By her TO BE right.
```
BOTH...AND:
She was interested BOTH in plants AND in animals.
She was interested in BOTH plants AND animals. (Wrong: She was interested both in plants and animals; she was interested both in plants as well as in animals; she was interested both in plants but also in animals).
BUT:
I STUDY hard BUT TAKE breaks. (wrong: I STUDY effectively ALTHOUGH TAKING frequent naps)
I STUDY hard, BUT I TAKE breaks.
Although I take frequent naps, I study effectively.
DESPITE TAKING frequent naps, I study effectively. (wrong: DESPITE TAKING frequent naps, YET I STUDY effectively)
I TAKE frequent naps, YET I STUDY effectively. (wrong: ALTHOUGH I TAKE frequent naps, YET I STUDY effectively)
Less preferred: DESPITE THE FACT THAT I TAKE frequent naps, I STUDY effectively; ALTHOUGH a frequent napper, I STUDY effectively.
CAN:
The manager CAN RUN the plant. (not: The manager HAS THE CAPABILITY OF RUNNING the plant)
The plant CAN CAUSE damage. (not: The plant HAS THE POSSIBILITY OF CAUSING damage)
Less preferred: It is POSSIBLE FOR the plant TO CAUSE damage; The plant POSSIBLY CAUSES damage.
CONSIDER:
I CONSIDER her a friend. I CONSIDER her intelligent.
I CONSIDER illegal the law passed last week by the new regime.
The law IS CONSIDERED illegal. (not: The judge CONSIDERS the law AS illegal (or AS BEING illegal); The judge CONSIDERS the law AS IF IT WERE illegal)
Less preferred: The judge CONSIDERS the law TO BE illegal.
EITHER ...OR:
I will take EITHER the subway OR the bu.
EXPECT:
We EXPECT the price TO FALL.
The price IS EXPECTED TO FALL.
We EXPECT THAT the price WILL FALL.
IT IS EXPECTED THAT the price WILL FALL. (not: IT IS EXPECTED THAT the price SHOULD FALL)
Inflation rose more than we EXPECTED.
There is an EXPECTATION THAT the price will fall.
Less preferred: There is an EXPECTATION the price WILL FALL; there is an EXPECTATION of the price FALLING.
FROM...TO:
The price fell FROM 10 euros TO 3 euros. (not: the price fell FROM 10 euros DOWN TO 3 euros)
The price fell TO 3 euros FROM 10 euros. (not: the price rose FROM 3 euros UP TO 10 euros)
IN ORDER TO:
She drank coffee IN ORDER TO STAY awake. (not: Coffee was drunk by her TO STAY awake, Coffee was drunk by her IN ORDER TO STAY awake)
She drank coffee TO STAY awake.
Less preferred: She drank coffee IN ORDER THAT (or SO THAT) she MIGHT stay awake.
She drank coffee SO AS TO STAY awake.
INDICATE:
A report INDICATES THAT unique bacteria LIVE on our skin.
Less preferred: A report IS INDICATIVE OF the presence of unique bacteria on our skin.
WRONG: A report INDICATES unique bacteria LIVE on our skin (THAT is needed); a report is INDICATIVE THAT unique bacteria LIVE on our skin; a report INDICATES unique bacteria AS present on our skin; a report INDICATED unique bacteria TO LIVE on our skin.
LIKE:
LIKE his sister, Matt drives fast cars. (not: Matt drives fast cars LIKE his sister does)
Matt drives fast cars LIKE his sister.
Matt drives fast cars LIKE his sister's. (= both drive similar cars, or one of the cars he drives is his sister's)
NOT...BUT:
She DID NOT EAT mangoes BUT ATE other kinds of fruit. (not: She DID NOT EAT mangoes BUT other kinds of fruit)
SHE DID NOT EAT mangoes BUT LIKED other kinds of fruit AND later BEGAN to like kiwis, too.
A tomato is NOT a vegetable BUT a fruit.
A tomato is NOT a vegetable BUT RATHER a fruit.
NOT ONLY...BUT ALSO:
We wore NOT ONLY boots BUT ALSO sandals. (not: we wore NOT ONLY boots BUT, AS WELL, sandals.)
We wore NOT ONLY boots, BUT ALSO sandals. (comma is optional)
We wore NOT JUST boots BUT ALSO sandals.
