VERBAL - Sentence Correction

Question 1

When I see….

“had collaborated”

(had + past participle)

Answer 1

I’ll think…

“this occurred before another past event”

So I need something else to happen in the past that happened after the collaboration.

f.e.: before the sunrise, they had collaborated to …

Question 2

Fine or Flawed?

The accountant…

had found three errors in your last tax return.

has found three errors in your last tax return.

found three errors in your last tax return.

Answer 2

flawed (I´m expecting something else to happen)

fine

fine

Question 3

When I see….

“a word or phrase in different positions”

Answer 3

I´ll think…

“How does this affect meaning?”

What’s the difference?

*they are both gramatically correct but mean different things:

a) I met Jeff first in class. (Jeff was the first person I met in class.)
b) I first met Jeff in class. (The first time I met Jeff was in class.)

Question 4

When I see….

it, its, they, them, or their

Answer 4

I’ll think…

“Does this pronoun have an appropriate and clear entecedent?”

Question 5

When I see….

multiple answer choices that don’t appear to have any flaws in them

Answer 5

I’ll think…

“I should look outside the underline for a marker!”

Question 6

Fine or Flawed?

the defeat was not only due to gale winds but also the sacrifice of eight ships

the defeat was due not only to gale winds but also to the sacrifice of eight ships

Answer 6

Flawed

Fine

Question 7

When I see..

” ,which… “

Answer 7

which = noun modifier

need to be positioned as close as possible to modified noun

I have to ask what it should modify.

• grains of sand or pebbles, which burn up while speeding—> (burn should modify closest PLURAL noun “pebbles”)
• a grain of sand or pebble, which burns up as it speeds—> (burns should modify closes SINGULAR noun “pebble”)

Final BIG question: is what comes after the which makes sense in the context of the whole sentence? (meaning)

Question 8

Why does Jeffrey Vollmer think that MODIFIERS is arguably the most important topic in Sentence Correction?

Answer 8

Because:

1. Because they can be tied within the principles of other grammatical topics like Parallelism.
2. They are used to mess with Sentence Structure.
3. Used to obscure subject-verb relationships.
4. Tied with Modifiers is the the issue of Meaning.
5. The most versatile issue the GMAT has to complicate Sentence Correction problems.

Question 9

Every sentence must contain a Sentence Core.

Sentence Core = ?

Answer 9

Sentence Core = Who Did What

(observe in attatched image how a core can be expanded with the addition of modifiers)

to find the sentence core get rid of “that….” , “which….”, any pieces that add extra information to the “who did what”. Modifiers.

Question 10

__________________, but he quickly built his own device from an organ pipe and spectacle lenses.

What has to come before (blank)?

Answer 10

___________, conjunction + subject + verb

so I need a subject + verb before.

subject +verb, conjunction

Question 11

Parellelism

Noticing that its profits have fallen again this year, the company is selling its equity, but many experts think the market will correct soon.

Answer 11

The other use of conjunctions:

subject + verb, conjunction + subject + verb

If a conjunction is not joining independent clauses, it must be building Parallel structure. So in this particular example the marker but is not trying to create a Parallel structure.

Question 12

What do the following Modify?

1. ”, which…..”
2. ”,-ing modifier”

Answer 12

1. “,which” can only modify the closes preceding noun
2. ”,-ing” modifier modifies the entire preceeding clause.

• Galileo did not invent the telescope, which was invented by someone else.
• Galileo did not invent the telescope, focusing his time instead on light photoscoptery.

Question 13

When I see…

…, but (or any FANBOYS conjunction)

I should expect…?

Answer 13

Another subject + verb (another clause)

Conjunctions join independent clauses. And each independant clause needs its subject + verb.

• Galileo did not invent the telescope, but on hearing (whatever he heard) … subject + verb. This is the STRUCTURE I should expect.

For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

Question 14

For:

Countable Nouns I use?

Unountable Nouns I use?

Answer 14

• Countable Nouns I use? FEWER (When Drive-in’s where at the height of their popularity in the late 1950’s…)
• Uncountable Nouns I use? LESS (mone)

Question 15

Spot the Correct and Incorrect Constructions for each answer choice:

Answer 15

Correct ans. is E