Sentence Corrections Flashcards
Comparison/contrast markers
A subset of parallelism
Have to compare/contrast two elements that are the same type of things. Eg people to people, animal to animal, etc
Pronoun vs pronoun
Pronoun vs that of…
- Like - Placement can be in the beginning or the middle
- Unlike- Same placement as like
- As
- Than
5 As… As - Different from
- In contrast to
Although
Contrast/comparison
Also a subordinating conjunction
Yet
Contrast/Comparison
Also a coordinating conjunction. Part of the fanboys club!
Countable vs uncountable modifiers
Try to count out the noun!!
Countable modifiers Many Few Fewer Fewest Number Numerous
Unaccountable Great Amount Much Least Less Little
Can be used for plural countable nouns and singular uncountable nouns More Enough Most All
Unit nouns represent UNCOUNTABLE QUANTITIES. Eg dollars, gallons
Countable quantities doesn’t have plurals?!?
Including vs Like vs As
Including is introducing examples.
Like is indicating similarities between two or more things
Like is used to compare nouns, pronouns or noun phrases. Cannot put a clause or prepositional phrase after like!!
Cannot be used to introduce examples!!! Need to use such as instead
As can be used to compare two clauses
Five must know grammar terms
- Clause - Independent vs Dependent
- Modifiers
- Sentence Core
- Conjunction
- Marker
Independent clause
Subject and working verb.
Who did what?
Complete sentence requires one independent clause
Modifier
Provides additional info in a sentence
Answers the questions who, what, when, where, which, why
Should not lead to ambiguity or illogical meaning!
Eg Adjective like large, small, happy
Modifier
That vs Which
That - Essential modifier
Which - Nonessential modifier. If you remove it the sentence would still make sense
They are noun modifiers
Essential modifiers trump non essential and comes before it
For non essential modifiers, putting both right after each other can be awkward and incorrect. Usually break it up with a core phrase
Sentence core
Independent clauses and essential modifiers
Does not include nonessential modifiers
Conjunction
Combine sentences together
Coordinating conjunctions
Combine two independent clauses together. Can be used with a comma
FOR, AND, NOR, BUT, OR, YET, SO
FANBOYS
5 three
2 two
FOR is a conjunction AND preposition
Subordinating conjunctions
Connect modifiers to independent clauses
ALTHOUGH
BECAUSE
BEFORE
AFTER
THOUGH
UNLESS
WHILE
IF
Meaning errors
- Choose
- Place
- Match
Meaning error
Known as vs Known to be
Named vs acknowledge as
Helping verbs
The following verbs can impact the meaning of a sentence dramatically:
May
Will
Must - Absolutely necessary
Should - Moral obligation, NOT likelihood
Only, all
Place of words.
Watch for words that quantify nouns or otherwise restrict meaning. This can definitely alter the meaning of a sentence!!
Compose
Relate parts to whole
When the part of the subject the verb has to be active
Two things vs Three or more things
Two is: Between Better Worse More Less
Three or more is: Among Best Worst Most Least
Working verb
Verb that can run a sentence by itself
Express action of a sentence
NEVER end in -ing
Participles
Present
Always end in -ing and can be used as a:
1. Verb - Must have another verb immediately before it. For example is playing
2. Noun
3. Noun modifier
4. Verb modifier - Have comma and then the participle word
Indicates ongoing action, though not necessarily in the present
Past
Most commonly end in -ed, although there are irregular ones. For example swim, swam, swum. Swum would be the past participle
Cannot function as a noun
Preposition
Indicates relationship between the object and something else in the sentence. Can consist of more than one word
Usually close to a noun or noun phrase
Can also be a noun modifier!!!
In
For
On
Of
To
From
At
By
With
Upon
3 four
1 three
6 two
Compound subject
Must be connected by the word and - Is plural
Compound verb
Two or more verbs that all point to the same subject
Dependent clause
Begins with connecting words such as who, which, because, cannot stand on their own
That
Can be an essential modifier
When is occurs directly after a working verb, it acts as a reset button and a new subject verb object structure will follow
That indicates more info is coming
Run on sentence
Connecting two independent clauses via a comma is incorrect!!
Semicolon
Can also be used to connect two sentences. These two sentences must be independent clauses
Not part of the FANBOYS club.
Nonetheless, However, Therefore, In addition
Transition expression
Therefore, however, in addition, nevertheless. Not true conjunctions. Must be used with semi colons
Basically anything that is NOT part of FANBOYS
So… that
Correct idiom
Eg so brutal that
Chapter 2: Gramma and Meaning
Gramma - Five key grammar sections
Meaning - CPM
Chapter 3: Sentence structure
- Subject and working verb must both exist
- S and WV must agree in number
- Eliminate the middlemen!