We wore NOT ONLY boots BUT sandals.
Less preferred: We wore NOT ONLY boots BUT sandals AS WELL; we wore boots AND ALSO sandals.
RATHER THAN:
He wrote with pencils RATHER THAN with pens. (not: He wrote with pencils INSTEAD of with pens (Of with is incorrect))
Less preferred: He wrote with pencils, BUT NOT pens.
SO...AS TO:
The sauce was SO hot AS TO burn my mouth (be wary of this because GMAT has said both that it's correct and incorrect in the past)
WRONG: The sauce had such heat AS TO burn my mouth; the sauce had so much heat AS TO burn my mouth.
SO....THAT:
The book was SO SHORT THAT I could read it in in one night.
The book was SHORT ENOUGH FOR me TO READ in one night.
Less preferred: The book was SO SHORT I could read it (THAT is preferred); the book was OF SUCH SHORTNESS THAT I could read it; SUCH was the SHORTNESS of the book THAT I could read it.
WRONG: the book was OF SUCH SHORTNESS, I could read it.
SO THAT:
She gave money SO THAT the school could offer scholarships. (not: She gave money SO the school could offer scholarships)
Less preferred: She gave money, SO the money was grateful (=result)
SUCH AS:
Matt drives fast cars, SUCH AS Ferraris (=example) (not: Matt drives Ferraris AND THE LIKE; Matt drives Ferraris AND OTHER cars SUCH AS THESE; Matt trains in many ways SUCH AS BY driving on racetracks; Matt enjoys intense activities, SUCH AS TO DRIVE fast cars)
Matt enjoys driving SUCH cars AS Ferraris.
Matt enjoys intense activities, SUCH AS DRIVING fast cars.
Less preferred: Matt drives fast cars LIKE Ferraris (avoid!)
THAN:
His book is MORE impressive THAN those of other writers. (not: more impressive...as)
This paper is NO LESS impressive THAN that one.
This newspaper cost 50 cents MORE THAN that one.
MORE THAN 250 newspapers are published here. (not: AS MANY AS OR MORE THAN 250 newspapers are published here)
SALES are HIGHER this year THAN last year.
UNLIKE:
UNLIKE the spiny anteater, the aardvark is docile.
WHETHER:
I do not know WHETHER I will go. (not: I do not know IF I will go)
Less preferred: I do not know WHETHER OR NOT I will go.
WHETHER...OR:
I decided to eat the food, WHETHER it was tasty OR NOT.
WHETHER trash OR treasure, the recyclables must be picked up. (not: WHETHER trash OR ALSO treasure, the recyclables must be picked up; WHETHER THEY BE trash OR treasure, the recyclables must go)
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SC Extra: Keep Prepositional Phrase If You Need to:
Too Short: I talked to the Boston soldier.
Better: I talked to the soldier from Boston.
Losing the preposition to make sentences shorter works best with preposition "of."
Right: A wall OF stone or A stone wall.
BUT: Don't modify "of" preposition if you have a time period, quantity, or other measurement.
Too Short: Memorial Day week
Better: the week OF Memorial Day
Too Short: The merger year
Better: The year of the merger
Never modify a measurement using a noun-adjective.
Too Short: the oxygen amount
Better: the amount of oxygen
Don't use a possessive ('s or s') to modify measurements.
Too Short: The honeybee population's density
Better: The density OF the honeybee population.
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SC Extra: Keep "that of" or "those of if you need to
Too short: The face I see in ads every day is a famous actor.
Better: The face I see in ads every day is that of a famous actor.
But some unnecessary "that of" or "those of" you have to remove on GMAT:
Wordy: The fields I enjoy studying are THOSE OF physics and chemistry.
Better: The fields I enjoy studying are physics and chemistry.
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SC Extra: Use of Or - What is the subject
If you use "or" to connect to potential subjects, remember only one can be the subject and that subject determines the number for the verb.
Right: Lin or Guy has a black car.
Wrong: Lin or Guy have a black car.
If the two nouns disagree in number us the noun closer to the verb to determine agreement.
Right: Either the manager or the EMPLOYEES TAKE a break.
Right: Either the employees or the MANAGER TAKES a break.
Same principle applies to constructions "either...or" "nor" and "neither...nor."
