Sentence Correction v2

Question 1

Subject-verb agreement:
Are compound subjects plural?

e.g. Lin and Guy drive(s) to work
e.g., ordinary men and women was/were previously incapable of discerning truth for themselves.

What about additive phrases?
e.g., Lin, as well as Guy, drive(s) to work
e.g., Math, in addition to history and science, is/are (a) required subject(s)

Answer 1

Yes, compound subjects are plural
> singular subjects connected by “and”

No, additive phrases are NOT plural subjects
Include:
> as well as
> including
> in addition to
> accompanied by
> together with
> along with

Question 2

Subject-verb agreement:
Identifying the subject strategies

Answer 2

Eliminate the “middlemen” and skip the “warmup”
- GMAT will often put many words between the subject and the verb and before the subject

SUBJECT will always be a noun (person, place, or thing doing an action / receiving an action)

Ignore…
- Prepositional Phrases (OF, to, under, from, with, in, by, at, ABOUT)
—-> Try putting prepositions before “the house”.
—-> Nouns in the prep phrase are NOT the subject (GMAT will try to conceal this fact) —> including “Of…”
- Dependent clauses
- Modifiers (e.g., the sun SHINING ON THE FLOWER BEDS …)
- Opening mods (check subject after the comma) —-> ignore modifiers (e.g., “fewer than 400” in the sentence “fewer than 400 rhinos” –> Rhinos = subject)

Question 3

Subject-verb agreement: SUBJECTS joined by “or” or “nor” (e.g., Or, Either…Or, Neither…Nor)

Neither my dad nor my mom (have/has) the book
Either the Jonases or the Nixons (is/are) coming
My dad or my mom (have/has) the book

Answer 3

Concept: Find the noun CLOSEST to the verb

SINGULAR with “or” (not a compound subject created by “and”)

e.g., Neither my dad nor my mom has the book.
> Closest noun is “my mom” (singular)

Note: When “Neither” or “Either” is used alone in a sentence (without …or / nor), it is the subject is SINGULAR (e.g., Neither of X likes Y; Either of the drinks works well)

Question 4

Subject-verb agreement:
Are indefinite pronouns singular or plural ?

Everyone, everybody, everything
Nobody, no one, nothing, NEITHER, Not one
Each, every, EITHER
Anyone, anybody, anything
Someone, somebody, something

What about: “every dog and cat [has / have] paws”

Answer 4

Concept: Indefinite pronouns ending with -one, -body, -thing are SINGULAR

Typically pronouns that end in -one, -body, -thing fall into this category

For “neither”, think of as “neither ONE”

Same is true for any SUBJECT PRECEDED by “each” or “every” (e.g., every dog and cat HAS paws) –> Each ___ or Every ___
> not necessarily true if “each” or “every” comes AFTER the subject (e.g., THEY each HAVE special talents)

NOTE: SANAM indefinite pronouns can be SINGULAR or PLURAL depending on the context

Question 5

Subject-verb agreement:
What are indefinite pronouns?

Answer 5

Refers to pronouns that are NOT SPECIFIC about the thing to which it refers
> All pronouns ending with -one, -body, -thing
> SANAM pronouns (Some, Any, None, All, Most/More)

Question 6

Subject-verb agreement:
Plural or singular?

The number of hardworking students in this class (is/are) quite large.

Answer 6

Singular
> Subject is THE NUMBER (ignore after Of in prep phrases)
> “THE number” = singular
> Different than “A number” (plural)

Question 7

Subject-verb agreement:
Plural or singular?

A number of students in this class (is/are) hardworking

Answer 7

Plural
> Idiomatic expression
> “A number” = plural = many or some
> Subject is STUDENTS
> Same treatment as with “A PROPORTION”

Question 8

Subject-verb agreement:
Plural or singular?

Majority, minority, plurality

Answer 8

DEPENDS
> Like SANAM indefinite pronouns, it depends on their context

Hint:
- Look at the -Of phrase (exception to the skip the middleman rule)

PLURAL –> indicating many individual parts of a total
e.g., the majority of students ARE hard workers.