- Use of conjunctions
- Use of semicolons
Common noun vs pronoun vs proper noun
Common noun - Identifies class of people, places and things. Eg city, chair, peasants
Pronoun - I, She, He, They
Proper noun - Names of specific nouns, such as Karen, Japan, Quantium
Modifiers - Adjectives vs adverbs
Both are one word modifiers
Adjectives - Only modify a noun or pronoun
Adverbs - Anything but a noun or pronoun, such as verbs, adjectives, prepositional phrases, even entire clauses
Usually ends with - ly
Common adjectives/adverbs that pop in GMAT
10 words
Corresponding Frequent Independent Rare Recent Seeming Separate Significant Supposed Usual
Karen is corresponding frequently with Calvin, despite being an independent person. She recently went to Hurricanes and got a rare steak. It was seemingly good. She had to eat separately because her significant other didn’t like her face. Supposedly she also didn’t like his face, and was back to her usual hangry self
Instead of …
Be suspicious about it!!!
In the GMAT it is usually
considered to be too casual
Can use Compared to and Rather than instead
Noun modifiers
Place the noun and its modifier as close to each other as possible!
The modifiers can be beyond just one word
Sometimes a modifier can be separated from the noun by another modifier
With… noun and participle
GMAT DOESNT LIKE THIS AT ALL
Eg with Karen’s pants dropping
Just as…
So….
Idiom
Tenses (Hint there are three main ones)
Need to update
Noun modifier markers - Relative pronouns
The seven wonders
Whom - Must modify people. Sometimes follow for
Who - Must modify people
Whose - Can modify things or people
Which - Sometimes follow through . MUST refer to a noun!!!
Where - Modify noun place, but can’t modify metaphoric place. In this case use in which
When - Modify noun event or time. Can also use in which
THAT - The only one without W. Can sometimes significantly other structures besides noun modifiers.
> Follows noun immediately = Noun modifier
> Follows verb immediately = More complex structure. Acts as an essential modifier
Noun modifier markers - Prepositions and participles
Remember I FOOT FAB W and also the different participles
For participle modifiers, note that the first sentence instigated the action, and the second sentence is the result
Adverbial modifiers
Modify verbs and adverbs
- Adverbs
- Prepositional phrases
- Present participle with commas
- Past participle with commas
Does not have the same placement restraints as noun modifiers
Answers questions such as how, when, where, why an action has occurred
The word NUMBERS
Use GREATER THAN, not MORE THAN
Gerund
Verb that acts like a noun
Ends with -ing. Can be confused with present participle. BE CAREFUL!!!
Verb form to be
Can include is, are, am, etc
Avoid relative clauses!!! Simplify use simple noun modifiers. Reduces wordiness
Infinitive verb
To….basic verb
Indicates a purpose!!!
Eg To sleep, to walk
Can act as either a noun or as a modifier in the sentence
Sometimes does not need the to
The verb has to be basic. Eg to sleeping is not an infinitive verb
Linking verb
Describe what a subject is or what condition the subject is in.
Another parallelism marker!!!
To be verbs such as is, are, was, were, am, been, be, being
Appear, become, turn, taste, etc
Root phrase
Portion before the list starts
You should be able to plug in the lists into the root phrase
Parallelism marks
The story is I am apply for Bachelor of Analytics (Both… And) for FULL TIME (From… To). There are a lot of people with EGO WITHOUT THE GOODS (Either Or). I would also prefer NBA WITHOUT THE ASSHOLES (Not… But). Therefore I say NO TO BA (Not only… But also)
Open - Two FANBOYS and another is RIGHT TRIANGLE
- AND - Two or three
- OR - Two
- RATHER THAN - Two
Closed
- Both…And
- Either…Or
- Not…But
- Not only…But also
- From…To
AND
Elements that can be in parallel:
Noun with noun
Action noun with action noun
Gerund with gerund
Gerund with action noun
Working verbs can be paired in different tenses
Can also pair present and past participles
Comparative and superlative
Two things - Comparative form.
Eg quicker, faster, shorter, more interesting
Never use the comparative form without using THAN
Three things or more - Superlative form
Eg quickest, fastest, shortest, most interesting
For adverbs ending in -Ly, use more rather than the word ending in -er. Eg if quickly is used, used more quickly
For adverbs that doesn’t end in -Ly, -er is fine
Both to vs to both
Both to X and to Y - Parralleim
To both X and Y
Due to
Due is adjective and has to modify a noun! Cannot modifiers actions