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Colon:
What comes before the colon must be able to stand alone as a sentence. What comes after the colon does not have to be able to stand alone.
Wrong: I love listening to: classical, rock, rap, and pop music.
Right: I love listening to many kinds of music: classical, rock, rap, and pop.
You can insert "namely" or " that is" after the colon.
I love listening to many kinds of music: namely, classical, rock, rap, and pop.
Whatever needs explanation (because that's what follows a colon) should be placed as close to the colon as possible.
Worse: Three factors affect the rate of a reaction: concentration, surface area, and temperature.
Better: The rate of a reaction is affected by THREE FACTORS: concentration, surface area, and temperature.
The words after a colon can also form a sentence that can stand alone but they have to explain what's before the colon, perhaps the whole phrase.
Right: On January 1, 2000, the national mood was completely different from what it would become just a few years later: at the turn of the century, given a seemingly unstoppable stock market and a seemingly peaceful world, the country was content.
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SC Extra: Dash
You can use a dash as an emphatic comma, semicolon, or colon.
Right: by January 2, 2000, the so-called "Y2K problem was already widely considered a joke - although the reason for the non-event was the prior corporate and governmental investment in countermeasures.
Dash can help avoid ambiguity:
Wrong: My three best friends, Danny, Enrico, and Joey, and I went skiing.
Right: My three best friends - Danny, Enrico, and Joey - and I went skiing.
It's not 7 people going skiing.
You can also use a dash to restate or explain an earlier part of the sentence. Unlike the colon, the dash doe snot need to be immediately preceded by the part needing explanation.
Right: Post-MBA compensation for investment bankers tends to surge far ahead of that for management consultant - by tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars.
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SC Extra: Collective Nouns
A collective nouns is a noun that looks singular but can refer to a group of people or objects.
E.g.
People: agency, army, audience, class, committee, crowd, orchestra, team
Items: baggage, citrus, equipment, fleet, fruit, furniture.
In American English collective nouns are singular. GMAT will give you clues whether it should be singular or plural.
Wrong: The wildfire division, comprising more than thirty firefighters, is stationed on the outskirts of the town and include wildfire management and first responder teams.
Wrong: the data collected by the researchers confirm that heart disease is congenital; it also indicates that certain genes are sex-linked.
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SC Extra: Indefinite Pronouns
Pronouns are words that replace other nouns. Indefinite pronouns are not specific about the things that they refer to.
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Singular Indefinite Pronouns:
Anyone, anybody anything
No one, nobody, nothing
Each, every
Someone, somebody, something
Everyone, everybody, everything
Whatever, whoever
Either, neither (may require plural verb if paired with or/nor)
```
All pronouns ending in -one, -body, or -thing fall into this category.
5 indefinite pronouns that can be either singular or plural depending on context:
```
Some
Any
None
All
More/Most
```
Right: Some of the money was stolen from my wallet.
Right: Some of the documents were stolen from the bank.
Right: Any of these women IS a suitable candidate for marriage to my son.
Note: NOT ONE is always singular.
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SC Extra: Each and Every Followed by Singular Word
The subject preceded by "each" or "every" is singular.
Right: Every dog HAS paws.
Right: Every dog and cat has paws.
Right: Each of these shirts IS pretty.
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SC Extra: The Number of VS A Number of
The number of takes a singular verb.
A number of takes a plural verb.
```
E.g.
The number of hardworking students in this class IS quite large.
A number of students in this class ARE hard workers.
```
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SC Extra: Quantity of Fractions and Percents:
Quantities can change depending on the subject in teh OF-prepositional phrase.
E.g. Half of the pie IS blueberry, and half of the slices ARE already gone.
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SC Extra: Quantity with "majority" "minority" and "plurality"
Words "majority" " minority" and "plurality" can be singular or plural depending on context. Use plural to indicate the many individual parts of the totality, use singular to indicate the totality itself.
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E.g.
The majority of the students in this class ARE hard workers.
In the Senate, the majority HAS coalesced into a unified voting block.
```
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SC Extra: Quantity of Subject Phrases and Clauses
is always singular and requires singular verb.
E.g. Having good friends IS a wonderful thing.
Whatever they want to do IS fine with me.
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SC Extra: Flip Sentences
In English subject precedes the verb. But on GMAT it's flipped around sometimes. If that's the case flip the sentence to have the subject precede the verb so you can identify the subject and determine the number.
