Adjectives:There’s only one type of question left in the GMAT Verbal section: Sentence Correction questions. There will be about 15 Sentence Correction questions in the 40 or so Verbal questions you’ll be asked on the GMAT. In other words, there are slightly more Sentence Correction questions than Critical Reasoning or Reading Comprehension questions. Remember, you have 75 minutes to complete the Verbal section of the test.
This type of question is both good and bad news. The good news is that because the English language employs a limited number of grammar and mechanical conventions, there are only so many varieties of Sentence Correction questions that you can be asked. That means that more than any other Verbal question, you can actually study for this part of the test: that’s why you’ll find a thorough, if brief, review of the relevant grammatical and mechanical rules in the English language in this chapter. We also strongly suggest reading in the weeks before your test: choose a novel or book of nonfiction that you can trust to be written in standard American English. Just having those sentences running under your eyes will help.
The bad news is that for many people, just mentioning the rules of English grammar is off-putting. And even if you feel fairly confident, it’s easy to get confused when you have to answer multiple questions about them. Do keep in mind that there are basically three ways a sentence can be wrong on the GMAT: It could violate a rule of grammar. It could be worded in an unclear way. Or it could be worded in a nonstandard way (in other words, it sounds funny).
As with every other part of the test, steady work will win the race: be as well prepared as you can, and then move carefully and diligently through the questions. Don’t panic, make your best guess and keep going!
Before we dive into those grammatical rules, let’s take a look at the instructions you’ll receive on your computer screen as you begin the Sentence Correction portion of the GMAT:
The following questions present a sentence, part of which or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose one of the others.
These questions test correctness and effectiveness of expression. In choosing your answer, follow the requirements of standard written English; that is, pay attention to grammar, choice of words, and sentence construction. Choose the answer that produces the most effective sentence; this answer should be clear and exact, without awkwardness, ambiguity, redundancy, or grammatical error.
To review these directions for the subsequent questions of this type, click on HELP.
As you can see from reading the instructions, this is going to be yet another very dry section of the test. The questions test you on your knowledge of formal written English. This isn’t the English we use in talking with each other or writing a quick e-mail; this is the kind of English you would use in writing a business report.
As the instructions suggest, you will be looking at an entire sentence, or a part of a sentence, that has been underlined. Your job is to spot the grammatical error in the sentence and choose the answer choice that is the best way of saying the same thing in more precise, formal English.
You may be given a sentence or sentence part that actually is correct as presented. If that’s the case, just choose answer choice A, because that is always the same as whatever is presented in the prompt. Approximately 20 percent of the Sentence Correction questions will not contain an error, so A will be your choice. You should expect to choose it about three times on the test!
Few people look eagerly at the task of reviewing grammar rules, but doing so will truly improve your score on the GMAT. Not only will you be better prepared for the Sentence Correction questions, but your ability to do well in writing your Analytical Writing Assessment will improve, too. Remember, a computer grades the AWA (along with a human reader). Computers can’t pick up a lot of nuances in writing, but they can be programmed to pick up on grammatical errors. Eliminate those, and the computer will like your essay a bit more!
Let’s take a look at some of the grammar and mechanics conventions you’ll need to know on the GMAT.
A large proportion of the GMAT’s Sentence Correction questions will be about verb usage. Incorrect verb tense and lack of subject-verb agreement are distressingly common errors, and they make writing look inexpert. Luckily, while these errors are very easy to make, they’re also pretty easy to spot! Let’s look at the most common type of error you’ll have to correct on the GMAT, subject-verb agreement.
You remember from your high school English classes that the subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing taking action, while the verb tells you what action is being taken. These, the subject and the verb, must be in agreement. Forget about trying to remember a complicated rule about words ending in -s. Instead, focus on this: If your subject is plural, your verb must be plural. Likewise, if your subject is singular, your verb must be singular:
I was
We were
They are
She is
The dogs ran
The dog ran
The clowns sing
The clown sings
Remember that you is an exception. It’s always plural, even when you’re talking only about one you. So:
You lift me as a person.
You lift me as a class.
Same spelling, see?
Of course, the GMAT is rarely that easy. Take a look at this sentence:
Elsie, like many cows, eat a great deal of hay.
On first glance, you might think that there’s no problem here, probably because “cows eat a great deal of hay” sounds correct. The problem is that while the verb is eat, the subject isn’t cows. It’s Elsie! And her name is singular, so the sentence should read:
Elsie, like many cows, eats a great deal of hay.
Notice how the GMAT has deliberately tried to trick you by putting the word cows, a plural noun, into the sentence. It’s hard to catch those easy mistakes, especially when you’re in a hurry. This use of a modifying clause or phrase (such as like many cows) is a common trick on the GMAT.
Sometimes the GMAT tricksters use either … or or neither … nor. This is confusing because when either and neither introduce multiple nouns, it seems they would need a plural verb, such as in this example:
Either Susan or David tell the story.
