Btg Gmat Sc Flashcards

Front 1

“Agree”
Agree with another person.
CORRECT: “ I agree with Joey on this issue.”
Agree to or upon something inanimate.
CORRECT: “ I agree to your proposal.”
CORRECT: “ A course of action was agreed upon.”

Back 1

“Just as”
“Just as” can replace “in the same way that”.
CORRECT: “Just as Elvis changed the face of rock n’
roll, Hawking changed the face of astrophysics.”

Front 2

Idiom
“In contrast to”
CORRECT: “In contrast to most parents, Jimmy’s parents
let him stay out all night.”
“Similar to”
CORRECT: “Theresa’s parenting style is similar to Christine’s.”

Back 2

“Whether” vs. “If”
“Whether” is correct when a sentence describes alternatives.
CORRECT: “Whether to vote or not.”
“If ” is correct when a sentence describes a
hypothetical situation.
CORRECT: “If he were to participate, he would…”

Front 3

“rather than”
Use “rather than” to express a preference.
CORRECT: “I would prefer nonfat milk rather than
cream in my coffee.”

Back 3

“Due to”
The best meaning for “due to” is “caused by.”
• “Due to” should not be used to mean “on account of”.
INCORRECT: “The game was postponed due to rain.”
CORRECT: “The game was postponed on account of rain.”
CORRECT: “The game’s postponement was due to rain.”

Front 4

“not…but”
Use “not…but” to join linguistically equivalent (parallel)
things.
CORRECT: “Blake is not a golfer but a tennis player.”

Back 4

Pronoun Errors
Ambiguous pronoun reference - each pronoun must
agree in number with the noun it replaces
INCORRECT: “Fred and Vijay went to the soccer
match, but he said that he liked cricket better.”
Singular/Plural noun agreement - each pronoun must
refer directly and unambiguously to the noun it replaces
INCORRECT: “The average dentist expects patients to
be on time, and they are usually mistaken.”

Front 5

Ambiguous Gerundial Clauses, 1 of 2
INCORRECT: “Driving to a holiday dinner, Fred’s wallet
was lost.”
This sentence implies Fred’s wallet drove to a holiday dinner.
One way to fix example above: Rearrange sentence order and
alter second half of sentence so that inanimate object does
not refer to action verb in first half of sentence.
CORRECT: “Fred lost his wallet as he drove to a
holiday dinner.”

Back 5

Ambiguous Gerundial Clauses, 2 of 2
INCORRECT: “Driving to a holiday dinner, Fred’s wallet
was lost.”
Another way to fix example above: Change first half of
sentence into adverbial clause, which clarifies the subject of
the sentence that is in the second phrase.
CORRECT: “While driving to a holiday dinner, Fred
lost his wallet.”

Front 6

Parallel Construction
A signal that you may have a parallel construction error is
a group of phrases set off by commas.
Spot this problem by:
• Finding a series of actions, lists, or sentences
divided into parts.
• Make sure that each list item has similar structure
(i.e., no one part of the list is distinct from the others
in terms of grammatical construction or length).

Back 6

Verb Tense
A sentence that begins in one tense should generally stay
in that tense.
• Often related to parallel construction questions.
EXCEPTION: Past perfect (ex: “had/have + verb”). An
action set in the past perfect must have another action
that comes after it set in the simple past.
CORRECT: “Bob was fired after he had worked at the
company for only two weeks.”

Front 7

Common Word Trap
Politics – Singular word
CORRECT: “Politics is not for the faint of heart.”
People – Plural word
CORRECT: “People are often confused about
grammatical issues that arise on the GMAT.”

Back 7

Avoid Apples to Oranges Comparisons
Compare nouns to like nouns:
CORRECT: “The roses at Sarah’s wedding were prettier
than the orchids at Jane’s wedding.”
INCORRECT: “I enjoy reading the poems of Kenneth
Koch more than Emily Dickinson.”
Compare actions to like actions:
CORRECT: “Beeswax candles burn more cleanly than
synthetic candles.”

Front 8

Quantity Words and Idioms
CORRECT: “On the flight to Chicago, Betty had to
choose between two drink options.”
CORRECT: “On the flight back to New York, Betty had
to choose among three dinner options.”
Countable Items:
• Fewer • Number • Many
Non-Countable Items:
• Less • Amount, quantity
• Much

Back 8

Correct Sentences
20% of SC sentences are correct as presented in the first
instance on the GMAT.
• This is approximately three questions per test.