E.g.
Wrong: Near those buildings SIT a lonely house, inhabited by squatters.
Flip it: A lonely house, inhabited by squatters, SITS near those buildings.
Right: Near those buildings SITS a lonely house, inhabited by squatters.
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SC Extra: There is/There are
"There is" is often used incorrectly with plural subjects.
Flip the subject and verb so that the subject follows the verb to get more clarity regarding the number of the subject.
Wrong: There IS a young man and an older woman at the bus stop.
Flip it: A young ma and an older woman ARE there at the bus stop.
Right: There are a young man and an older woman at the bus stop.
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SC Extra: Nonessential phrase intervenes noun/modifier connection:
A non-essential modifier can come between the noun and its essential modifier and be set off by commas:
Right: Our system of Presidential elections favors STATES, such as Delaware, that by population are over-represented in the Electoral College.
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SC Extra: Modifier is Part of Series of Modifiers:
In a series of noun modifiers, one must be placed right next to the noun.
E.g.
Right: In heraldry, the term "tincture" refers to a COLOR emblazoned on a coat of arms and labeled with a special French word.
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SC Extra: Possessive Form
Use either the form Y of X or X's Y to indicate that Y belongs to X. Never chose Y of X's.
Wrong: The orca, a RELATIVE of the blue whale's, is found throughout the globe.
Right: The orca, a RELATIVE of the blue whale, is found throughout the globe.
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SC Extra: Plural Possessive
Avoid plural possessive form, it's wrong in 80-90% of the answer choices.
Wrong: Certain humans' parasites have been shown to provide bacterial resistance and protection against auto-immune disorders.
Right: Certain parasites in humans haven been shown to provide bacterial resistance and protection against auto-immune disorders.
GMAT may force you to choose a plural possessive if that's the only answer that makes sense or is right. But if you have a choice avoid it.
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SC Extra: Subgroup Modifiers
Use one of these three subgroup modifier constructions to describe a part of a larger group with a modifier:
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF WHICH WERE only recently discovered.
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF THEM only recently discovered.
Right: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME only recently discovered.
Any number of pronoun that picks out a subgroup can replace "some" here (e.g. any, none, all, more/most, many, each, either, neither, half).
Incorrect constructions would be:
Wrong: This model explains all known subatomic particles, OF WHICH SOME WERE only recently discovered.
Wrong: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF THEM WHICH WERE only recently discovered.
Wrong: This model explains all known subatomic particles, SOME OF WHICH only recently discovered.
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SC Extra:
Relative Clause and present participle modifier can be practically interchangeable.
Right: The WHO IS CLEANING the stops is my uncle.
Right: The man CLEANING the stops is my uncle.
BUT pay attention to the times as sometimes that means they are not interchangeable. Here the future time is necessary and the present participle won't work:
Wrong: The rate of language extinction is accelerating, a tendency ultimately culminating in the survival of just a few languages, according to some.
Right: The rate of language extinction is accelerating, a tendency that will ultimately culminate in the survival of just a few languages.
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SC Extra: Absolute Phrases
Absolute phrases are sophisticated modifiers consisting of a noun plus a noun modifier. They modify the main clause in some way. They are different from normal noun modifiers because you can move them to the top or end of the sentence and the meaning does not change.
Right: His head held high, Owen walked out of the store.
Right: Owen walked out of the story, his head held high.
Right: Owen walked out of the story, with his head held high.
The absolute phrase construction provides a way to link a second part of the sentence to the first.
Right: Scientists have found high levels of iridium in certain geological formations around the world, results that suggest the cataclysmic impact of a meteor millions of years ago.
REMEMBER: Never use "which to do so" as "which" must refer tot he noun closest to it.
Wrong: Scientists have found high levels of iridium in certain geological formations around the world, whih suggests the cataclysmic impact of a meteor millions of years ago.
REMEMBER: avoid "this" and "that" by themselves on GMAT, only use if attached to a noun (e.g. these results). If you want to say "and this..." you really need an absolute phrase to add that second thought.
Wrong: Scientists have found high levels of iridium in certain geological formations around the world, AND THIS suggests the cataclysmic impact of a meteor millions of years ago.
In some cases, instead of an absolute phrase, you can use an 'ing form with a comma to introduce a second thought.