SINGULAR –> indicating the total itself
e.g., In the classroom, the majority has voted yes.

Question 9

Subject-verb agreement:
Plural or singular?

A clause, such as “Having good friends (is/are) a wonderful thing”

or “Whatever they want to do (is/are) fine with me”

Answer 9

Singular

Concept: A subject phrase (gerunds) is SINGULAR subject

> Subject is “Having good friends”, NOT friends.
Subject is “Whatever they want to do” (singular)

Other examples:
> “Whoever rented these movies has to take them back before midnight” (singular)

Question 10

Subject-verb agreement:
What types of indefinite pronouns can either be singular or plural (depending on the context)?

Any exceptions?

Answer 10

SANAM pronouns can be either singular or plural, depending on the context of the sentence

> Some, Any, None, All, More/Most

Hint:
- Look at the -Of phrase (exception to the prepositional phrase rule when agreeing subject-verbs)

e.g., Some of the documents WERE stolen.
Some of the money WAS stolen.
(money is SINGULAR).
All is lost / all have arrived
Most is lost / most are here
Is any left / are any coming

Note: There are few exceptions where “None of” and “any of” followed by a plural subject CAN be singular
> Any of these women is a suitable candidate for marriage to my son

Question 11

Subject-verb agreement:
Plural or singular?

There (is/are) a young man and an older woman at the bus stop.

Answer 11

Hint: FLIP sentences so that the form is: subject-verb (instead of verb-subject)
> helps to identify the SUBJECT (in this case, it is a compound subject)

A young man and an older woman ARE at the bus stop.

> Be ware: “There is” is often incorrectly used with plural subjects (like compound subjects)

Question 12

Subject-verb agreement:
Correct or not?

Tired of practicing, [the orchestra decide to walk out] on its astonished conductor.

Answer 12

WRONG –> orchestra should be SINGULAR (hint: “its” instead of “their”)

Concept:
> Orchestra is a type of COLLECTIVE NOUN = almost always SINGULAR
> Others include: Agency, army, team, baggage, citrus, equipment, fleet, fruit, furniture, audience, class, committee, crowd, board

Should be:
Tired of practicing, the orchestra decideS to walk out on its astonished conductor.

Hint: If it is a tough subject, it is usually going to be singular

Question 13

Subject-verb agreement:
Correct or not?

She knows that despite the element of luck, the judgement and the wisdom displayed by each contestant evidently affects the outcome.

Answer 13

WRONG

“The judgement and the wisdom” is a PLURAL subject (compound subject)

–> “affect”

Question 14

Subject-verb agreement:
Correct or not?

Neither she nor her parents understands the challenging math problem

Answer 14

Incorrect

Concept: SUBJECTS joined by “or” or “nor” (e.g., Or, Either…Or, Neither…Nor) must agree with the closest subject noun

–> “her parents” (plural)
–> “understand”

Question 15

Subject-verb Agreement:

Which one is correct?

A) Neither of my aunts, both of whom [visited Venice last spring, want] to return.

B) Neither of my aunts, both of whom [have visited Venice last spring, wants] to return.

C) Neither of my aunts, both of whom [visited Venice last spring, wants] to return.

Answer 15

Ans: C

First split - “Neither” is SINGULAR (“of my aunts” is a prep phrase) –> should be associated with “wants”
> try “Neither one”
> this is different from “Neither X Nor Y”

Second split - “have visited” is in the wrong TIME tense with “last spring”
> Either they VISITED last spring or they HAVE visited at some UNSPECIFIED time in the past.

Question 16

Subject-verb agreement:
Prep phrases “Of….” -> singular or plural subject?

e.g., an array of buoys [collects / collect] and [transmits / transmit]
e.g., Neither of my aunts [wants / want] to return

Answer 16

Concept: Look at the part BEFORE “of…” to decide whether the subject is singular or plural
> SKIP the middle man and part in the -Of phrase

e.g., SINGULAR:
- an ARRAY of buoys collects and transmits data

e.g., SINGULAR
- NEITHER of my aunts wants to return.

