SENTENCE CORRECTION Flashcards
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
How to recognize them?
What do you have to remember when you see them?
“The pies Mother cooled in the window on Christmas Day in the dead of a bleak winter in 1990s after a long but with an insidious form of tropical parasitic infection was delicious”.
- PREPOSITION + NOUN/PRONOUN/GERUND
(of, in, on, at, to for, after, before, about, despite, behind, under, into, out, toward, upo, without, beneath, off, upon, by, but, until, within, against, as below, during, inside, from, near, onto, with, according to, ahead of, priot to, in place of, in back of, on account of….)
- NO SUBJECT or VERB in the prep phrase –> spot the prepositional phrases and then temporarily ignore them.
- spot the CORE SENTENCE (and verify if it’s correct e.g. subject - verb agreement)
“The pies of Mother cooled was delicious“ (INCORRECT)
COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
“Pumbing installation must be completed today, or the tile installers will not be able to start their work on Monday”
FANBOYS
for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
- the c.c can join anything (single words, entire sentences).
- c.c connect two parts of a sentence (or single words) in a parallel way (the 2 elements/clauses are on the same level)
- “Pumbing installation must be completed today, or the tile installers will not be able to start their work on Monday”*
- or joins 2 sentences to make a more complex sentence
WHAT IS WRONG ABOUT THESE SENTENCES?
- “I like not only to eat berries but also cherries, peaches, and apples”*
- “The band can either compete in the regional festival or the orchestra can represent the school nationally”*
- “Not only was the study flawed but also frivolous”*
- “The speaker is both entertaining and an inspiration”*
CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS
- either…. or…
- neither…. or…
- both… and…
- whether… or…
- not only… but (also)…
- watch out for parallelism –> make sure that the words after the 2 conjunctions are = (in the same form: can be joined)
“I like to eat not only berries but also cherries, peaches, and apples”
“Either the band can compete in the regional festival, or the orchestra can represent the school nationally”
“The study was not only flawed but also frivolous”
- Most common subordinating conjunctions
- What do subordinating conjunctions introduce? Why should we recognize them?
- How can I distinguish them from prepositions?
- Sub. conjunctions introduce dependent/subordinate clauses –> sub. conj. make one of the clauses subordinate to the other (not on the same level).
- distinguish the main/indipendent clause from the subordinate clause
- until + just a noun/pronoun/gerund –> preposition
- until + clause (introduces a clause) –> sub. conj.
- sub. conj. are important for understanding the structure of complex sentences
- check the subject - verb agreement in the subordinate clause as well
What do you need to spot IMMEDIATELY in an SC sentence?
The MAIN SUBJECT and the MAIN VERB
- On the GMAT, all SC sentences will contain AT LEAST one main subject and one main verb
- Find the main subject/s and main verb/s and see if they agree.
- Subjects can be: nouns, pronouns, gerunds, infinitives
- If a sentence lacks a verb: it’s a fragment (not complete thoughts)
Is this sentence correct?
“The volcano devastated the town; there was still hope”
INCORRECT
- “The volcano devastated teh town; however, there was still hope”*
- The contrasting meaning of the two clauses demands a contrasting conjunction
Is this sentence correct?
“He applied to HBS; but he forgot to send his GMAT score”
INCORRECT
“He applied to HBS, but he forgot to send his GMAT score”
- DO NOT use a semicolomn ; before and or but
- USE a semicolomn ; before however/therefore/in addition (FOLLOWED by a , )
- IN ANY CASE, the parts before and after the semicolmn ; must be able to stand alone
Is this sentence correct?
“The latest statistics released by the Labor Department indicate that producer prices rose rapidly last month, despite a generally weakening economy, som analysts cntend that the economic slowdown in the euro zone and in Asia will stem the rise in commodity prices, reducing inflationary pressures in the United States”
INCORRECT
“The latest statistics indicate that producer prices rose, BUT some analysts contend that the economic slowdown will stem the rise in commodity prices”
- RUN-ON –> 2 indipendent sentences joind JUST by a ,
- There has to be a , FANBOY or a ; between the 2
Is this sentence correct?
“The company sold its machine parts and chemical divisions, they hadn’t made a profit in the last five years”
INCORRECT
- RUN-ON –> when two independent clauses are put together JUST by a ,
- 2 indipendent sentences can be joined together by:
- a semicolomn ; “Earl walked to school; he later ate his lunch”
The semicolomn is often followed by transition expressions (always preceded by ; not , ) :
: … ; therefore,
… ; however,
…. ; in addition,
- , + co-conjunction (FANBOYS) “Lin drove to work, but Guy rode his bike”
REMEMBER: cross off any answer choices that connect 2 indipendent clauses using only a comma (,)
Is this sentence correct?
“I am going to the store to get: sardines, tomato sauce, and olive oil”
INCORRECT
The first part of the sentence CAN’T stand alone –> the colon should be removed
- the part of a sentence before a colon “ :” must be a COMPLETE SENTENCE (an independent clause —> makes sense by itself)
- “This recipe requires only three ingredients: sardines, tomato sauce, and olive oil”*
- “Bill was tormented: the Packers lost again”*
- “I was fired today: My boss caught me trying to steal a purse”*
Is this sentence correct?
“I have really enjoyed hearing you lecture about: grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure”
INCORRECT
The first part of the sentence CAN’T stand alone –> the colon should be removed
- the part of a sentence before a colon “ :” must be a COMPLETE SENTENCE (an independent clause —> makes sense by itself)
- “This recipe requires only three ingredients: sardines, tomato sauce, and olive oil”*
- “Bill was tormented: the Packers lost again”*
- “I was fired today: My boss caught me trying to steal a purse”*
Is this sentence correct?
“The three prices sum to a total of $11.56”
INCORRECT
AVOID REDUNDANCY
“The three prices SUM to $11.56” CORRECT
“The three prices TOTAL $11.56” CORRECT
- A common redundancy trap in the GMAT is the use of two words or phrases that convey the same meaning
- pay attention to time expressions, it is easy to sneak two redundant time expressions into an answer
“AT PRESENT, the customer service department is NOW in the process of analyzing complaints” INCORRECT
Is this sentence correct?
“Animation filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki is arguably more famous than any animation filmmaker in the history of art”
INCORRECT
Miyazaki cannot be more famous than any animation filmmaker, because he is himself a member of this group. The sentence says that he is more famous than anyone in a group that includes himself.
“Animation filmmaker Miyazaki is arguably more famous that any other animation filmmaker in the history of art” CORRECT