Right: Scientists have found high levels of iridium in certain geological formations around the world, SUGGESTING the cataclysmic impact of a meteor millions of years ago.
REMEMBER: Absolute sentences are usually separated from the rest of the sentence through a comma but you can also use a dash.
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SC Extra: Who vs. Whom:
Whenever who is the the subject of the sentence, or the verb, you should use WHO. When ever it's the object of the verb, you should use WHOM.
E.g.
The man who walked down the street.
The woman whom I interviewed. (I is the subject, whom is the object)
The people whom we like most. (we is the subject, whom is the object)
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SC Extra: Parallelism - Concrete Nouns and Action Nouns
Make concrete nouns parallel to concrete nouns and action nouns parallel to action nouns.
Concrete nouns refer to things, people, places, time periods etc.
rock, continent, holiday, week
Action nouns refer to actions. They are often formed from verbs:
eruption, withdrawal, development, growth
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SC Extra: Parallelism - Simple Gerund Phrases and Complex Gerund Phrases
Don't make simple gerund phrases parallel to complex gerund phrases. Gerunds are -ing words that are noun form of verbs.
SIMPLE GERUND:
Simple gerund phrases don't have an article at the beginning of phrase.
E.g. Tracking satellites accurately is important for the space agency.
COMPLEX GERUND:
Complex gerund phrases do start with an article:
E.g. The accurate tracking of satellites is important for the space agency.
Don't make simple gerund phrases and complex gerund phrases parallel.
Wrong: I enjoyed drinking the water and the wine tasting.
Right: I enjoyed drinking the water and tasting the wine.
In short: There are three categories of nouns which should not be mixed when making nouns parallel:
1. Concrete nouns
2. Action nouns and complex gerunds
3. Simple gerunds
105
SC Extra: Parallelism - Complex Gerund Phrases and Action Nouns
Only complex gerund phrases can be parallel to action nouns. GMAT might hide a simple gerund phrase in a list of action nouns.
Wrong: The rebels demanded the withdrawal of government forces from disputed regions, significant reductions in overall troop levels, rising the rebel flag on holidays, AND a general pardon.
Right: The rebels demanded the withdrawal of government forces from disputed regions, significant reductions in overall troop levels, the rising the rebel flag on holidays, AND a general pardon.
Judy "rising" would be the simple gerund but we need the complex gerund "the rising" as a parallel element in this list of action nouns.
ALSO: If there is an action noun that already exists, don't create a complex gerund.
Wrong: The rebels demanded the withdrawal of government forces from disputed regions AND releasing certain political prisoners.
Right: The rebels demanded the withdrawal of government forces from disputed regions AND the release certain political prisoners.
In short: There are three categories of nouns which should not be mixed when making nouns parallel:
1. Concrete nouns
2. Action nouns and complex gerunds
3. Simple gerunds
106
SC Extra: Parallelism - Adjectives and Participles
When both modify a verb, adjectives can be parallel to present or past participles.
Right: A mastodon carcass, thawed only once AND still fresh, is on display.
"thawed" is a past participle and "fresh" is an adjective.
Right: Only a few feet wide BUT spanning a continent, the railroad changed history.
"wide" is an adjective and "spanning" is a present participle.
107
SC Extra: Parallelism - Like
Be careful about ambiguity with a "like" at the end of a sentence.
Ambiguous: I want to coach divers LIKE Greg Louganis.
Unambiguous: I want to coach divers, LIKE Louganis (= he coaches; I want to coach like he does)
Same principle applies to "unlike." Watch out for ambiguity here as well.
Right: UNLIKE you, I danced all night.
Right: Most materials under a wide range of conditions resist the flow of electric current to some degree, UNLIKE superconductors, which demonstrate zero electric resistance.
108
SC Extra: Parallelism - As
"As" can be either a conjunction or a preposition.
Conjunction "as" has 3 uses:
Duration as: AS I strolled to the store, I smelled the air.
Causation as: I will not tell you, AS you already know.
Comparison as: You should walk AS she wants you to walk.
COMPARISON AS:
Comparison as is most important on GMAT. It sometimes appears together with "just," "so," or "so too."
Right: Just as the trains were late yesterday, the buses are late today.
Right: Just as the trains were late yesterday, so too are they late today.