Front 9

3-Step Method
1. Read original sentence carefully.
2. Scan answer choices for differences that help identify
commonly-tested errors.
3. Eliminate a choice as soon as you find an error.
TIP: If you narrow a question down to two possible
“candidate” sentences, read each one slowly and
deconstruct each part of the sentence until an error
jumps out at you.

Back 9

Collective Nouns that are Singular
Beware collective nouns which are actually singular:
“audience, committee, everyone” merit singular verbs

Front 10

Misplaced or Dangling Modifiers
Modifiers should be as close as possible to the word or
clause they modify.
INCORRECT: “Sarah Jane rarely sparked interest in
men, though not a plain girl.”
CORRECT: “Sarah Jane, though not a plain girl, rarely
sparked interest in men.”

Back 10

Either...or / Neither...nor
Verbs agree with whatever follows “or/nor”
CORRECT: “Neither the musicians nor the conductor
is from Dallas.”
CORRECT: “Neither the conductor nor the musicians
are from Dallas.”

Front 11

Gerunds (words that end with “ing”)
When the GMAT gives you a choice between one verb
tense that uses an “ing” form and another that does not,
usually the “ing” form is wrong.

Back 11

Verb Tense – 3 Tips
1. Make sure that the verb tense you choose properly
reflects the sequence of events.
2. Use Present Perfect (verb + “ing”) to emphasize
continuing nature of an action or that two or more
actions are occurring simultaneously.
CORRECT: “I have been correcting Raul’s GMAT grammar constantly.”
“I was walking and chewing gum when I collided with a lamppost.”
3. Avoid Passive Voice. Use simple past tense instead of “had” + past tense.

Front 12

“so…as to”
Use “So [ADJECTIVE] as to [VERB]” as a comparator.
CORRECT: “Her debts are so extreme as to threaten
her company.”
Do not use it to substitute for “in order to”
INCORRECT: “He exercises everyday so as to build
his stamina.”

Back 12

Like Things
Compare like things only (ex: nouns to nouns, people to
people, actions to actions, etc).
Comparison words: “like, as, compared to, less than,
more than, other, that of, those of ”

Front 13

“like, such as”
“like” = “similar to”
CORRECT: “Her graceful comportment made her seem
like a dancer, although she had never set foot on a stage.”
“such as” = “for example”
CORRECT: “I enjoy activities such as skydiving,
heliskiing and scuba diving.”

Back 13

Guessing
When in doubt, choose the most concise (shortest) answer.

Front 14

Idioms involving “as”
Memorize:
• “regarded as” (don’t use “to be”)
• “as long as”
• “such questions as”
• “plays as”

Back 14

“None, No one”
“None” should be singular, even when to your ear it
seems as though it should be plural.
CORRECT: “None of the boys enjoys camping as he does.”
“No one” is always singular.
CORRECT: “No one enjoys camping as much as he does.”

Front 15

Passive vs. Active Verb Tense
Avoid passive verb tenses! These are usually present or
past perfect forms of verbs.
• “Have/Had + VERB + -ing” is rarely the correct choice.
• Active tense is preferred in sentence correction questions.
• “By” is often an indication of the passive voice.

Back 15

“Compare”
“Compare to” compares UNLIKE things, whereas
“compare with” compares LIKE things. “Compare to” is
used to stress resemblance.
CORRECT: “She compared the evening gown to the cocktail dress. “
“Compare with” can be used to show either similarity or
difference (usually difference).
CORRECT: “When compared with Laura’s work product,
Jim’s showed a world of difference.”

Front 16

Idiom: “Concern”
“Concerned for” = “worried, anxious”
CORRECT: “I am concerned for her safety.”
“Concerned with” = “related to”
CORRECT: “This matter is concerned with the
Smith case.”

Back 16

Idiom: “to be”
CORRECT: “Likely to be”

Front 17

Idiom: “same to…as to”
CORRECT: “Same to X as to Y”

Back 17

“Greater than, More than”
“Greater than” is appropriate when describing numbers alone.
CORRECT: “Greater than 100…”
“More than” should be used when describing the numbers
of objects or when making comparisons.
CORRECT: “More than 100 fish.”

Front 18

Idiom: “rates for”
When “rates” refer to the price charged, it should be
followed by “for”
CORRECT: “Rates for telephone service have increased
in recent years.”