This seems like it might be OK, because Susan or David is more than one noun. But either renders the noun singular, no matter how many singular nouns follow. So the correct form is:
Either Susan or David tells the story.
When either and neither are used with plural nouns or pronouns (or with both singular and plural nouns), the verb should agree with the noun closest to it, as in the following example:
Either Susan or the boys are riding the bus.
Another way the GMAT test-makers will try to trip you up in subject-verb agreement is with collective nouns—such as audience, council, group, majority, series—which are almost always treated as singular nouns on the test. (This is not always the case in real life, so be careful.) In other words, the GMAT favors a sentence such as this:
The audience was euphoric.
over this:
The audience were euphoric.
They do the same thing with singular collective pronouns such as each, everyone, everybody, nobody. Again, there are rare exceptions when the way a sentence is phrased might make the verb plural, but on the GMAT, you can count on these words being singular:
Each member of the audience was euphoric.
Nobody wants to do that again.
No matter how the GMAT tries to trip you up, the key is to find the subject in the sentence—the person, place, or thing taking action—and determine whether it is plural or singular. Then make your verb match.
Verb tense tells readers when the action in the sentence happened or will happen. The three most common forms of verb tense are past (We played.), present (We are playing.) and future (We will play.). Of course, there are many, many more forms of verb tense, but for the purposes of the GMAT, you don’t need to be able to list, say, future perfect tense. Rather, you need to be aware of consistency in verbs throughout the sentence. If the sentence begins with action in the past, the rest of the sentence (on the GMAT, anyway) should also be in the past.
It is quite common to find that in the underlined portion of a GMAT Sentence Correction question there is more than one verb, and the tenses of the verbs do not match:
Sheila gave Rachel the key to the house after Rachel would stop by.
We can see what the sentence means, and it may be written in a way that is familiar to us in casual conversation. But the sentence is grammatically incorrect, combining past tense (gave) and conditional (would stop). A better form of the sentence is:
Sheila gave Rachel the key to the house after Rachel stopped by.
Now the two verbs (gave and stopped) agree in their tense.
Since the GMAT mimics the mistakes we most frequently make in real life, it makes sense that pronoun problems would be the second-most-common form of error that needs to be corrected on the test. We make a lot of pronoun mistakes! Pronouns are the words we use to replace nouns or proper nouns (names), including he, she, it, they, and them. There are other pronouns (technically, there is often a pronoun), but you will not see many GMAT questions concerned with them.
There are two basic forms of pronoun mistakes that you’ll have to correct on the GMAT. The first is called a pronoun reference error. This error occurs when the sentence does not make clear to the reader what or who the pronoun is referring to because the related noun (called the referent or antecedent) is unclear or missing. Here’s an example:
According to Victoria, Kate and Louis wanted to take Mark shopping for a new car, but he didn’t know which one of them to choose.
Here, we don’t know if the he refers to Mark or Louis, and whether them refers to the people in the sentence or to cars.
This error is fairly easy to spot. If you see pronouns in the underlined portion of the sentence, ask yourself if it is immediately clear which noun they are referring back to, keeping in mind that your initial impression may not be the correct response. Just be sure to look for the answer that best improves the sentence. In that example, you’ll need to find the answer that corrects for both he and them.
Another common form of pronoun error that the GMAT is fond of throwing at you is the pronoun number error, in which a plural pronoun replaces a singular object or vice versa. These sentences seem correct because they reflect the reality of how most of us talk at least some of the time, but they are incorrect in formal written English. Here’s an example:
Manuel likes his coworkers, but they do not socialize with colleagues outside of work functions.
You see the problem: the subject of the sentence, Manuel, is singular, but the rest of the sentence refers to him as they. In a verbal conversation, it would most likely be clear that the speaker means Manuel and his wife or partner, but in written English, it’s unclear. You’d need to fix that, looking for an answer choice that replaces they with he.
By the way, you may be thinking, wouldn’t it be easier to write, “Manuel and his partner”? The answer to that is yes, that makes sense. However, you can only adjust the underlined portion of the sentence, so you’ll have to choose the best fix for that.
Another common form of error is the misplaced modifier. While pronoun problems in the GMAT’s Sentence Correction section are often about a misapplied pronoun, modifiers are more often misplaced than misused. A modifier is a phrase that modifies the subject of another phrase (almost always a noun). Modifiers should almost always come right before or right after the subject that they’re modifying. If they aren’t, the reader could think that the modifier is describing a different noun than what was intended. Here’s an example:
Eating everything in sight, Jennifer tried to snap a photo of the black bear.
The sentence is trying to say that Jennifer tried to take a photo of a black bear who was eating everything in sight, but as you can see, the misplaced modifier makes it sound as if Jennifer was the one who couldn’t stop eating!