Comparison as can also appear with a phrase:
Right: AS in the previous case, the judge took an early break.
PREPOSITION AS:
The preposition as is used with a noun or noun phrase and has 3 uses:
Function as: AS your leader, I am in charge.
Equation as: I think of you AS my boyfriend.
Stage AS: AS a child, I thought I could fly.
SUCH AS:
DON'T use "like" to introduce examples. Instead use "such as."
Wrong: I enjoy fast food LIKE hamburgers.
Right: I enjoy fast food such as hamburgers.
109
SC Extra: Parallelism - Numbers in Comparison
To relate quantities by multiplication use "times" and "as...as" together:
Right: The man is FIVE TIMES AS OLD AS his grandson.
Wrong: The man is FIVE TIMES OLDER THAN his grandson. (this would technically mean 6 times as old as)
To indicate direct multiplication, use "times" or "twice" without "as" or "than":
Right: The cost of a ticket is $12, six times the cost ten years ago.
Right: The concert was attended by 300 people, TWICE the previous attendance.
Use "more than" or "less than" to relate two quantities by addition or subtraction:
Right: I am ten years older than you.
Wrong: I am ten years as old as you.
110
SC Extra: Parallelism - "More" and "Less"
Watch out for ambiguity when using "more" or "less":
Wrong: We have even MORE efficient engines than before.
Depending on meaning:
Right: We have even MORE engines that are efficient than before.
Right: We have engines even MORE efficient than before.
111
SC Extra: Parallelism - Comparisons Signaled by Verbs:
Some verbs , such as "exceed" or "surpass" indicate comparisons. To avoid ambiguity you have to repeat or add words:
Wrong: The incidence of the disease among men exceeds women.
Right: The incidence of the disease among men exceeds the incidence among women.
Right: The incidence of the disease among men exceeds that among women.
112
SC Extra: Parallelism - In Addition To:
Use "in addition to" to add another example to the subject or to add another example to a different noun in the sentence.
Right: In addition to taxes, death is inevitable.
Right: In addition to Munster cheese, I like Swiss.
113
SC Extra: Pronoun Ambiguity
If the pronoun points to the same noun both structurally and logically, then the sentence is probably acceptable, even if other possible antecedents exists (i.e. nouns the pronoun could be referring to).
Right: Supernovas destroy their immediate environments in vast explosions, but by synthesizing heavy chemical elements, THEY provide the universe with the possibility of biochemistry-based life as we know it.
There are three plural nouns in the sentence and "they" is also plural. But "they" can logically and structurally only refer to "supernovas." here.
REMEMBER: the pronoun and noun are not required to play the same role in a sentence or have the same structure.
Right: The board is investigating the compensation packages of several executives in order to determine how much they may have been improperly awarded.
"they" doesn't refer to the subject "board" here but to "executives."
114
SC Extra: Pronoun Cases and Nouns
Any of the three existing pronoun cases can refer to a noun anywhere in the sentence.
Pronoun cases:
Subject Pronouns: I, you, he, she it, they, who
E.g. MARY has a job that SHE loves.
Object Pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom
E.g. If you see MARY, could you please give this to HER?
```
Possessive Pronouns (indicated ownership): my/mine, you/yours, his/her/hers, its, our/ours, their/theirs, whose
E.g. MARY drives HER car every day.
```
As we know, a pronoun must refer to a regular noun and can't refer to a possessive noun, except for this exception:
When the antecedent is in possessive noun form, a possessive pronoun can be used.
E.g. MARY's job is in jeopardy because of her mistake.
115
SC Extra: Other Pronoun "There"
Besides the most important pronouns on GMAT - it, its, they, them, their, this, that, these, those - other pronouns may be tested too, such as "there."
"There" = in that place.
The antecedent of "there" should be a noun, not an adjective.
Wrong: At current prices, Antarctic oil may be worth drilling for, if wells can be dug THERE and environmental concerns addressed.
Right: At current prices, oil in Antarctica may be worth drilling for, if wells can be dug THERE and environmental concerns addressed.
If "there" is used as a "dummy" pronoun there is no need for an antecedent.
E.g. There is a cat in a tree.
116
SC Extra: Other Pronoun "Itself" "Themselves" "One Another" "Each Other"
Reflexive pronouns "itself" and "themselves" are used as objects to refer directly back to the subject.