Back 18

Coordination, Subordination
Coordination (comma + coordinating word/conjunction)
• Equal emphasis with independent clauses
• “and, or, but, for, nor, yet, so”
Subordination (placed before or after independent clause
with comma)
• Emphasize other part with one independent clause
and one dependent clause
• “although, while, since”

Front 19

Pronoun
A pronoun must:
• Agree with its antecedent in number (plural vs singular)
and gender
• Refer to a specific antecedent without ambiguity
Remember: “that” is singular and “those” is plural

Back 19

Participles
Participles are sentence fragments. They are often adjectives
formed from verbs. They are often grammatically ambiguous,
and cause problems due to this ambiguity.
CORRECT: “Peter, distracted by his cat and wanting to
do his work…”

Front 20

“Less”
Less is a word used to describe non-count nouns, but also
used for sums of money, periods of time and distance,
and citations of numerical/statistical data.
CORRECT: “It’s less than 35 miles to San Francisco.”
CORRECT: “We spent less than $100.”
CORRECT: “The town spent less than 95% of its budget.”

Back 20

Passive Voice
The passive voice is not grammatically incorrect, but the
GMAT usually considers it stylistically inferior to the active
voice.
• Eliminate passively worded choices if there is a
grammatically correct alternative in the active voice.

Front 21

“One of the…”
“One of the [PLURAL NOUN] that/who [PLURAL VERB]”
CORRECT: “He is one of the persons who bake
spectacular cakes.”
“Only one of the [PLURAL NOUN] that/who [SINGULAR
VERB]”
CORRECT: “He is the only one of the employees who
was promoted.”

Back 21

“Consider”
When “consider” means “regard as,” “as” should not be
present with “consider” in the sentence. “Consider” is also
not followed by an infinitive like “to be”.
INCORRECT: “Scientists consider control factors to be
an integral element…”
CORRECT: “Scientists consider control factors an
integral element…”

Front 22

Idiom: “Deciding that…”
CORRECT: “Deciding that the best course was to
continue, the Donner Party fatefully elected to
forge ahead.”

Back 22

Idiom: “just as…so”
Make sure elements are parellel.
CORRECT: “Just as gills are to fish, so lungs are
to humans.”

Front 23

Idiom: “not so much…as”
CORRECT: “Not so much to show Jane up as to make
her appear foolish, Sarah pointed out Jane’s error to
their supervisor.”

Back 23

Strategy
Some test prep sources claim that when the entire sentence
is underlined in the question, the answer has a
higher probability of being ‘D’ or ‘E’.

Front 24

Verb Phrase Ellipsis
Most of the time when we use a comparison using “than”
or “as”, we omit verb comparators, as they are implied.
CORRECT: “He is shorter than she.”
(Note the omission of “is” at the end.)
CORRECT: “He is as depressed as they, but he
soldiered onward anyway.”
(Note the omission of “are”.)

Back 24

Idiom: “Forbid” vs. “Prohibit”
“X forbids Y to do Z.”
CORRECT: “Sarah’s father forbids her to date Josh.”
“X prohibits Y from [VERB + ing].”
CORRECT: “Sarah’s father prohibited Sarah from
going out with Josh.”

Front 25

Singular or Plural
The following are always plural pronouns when used as
the subject of a sentence:
• Some
• More
• Most
• All

Back 25

Idiom
“For” = “despite”
“Along with” = “in addition to”

Front 26

“Compare”
Use “compare to” for unlike things
CORRECT: “He compared her to an evil shrew.”
Use “compare with” for like things
CORRECT: “The paralegal compared the copied
signature with the original.”

Back 26

Comparison Words
“Like” used to express similarity, normally between two nouns
CORRECT: “Tangerines are like mandarins.”
“As” normally used to compare two clauses including verbs,
NOT just two nouns
CORRECT: “He looks as though he is drunk.”
“Such as” normally used to give examples.
CORRECT: “Investment banking has taught me skills
such as discounted cash flow modeling.”

Front 27

“Each”
“Each” is usually singular. Exception: when “each” follows
a plural subject, the verb and subsequent pronouns
remain in the plural.
CORRECT: “Three cats each chase birds.”
CORRECT: “Three cats, each of which chases birds….”

Back 27

“Number”
A “number” requires a plural verb.
CORRECT: “A number of people are queuing to enter
the Tate.”
“The number” requires a singular verb.
CORRECT: “The number of people in line is decreasing.”

Front 28

Pronoun
When you see any pronoun, especially “it” or “they”,
immediately check the antecedent.

Back 28

Idiom: “so [adj.]…as to be [adj.]”
CORRECT: “He was so jovial as to be practically silly.”

Front 29

Infinitives to Avoid
“To include” is usually incorrect,
while “including” is more often correct.
“To implement” is usually incorrect,
while “implementing” is more often correct.

Back 29

Idiom: “just as…, so too…”
CORRECT: “Just as stealing is frowned upon, so too
is cheating.”