Question 17

Subject-verb agreement:
Are the following nouns singular or plural

> Mathematics
Aerobics
Pilates
Diabetes

Answer 17

Singular (exception to the rule despite ending in an -s)

Test: ____ is hard
> does it sound right?

Question 18

Subject-verb agreement:

Exceptions to the “skip the middlemen” rule (aka subject is in an Of-prepositional phrase and whether subject is singular or plural)

Answer 18

1) SANAM indefinite pronouns
2) Idiomatic expressions relating to quantities and parts (e.g., A number of ___, majority, minority, plurality)
3) Fractions / percents (e.g., Half OF the pie was eaten / 75% of the students were unhappy)

Question 19

Parallelism:

What are common parallelism markers (memorize these “stems”)?

In a sentence, what “elements” can be parallel? (verb, noun, adjective etc.)?

Does parallelism require identical words, type or structure?

Answer 19

Applies to any construction that expresses 2+ things (nouns, verbs, adjustives, prepositional phrases, infinitives, participles, subordinate clauses) in the SAME WAY requires parallelism
> Almost anything in a sentence can be made parallel
> Ensure sentence is parallel in both MEANING AND STRUCTURE *****

OPEN Markers (tip - check element that comes AFTER the marker for structure)
x AND y **
x OR y
x BUT y **

CLOSED markers:
NOT ONLY x BUT ALSO y
NOT x BUT y
NOT SO MUCH x AS y
NEITHER x NOR y
EITHER x OR y
BOTH x AND y
——-> NOT both x in addition to y, both x as well as y.
BETWEEN x AND y
x RATHER THAN y
RATHER THAN x, y
REGARD x AS y
x IS REGARDED AS y
FROM x TO y
WHEREAS x, y
AS X AS Y *****
——-> X may contain words that apply to both X and Y
e.g., As EXCITING TO us as TO them (repeated so we omit)

(X and Y elements must be parallel parts of speech)

Parallel structure can be WITHIN another sentence –> you need to mentally outline the PARALLEL ELEMENTS
e.g., Voters want to elect a president WHO genuine cares about [health care, the environment, and the travails of ordinary men and women], AND WHO has the [experience, wisdom, and strength of character] required for the job.

Examples of parallel elements:
- nouns
- working verbs (she likes running and jobbing) –> NOT THE SAME as nouns
- infinitive verbs (she wants not only to laugh but also to cry)
- Participle modifiers (The actor left quickly, waving but ducking into his car)
- Prep phrases (He left the keys on the table rather than in the drawer)
-Sub clauses (They contended THAT the committee was biased BUT THAT it should not be disbanded; … from THOSE WHO are world renowned to THOSE WHO are virtually unknown)
- Adjectives or modifiers.

**don’t need to be IDENTICAL but must be OF THE SAME TYPE and STRUCTURE

***HOWEVER - DON’T COMPROMISE MEANING!!!!!!! Distinguish “superficial parallelism” from “actual parallelism”
> Identify the STEM and the parallelism MARKERS —> the STEM has to make sense with EVERY ITEM (x, y)
> so if something isn’t perfectly parallel, see if the objects are parallel in MEANING

Tips:
> Typically words are repeated to reduce ambiguity
> Swap the parallel elements X and Y to see if the grammar still works

Question 20

Parallelism: Idioms with built-in parallel structure examples

X acts __ Y

As X, ___ Y

Compared to X, ___Y

Declare X ___ Y

X develops ____ Y

Estimate X ____ Y

X instead ___ Y

X is known ______ Y

X is less ____ Y

Make X ___ Y

Regard X ___ Y

X is good, ________ Y

Neither X ___ Y

Distinguish X ___ Y

X differs ___ Y

Mistake X ___ Y

Think of X ___ Y

View X ___ Y

In contrast to X, ___ Y

Between X ___ Y

Whether X ____ Y

Answer 20

x Acts As Y

As x, So y

Compared To x, y

Consider x y

Declare x y

x Develops Into y

Estimate x To Be y

x Instead Of y

x Is Known To Be y

x Is Less Than y

Make x y

Regard x AS y

x Is Good, And So Too Is y

Neither x NOR y
> Both x and y could be connected to the stem and don’t need to be fully independent
e.g., neither federal nor state LAWS (both describe laws)