Right: After the agreement surfaced, the commission dissolved itself.
"itself" and "themselves" are also used to intensify a noun:
E.g. The commission itself was wrong.
The reciprocal pronouns "one another" and "each other" are used to indicate interaction between parties. They are not interchangeable with "themselves."
Wrong: The guests at the party interacted with themselves.
Right: The guests at the party interacted with each other.
117
SC Extra: Other Pronoun "Such" "Other/Another"
"Such" and "other/another" often combine with a general noun to indicated an antecedent.
"Such" = like the antecedent
E.g. After the LAND-USE-AGREEMENT surfaced, the commission decided to subject any such CONTRACTS to debate in the future.
"Other" and "Another" = additional thing of the same type, but not necessarily exactly alike
E.g. After the LAND-USE-AGREEMENT surfaced, the commission decided to subject any other CONTRACTS to debate in the future.
118
SC Extra: One
One indicates indefinite copy or a single, indefinite part of a collection.
After walking by the chocolates so many times, Roger finally had to eat ONE.
119
SC Extra: Do So vs. Do It
"Do so" can refer to entire action, including verb, its objects, and modifiers.
E.g. Quinn did not eat dinner quickly, but her brother did so.
Or: Quinn did not eat dinner quickly, but her brother did.
In "Do it" the pronoun "it" must refer to a noun, not a verb.
E.g. Quinn failed to do the homework, but her brother did it.
120
SC Extra: Placeholder It
Placeholder "it" doesn't have to have an antecedent because "it" doesn't stand for anything.
3 cases to use placeholder "it" on GMAT:
1. Stylistically awkward: To resist temptation is futile.
Better: It is futile to resist temptation.
2. Stylistically awkward: That we scored at all gave us encouragement.
Better: It gave us encouragement that we scored at all.
3. Right: She made it possible for us to attend the movie.
Without "it" and right: She made possible our attendance
at the movie.
Without "it" and right: She made or attendance at the
movie possible.
121
SC Extra: Replace Pronouns with Synonym
Sometimes it's much more elegant and GMAT-like to get rid of a pronoun altogether (especially if it has ambiguous antecedents) and use a synonym instead.
E.g. Suspect: After roasting the potato, the camper extinguished the fire and then searched for a fork with which to eat it.
Better: After roasting the potato, the camper extinguished the fire and then searched for a fork with which to eat the tuber.
"tuber" is a synonym for potato.
122
SC Extra: Progressive Tenses
Progressive tenses emphasize action that takes place over time.
Forms:
Present Progressive (happening right now): Sandy is playing soccer.
Past Progressive: Sandy was playing soccer.
Future Progressive: Sandy will be playing soccer.
Rules:
1. Don't use Present Progressive if it's about a general state
Wrong: This inscription IS SIGNIFYING the emperor's birth.
Right: This inscription SIGNIFIES the emperor's birth.
2. Don't use Present Progressive if it's about a general definitions:
Wrong:...light that particles ARE EMITTING when they travel at the speed of light.
Right:...light that particles EMIT when they travel at the speed of light.
3. Don't use Present Progressive if it's about future action, but use simple future.
Wrong: QUENTIN IS MEETNG him tomorrow.
Right: QUENTIN WILL MEET him tomorrow.
123
SC Extra: If...Then Constructions
5 Patterns for if...then sentences:
1. If Sophia eats pizza, then she becomes ill. (whenever she eats p, she becomes illl)
2. If Sophia eats pizza, then she may become ill.
3. If Sophia eats pizza tomorrow, then she will become ill. (certain outcome)
4. If Sophia ate pizza tomorrow, then she would become ill. (hypothetical result of unlikely condition, author doesn't think she will eat pizza)
or
If Sophia were to eat pizza, she would become ill.
5. If Sophia has eaten pizza yesterday, then she would have become ill.
REMEMBER: "Would" and "Should" should NEVER go in the "if" part of the sentence.
124
SC Extra: Command Subjunctive:
The command subjunctive is used with a bossy verb in this order:
Bossy Verb + THAT + subject + Command Subjunctive
E.g. The agency REQUIRED that Gary BE ready before noon.
We PROPOSE that the school board DISBAND.
Form of command subjunctive is form you would use if you directed order directly to the entity.