Front 30

“Majority”
“Majority” should be used with count nouns only.
INCORRECT: “The majority of the talk…”
CORRECT: “The greater part of the talk…”
CORRECT: “The majority of the people…”

Back 30

Pattern to Avoid
Avoid any sentence construction with:
“[PREPOSITION] [NOUN] [PARTICIPLE]”
INCORRECT: “…with shower facilities included.”

Front 31

“Target to” and “Target at”
“Target to” is normally followed by the infinitive form
of a verb.
CORRECT: “That’s a good target to choose.”
“Targeted at” is normally followed by a noun.
CORRECT: “The gun is targeted at you.”

Back 31

Idiom – Paired Coordinates
“Not X, but rather Y”
CORRECT: “It was not a bird, but rather, a plane.”

Front 32

“they”
Always be suspicious of the pronoun “they”.
• A common trap is for “they” to refer to a singular
subject noun.

Back 32

Idiom: “between…and”
“Between” always goes with “and.”
CORRECT: “She was between a rock and a hard place.”
CORRECT: “He couldn’t decide between one and
the other.”

Front 33

Strategy
Whenever you narrow candidate answers to two options
that are both grammatically correct, but one involves a
change in meaning from the original sentence, choose
the answer which preserves the uncorrected sentence’s
original meaning.

Back 33

Comparison of Actions
Watch out for comparison of actions /inanimate objects
performing compared actions:
INCORRECT: “French wines taste better than Australian
wines.” (Implies wines are tasting.)
CORRECT: “French wines taste better than Australian wines do.”
“French wines taste better than Australian wines taste.”
“French wines taste better than do Australian wines.”

Front 34

Gerunds (verb + “ing”)
The “ing” (present participle) form introduces an action
that is simultaneous with the action of the main clause.
CORRECT: “While watching for pedestrians, Jane
made a left hand turn through the crosswalk.”

Back 34

Numbers Greater than 1
Numbers greater than 1 are plural unless you are referring
to the number itself.
CORRECT: “Two out of every three dog owners in the
U.S. also own a cat.”
CORRECT: “Two is my favorite prime number because
it is also even.”

Front 35

Idiom: “During”
“During” + “[defined TIME PERIOD]” is wrong.
INCORRECT: “During two hours, I felt sleepy.”
CORRECT: “During the past two hours, I felt sleepy.”

Back 35

Quantifiers
With fractions, percentages, and indefinite quantifiers,
the verb should agree with main subject of the sentence,
not the noun contained within the prepositional phrase.
CORRECT: “Thirteen percent of Cleveland’s teens
are pregnant.”
NOTE: “of Cleveland’s teens” is NOT the subject!
With singular or non-count nouns or clauses, use a
singular verb.

Front 36

Dangling Participle
Descriptive participle phrase must be as close as possible
to the noun it describes.
INCORRECT: “Sarah’s camera was lost while skiing
to the base.” (Underlined portion is a dangling
participle — it’s hanging.)
CORRECT: “As she was skiing to the base, Sarah lost her
camera.” (Underlined portion is a clause with a subject
and verb.)

Back 36

“Hopefully”
“Hopefully” is nearly always wrong on the GMAT.
• Avoid sentence choices with this word.

Front 37

Thinking Words
Thinking words such as “theory, belief ” or “believe” are
often followed by “that”.
CORRECT: “Lucy’s belief that the Holocaust did not
occur is misguided.”
INCORRECT: “Lucy’s belief of…”

Back 37

Idiom: “Credit”
“Credit A with B”: give responsibility for
CORRECT: “Bell is credited with inventing the telephone.”
“Credit X to Y”: give money or credit to
CORRECT: “The bank credited $4 million to his account.”
“Credit for [NOUN]”: money received for or in exchange
for something
CORRECT: “The power customer received a $20 credit
for an interruption of service.”

Front 38

Helping Verbs: “Might/May”
“Might” is the past tense of “may”.
CORRECT: “She may arrive this evening.”
CORRECT: “She might have arrived yesterday evening.”

Back 38

“Number”
“A number of ” always takes plural verbs.
CORRECT: “A number of birds have migrated…”
“The number of ” always takes singular verbs.
CORRECT: “The number of warblers has increased…”

Front 39

“Having”
“Having [PAST PARTICIPLE]” is used to express actions
that are finished and to convey order of occurrence.
CORRECT: “Having eaten a huge Thanksgiving dinner,
Elliot loosened his belt one more notch.”

Back 39

Plural/Singular
“[QUANTIFIER] of [NOUN] [VERB]”
The noun determines whether verb is singular or plural.
CORRECT: “Most of the students are…”
CORRECT: “Most of the school is…”