Distinguish x FROM y

x Differs FROM y

Mistake x FOR y

Think Of x As y

View x AS y

In contrast to x, y

Between x AND y (–> NOT between x to y)
e.g., the difference BETWEEN x and y

Whether x OR y

Question 21

Parallelism: Linking verbs

Concept
What are they

Answer 21

Sentences involving “Linking Verbs” can use a subtle form of parallelism
> Linking verbs DESCRIBE the SUBJECT (vs an action)
> **The subject and the object need to be parallel (structurally similar)

e.g., The BOUQUET was a GIFT of love
(versus the BOUQUET was a GIVING of love)

e.g., The NOMINATION of this politician represents A STEP FORWARD
(versus the POLICITIAN represents A STEP FORWARD –> person =/ occurrence or event)

“To Be” linking verbs:
> is, are, was, were, am, been, be, being
(Note: do not look for parallelism when “to be” is used in the progressive tenses, like “I am watering the plants”)

Other linking verbs:
> appear
> become
> feel
> grow
> look
> resemble
> represent
> sound
> smell
> seem
> stay
> taste
> turn

Treat the linking verb as a parallel marker (subject and object should be made parallel in structure AND meaning)

Question 22

Q: Fix the [ ]

Although we were sitting in the bleachers, the baseball game was [as exciting to us as the people sitting behind home plate]

Answer 22

Parallelism
> As X as Y
> recall that there are many forms of parallelism structures involving “as”

Although we were sitting in the bleachers, the baseball game was [AS exciting TO us AS TO the people sitting behind home plate]

Question 23

Pronouns: What are these kind of questions testing?

Answer 23

Testing (1) whether the PRONOUN and ANTECEDENT (noun) agree in NUMBER
(2) Whether the pronoun is AMBIGUIOUS

Hint:
> IDENTIFY the correct antecedent first (might be heavily disguised, look past additive phrases just like subject-verb agreement Qs; adjectives cannot be antecedents)
> Replace the pronoun with the noun to see if it makes sense
> Watch out for NOUNS used as ADJECTIVES (e.g., The term “supercomputer” –> supercomputer is a noun functioning as an adjective; the park ranger –> park is functioning as an adjective)

Question 24

Q: Is this correct?

Although the term “supercomputer” may sound fanciful or exaggerated, [it is simply an extremely fast mainframe] that can execute trillions of calculations every second

Answer 24

No - Pronoun error

“It” should refer to “the TERM” (not supercomputer)
> Always identify the antecedent correctly first

Should be:
Although the term “supercomputer” may sound fanciful or exaggerated, [it simply REFERS TO an extremely fast mainframe] that can execute trillions of calculations every second

Question 25

Pronouns: This and These

She took her laptop and her books with her on the airplane because she thought she could use these to get some work them

Answer 25

Concept (demonstrative pronoun): “This” and “these” should never be used ALONE WITHOUT A NOUN because the subject becomes vague / ambiguous

> Instead, add noun after (so “this” and “these” function as ADJECTIVES)
OR when it makes sense to do so, use “it”, “they”, or “them”

Wrong: This is great
Right: This soup is great –> add noun

Wrong: Her products are unusual; many consider these unique
Right: Her products are unusual; many consider them unique –> “her products” is the antecedent of them

Question 26

Pronouns: That and Those

e.g. The amount of money spent by her parents is more than THAT spent by her children.

e.g., The club’s new members are outperforming THOSE of its rivals.

Answer 26

Concept (demonstrative pronoun): “That” and “those” can be used to indicate a NEW COPY of the antecedent
> Check by replacing “that” and “those” with the NOUN it “copies”
> The “new copy” stem containing “that” and “those” must AGREE IN NUMBER with the previous version
> To make them into “new copies”, the pronoun (that/those) must also include a MODIFIER that describes how the new copy is different from the previous version
(e.g., “that spent by her children”)

> That = singular
e.g., “that” = “ the amount of money”

> Those = plural
e.g., “those” = “the new members”

Question 27

Pronouns: Exception to ambiguity (in cases where there is one pronoun but more than one possible antecedent)

E.g., 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
> what is the antecedent of “they”? Supernovas? Environments? Explosions?