Wrong:
Wrong: We PROPOSE the school board DISBAND. (must use that)
Wrong: We PROPOSE that the school board DISBANDS.
Wrong: We PROPOSE that the school board SHOULD DISBAND.
BUT: Not every bossy verb takes command subjunctive. There's no rule, you just have to memorize which ones do.
Wrong: The vice president WANTS THAT she GO to the retreat.
Right: The vice president WANTS her to go to the retreat.
Verbs that only take command subjunctive:
demand, dictate, insist, mandate, propose, recommend, request, stipulate, suggest (note, "propose) can take infinitive form too "the attorneys proposed to meet the following day")
When these verbs are used as a bossy verb, they must be followed by the command subjunctive.
Verbs that only take infinitive:
advise, allow, forbid, persuade want
E.g. We allow him to be here.
Verbs that take both:
ask, beg, intend, order, prefer, urge, require
E.g. We require THAT HE BE here.
We require him to be here.
Some bossy verbs, notably "prohibit" take other constructions altogether:
Right: The agency PROHIBITED Gary from working on weekends.
REMEMBER: this is only for the situations in which the verbs mentioned above are used as bossy verbs. You can use some of the verbs in other contexts as well in which case they of course don't require a subjunctive.
Use command subjunctive with nouns derived from bossy verbs:
Right: His demand that he be paid full severance was not met.
REMEMBER: Never us command subjunctive without a THAT in front of the clause containing the command subjunctive. (in the test, whether or not there is a THAT and whether or not that part is underlined can give you clues whether you should use the command subjunctive clause of the infinitive.
125
SC Extra: Helping Verbs:
Primary helping verbs: BE, DO, HAVE.
You can use helping verbs to replace verbs or verb phrases:
Wordy: I have never seen an aardvark, but my father has seen an aardvark.
Better: I have never seen an aardvark, but my father has.
REMEMBER: Helping verb should use same tense as first instance of verb. If you have to change the tense then repeat the whole verb in the new tense.
Wrong: I have never seen an aardvark, but last year my father DID.
Right: I have never seen an aardvark, but last year my father saw one.
Besides primary helping verbs, there are modal helping verbs: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would.
E.g. Our division HAD TO spend significant funds on building facilities.
Don't invert subject and use modal verb for conditions but rather use the word "if":
Awkward: Should he pass the test, he will graduate.
Right If he passes the test, he will graduate.
126
SC Extra: Infinitives
Infinitives are the most basic version of a verb. They may serve as a noun, adjective, or adverb.
E.g.
Noun: I love to swim (to swim is object of verb love)
Adjective: The person to meet is here. (to meet modifies person)
Adverb: Sue paused to eat lunch. (to eat modifies paused)
Pay attention to infinitives of purpose:
Right: The contractors demolished the building to keep it from falling down accidentally.
"contractors" is noun of "demolished" and also implied subject of infinitive "to keep."
Right: The building was demolished to keep it from falling down.
Assumption: same unnamed people who demolished it also want to keep if from falling.
127
SC Extra: Gerunds
Gerunds are -ing forms used as nouns.
There are simple and complex gerunds:
Simple Gerund: Eating apples quickly
Complex Gerund: The quick eating of apples.
REMEMBER: Never make simple gerund and complex gerund parallel to each other in a sentence. Also, if there is an answer with an action noun consists then pick that ("the quick consumption..." is better than "quick eating of...")
REMEMBER: A noun proceeding a gerund must be in the possessive case.
Wrong: Mike swimming is the product of new caching techniques.
Right: Mike's swimming is the product of new caching techniques.
128
SC Extra: Verbal or Verb
REMEMBER: Switching from a present participle to an infinitive can change the meaning of the sentence.
Present participle: Investors sold the stock rapidly, causing panic.
Infinitive: Investors sold the stock rapidly to cause panic.
129
SC Extra: If Was vs. If Were
REMEMBER: if the sentence describes a hypothetical, the if-clause has to be in the hypothetical subjunctive mood, which means that you have to use WERE and not WAS.
Right: Helen would feel better if she WERE my daughter.
130
SC Extra: Would and If-Clauses
Never use would in an if-clause but use the present or past perfect.
Wrong: Helen may feel better if she would swallow this pill.
Right: Helen may feel better if she swallows this pill.
