Gmat Sentence Correction Rules

Front 1

Parallel Structure Errors

Back 1

1. Comparable sentences must be comparably and logically similar

2. Parallel markers indicate that both sides of marker must have parallel form

Front 2

Modifiers

Back 2

1. A modifier describes another part of the sentence

2. Place it as close as possible to whatever it is modifying.

3. Common GMAT modification error is a long modifier at the beginning of a sentence. It should modify the subject of the sentence but will likely not do so properly.

4. Modifier at beginning of sentence must refer to and be next to the noun it is modifying

LOOK OUT FOR
Sentences beginning with descriptive phrases.
That/which clauses, especially ones that come at the end of sentences.

Front 3

Active Voice vs. Inactive Voice

Back 3

"Active Voice" has the subject doing the action and is preferred

Subject acts upon verb

"Marilyn mailed the letter" or "The man must have eaten five hamburgers"

Passive: Subject is acted upon by verb

"The letter was mailed by Marilyn" or "Five Hamburgers must have been eaten by the man"

Front 4

Sentence Correction
Another vs Other

Back 4

Another properly refers to an unspecified other thing.
Other refers to a specific thing in a choice among two things.

Front 5

In spite of

As a result of

Back 5

GMAT prefers shorter and concise wording.
In spite of = Although
As a result of = because

Front 6

Whether vs If

Being

Back 6

GMAT almost always prefers whether to if

GMAT always dislikes being

Front 7

Pronoun Agreement

Back 7

- it, its, they, their, them, which, and that
- a pronoun must agree with its antecedent and refer to only one antecedent
- pronouns such as "it" and "they" are often misused on the GMAT
- look out for pronoun that don't refer to a specific noun
- look out for pronouns that don't agree in number with their antecedents

Front 8

Verb Tense must Reflect the Sequence of Events

Back 8

- be mindful of inappropriate use of "ing" (I was going, I am going I had been going)
- as far as the GMAT is concerned the only time to use "ing" is to emphasize that an action is continuing or that two actions are occurring at the same time.

Front 9

Compare Like Things Only

Back 9

- you cannot compare things that aren't the same ie, apples to oranges, bears to zoos, people to feelings or time to a place. things like that
LOOK OUT FOR THE FOLLOWING
- key comparison words such as "like" "as" "compared to" "less than" "more than" "other than of" "those of"
-long modifying phrases between compared elements. DON'T BE DISTRACTED!
Ignore that modifying phrase at first so you can see the compared elements clearly

Front 10

IDIOMS

Back 10

- prepositions (to, from, at, over) in the underlined portion of the sentence.
- verbs whose idiomatic usage you have seen frequently tested. Common examples are "prefer" "require" "regard"

Front 11

Meaning

Back 11

Check to see if sentence matches what author is trying to say

1. Did author use correct words (may, will, must, and should)

2. Does changing placement of words change sentence meaning

3. Subject-verb agreement

Front 12

Subject-Verb Agreement

Back 12

1. Subject (noun that performs verb) and verb must both exist otherwise sentence is fragment

2. Subject and verb must agree in number (singular subject needs singular verb)

3. Eliminate "Middlemen" and Skip the Warmup to ID main subject and verb (Warmup=prepositional phrase or stand alone clause)

4. And signals plural noun and verb but additive phrases like along with, in addition to, as well as require a singular verb

5. Collective nouns such as: agency, army, team, class are all singular

6. Noun nearest verb is what subject must agree with

7. With either, neither or as a pronoun, the subject is singular

Front 13

Parallel Markers

Back 13

And (apples and pears)

Both/and (both apples and pears)

Or (apples or pears)

Either/or

Not/but (not apples but pears)

Not only/but also

Rather than (apples rather than pears)

From/To (From apples to pears)

AND, BUT, and OR are three most common parallel markers

Front 14

Linking Verbs that Indicate Parallelism

Back 14

Is, are, was, were, am, been, be, being

Front 15

Everyone

Back 15

Singular so requires his or her or another singular pronoun to describe it

Front 16

Adjetives and Adverbs

Back 16

Adjetive describes a noun or pronoun

Adverb describes anything but a noun

Common mistake is to modify an adjetive with an adverb by adding "ly"

Front 17

Who, Whom, Whose that, which

Back 17

Who and whom must modify people only

Which can only modify things and must refer directly to the noun in front of it

That cannot modify people

Whose can modify a person or thing

Front 18

Present Perfect Tense

Back 18

Have/has+past participle

Only use if action has one foot in past and one in future

"We have lived in the hut for 3 days"

Use simple tense when possible

Front 19

Like v. Such

Back 19

Such as is used to introduce examples

while "like" indicates only similarity and cannot be used for examples at all.

Front 20

Critical Reasoning: Causality (X Caused Y)

Back 20

1. Reversal (y caused x instead of x causing y)

2. Coincidence

3. Alternative explanation (Z caused X and Y)

Front 21

Critical Reasoning: Representativeness

Back 21

When one group is assumed to match the characteristics of another

Make sure small group is representative of larger group

Common when dealing with questions about a study or experiment

Front 22

Critical Reasoning: Plans, Proposals, and Predictions

Back 22

Assumption is that circumstances are the same but if that is not the case than you have a way to strengthen or weaken

Determine if plan is actually feasible and if the author may be overlooking something