Answer 27

Concept: GMAT occasionally will allow for pronoun ambiguity in circumstances in which the intended antecedent is CLEAR (by virtue of PARALLELISM AND MEANING), and if there is no other reasonable antecedent

E.g.., Supernovas is the subject of the first clause and “they” is also in the subject position in the second clause, which is PARALLEL to the first clause
> “They” clearly refers to “supernovas”

Question 28

Pronouns: Possessive case- yay or nay?

e.g., The orca, a relative of the blue whale, is found throughout the globe.
The orca, a relative of the blue whale’s, is found throughout the globe.

e.g., The board is investigating several executives’ compensation packages in order to determine how much may have been improperly awarded to them

Answer 28

Usually nay!
> Choose “X of Y” instead of “X of Y’s”
> Choose “that of Y” instead of “Y’s”
> It is also wrong to make NOUNS in POSSESSIVE case an antecedent (e.g., “executives’” =/ “them”)

GMAT also tends to stay clear of plural possessive form (-s’)
e.g., Some critics of the Olympian Party candidate Zeus Pater (not Pater’s).

Question 29

Pronouns: Subject vs object vs possessive pronouns

Especially the who vs whom vs whose

Answer 29

Subject:
> Who
> I, you, he, she, it, we, they

Object:
> Whom
> Me, you, him, her, it, us, them

Possessive:
> Whose
> Mine/my, yours/your, his, her/hers, its, our/ours, theirs/their

Who vs Whom –> replace with they vs them AND invert sentence to see if the use case is subject or object
e.g., Caroline receives email from friends [who / whom] she knows well
> Replace: Caroline receives email from friends; she knows THEM WELL –> possessive

Note: First person pronouns (I, you, we, me, us, our, my, your, their) never have antecedents in the sentences

Question 30

Pronouns: Can indefinite pronouns (not SANAM) be antecedents to other pronouns (subject, object, possessive)?

Answer 30

Concept: Yes, indefinite pronouns can be antecedents; pronouns must agree in NUMBER

e.g., Everyone here needs his or her own copy of the textbook in order to take the class

Question 31

Q: Which one is right?

A) Jim may not be elected CEO by the board because he does not meet their standards
B) Jim may not be elected CEO by the board because he does not meet its standards

Answer 31

B - Pronoun error

> “the board” is a COLLECTIVE NOUN and SINGULAR
Possessive pronoun should be “its” vs “their”
WATCH OUT FOR THEIR/THEIRS trap

Question 32

Q: Which one is right?

A) Caroline receives email from friends [who she knows well], from acquaintances whose names are only vaguely familiar, and from strangers about whom she knows nothing at all

B) Caroline receives email from friends [whom she knows well], from acquaintances whose names are only vaguely familiar, and from strangers about whom she knows nothing at all

Answer 32

B - Pronoun error

> Whom is better here because it is used in object case

Question 33

Q: Which one is right?

A) Caroline receives email from friends [who she knows well], from acquaintances whose names are only vaguely familiar, and from strangers about whom she knows nothing at all

B) Caroline receives email from friends [whom she knows well], from acquaintances whose names are only vaguely familiar, and from strangers about whom she knows nothing at all

Answer 33

B - Pronoun error

> Whom is better here because it is used in object case

Who vs Whom –> replace with they vs them AND invert sentence to see if the use case is subject or object
e.g., Caroline receives email from friends [who / whom] she knows well
> Replace: Caroline receives email from friends; she knows THEM WELL –> possessive

Question 34

Q: Is this correct?

Our cat is cuter than those in the shelter

Answer 34

No - Pronoun error

> “Those” has no plural antecedent
“that” is also inappropriate

Solution: Our cat is cuter than THE CATS in the shelter