Although Jennifer is the subject of the sentence, the black bear is the subject of the modifier, so it should read like this:
Jennifer tried to snap a photo of the black bear eating everything in sight.
This isn’t the best sentence of all time, but it is certainly much more clear and correct.
Sentences with this type of error often happen in first drafts, before the writer has gone back to smooth out his or her writing. But because the meaning is clear to the writer, sometimes this type of sentence slips by a revision. Luckily for you, these errors are much easier to catch when you aren’t the author!
Here are a few more misplaced modifier mistakes to look out for on the GMAT:
Adjectives:
Sad and scared, the hotel looked welcoming to our young heroine.
Clearly, the adjectives sad and scared are supposed to modify our young heroine, not the hotel.
A cook with a master’s degree in criminology, the food made by Jack Smith was exquisite.
Here, the adjectival phrase A cook with a master’s degree in criminology is describing Jack Smith, not the food.
A Participial Phrase Introduced with a Preposition:
After swimming for hours, the cabin on the shoreline finally was in Wei’s sight.
The phrase After swimming for hours modifies Wei, not the cabin.
Don’t be turned off by the grammatical labels above. If it makes you queasy to think of words like “a participial phrase,” then don’t! Just know to look for what the underlined portion of the sentence is referring to, and then check to make sure it is in the right place to modify the noun it describes.
While parallelism is not as common a mistake to be corrected on the GMAT Verbal, it is one that is tricky to spot. Many people don’t understand the rules behind parallelism and thus do not know what to fix on the test. It’s very easy to read through a sentence with a parallelism error and assume that A is the right choice—that is, that the sentence has no mistakes. Be on guard that you don’t flub this type of question. Let’s take a look at the rules, first.
Parallelism is a principle of formal written American English that states that if a sentence presents multiple related items or phrases, then each of those items or phrases should be presented in parallel grammatical structures. The key here is that idea of parallelism: everything should get listed in the same way. Looking at a few examples will help you understand this better.
The most common GMAT question about this grammatical idea presents items in a list and asks you to decide whether they are presented in parallel form. Here’s what we mean:
Meredith, an award-winning scientist, is known for her research into blood clotting, anatomical intervention, and the applying of sutures to more efficiently heal wounds.
The list has a problem: the first two items in the list are nouns (blood clotting, anatomical intervention), but the third is a gerund (applying of sutures …). If you don’t know what a gerund is, don’t worry about it. Instead, just look at the list: two nouns, followed by a phrase beginning with a verb. They’re not parallel. This would be a better form of the same sentence:
Meredith, an award-winning scientist, is known for her research into blood clotting, anatomical intervention, and the application of sutures to more efficiently heal wounds.
Here, application of sutures is now in noun format, and the entire sentence is parallel.
This type of error in a list doesn’t only happen with a verb inserted into a list of nouns. The nonparallel structure could be a list of verbs with a misplaced noun:
Grace, a dedicated teacher, is always taking her students to plays, inviting them on hikes, and she makes it a point to talk to their parents at least once a week.
As you can see, the error here is she makes it a point …, which doesn’t fit with the other two parts of the list. They are in verb format, so it should be too. The sentence should be something more like this:
Grace, a dedicated teacher, is always taking her students to plays, inviting them on hikes, and talking to their parents at least once a week.
While the mistake in parallelism is most commonly made in the last part of the sentence, after the and or or, it can appear anywhere, so read very carefully before deciding there’s no error in a sentence that contains a list!
Along with list errors, parallelism can trip you up in another kind of sentence. The GMAT is also fond of two-part sentences in which the first half creates an expectation that the second half will be similarly constructed. Here’s an example of a poorly formed sentence of this type:
To say that Gloria is an exceptional mother is giving credit where credit is due.
We know: that sentence sounds perfectly fine to the ear. But it is technically incorrect. Because the sentence begins with the infinitive (To say …), the rest of the sentence should take that form as well:
To say that Gloria is an exceptional mother is to give credit where credit is due.
The best advice we can give you on this kind of question is that when you see a sentence with a list or a two-part structure, you can be fairly sure that there’s going to be a parallelism error. Look carefully for it!
This type of question is a real doozy. There are thousands of idiomatic constructions (meaning the specific ways we match words together, often comparative words and/or prepositions) in the English language, and there’s no way to prep you for all of them. That said, we tried to include as many of them as possible in the test questions that end this chapter, so take the time to work through them.
The further bad news is that there aren’t any rules guiding idiomatic expressions, so if you run into one that you don’t know on the GMAT, you’ll be stuck with choosing the answer that sounds right. That said, there’s good news, too: you WILL be familiar with many idiomatic expressions. Also, if you know the expression, they’re not hard to figure out: if they sound correct, they’re correct, and if not, the answer choice that you need should be immediately apparent. More good news: with only 15 Sentence Correction question per GMAT, there’s a good chance that the questions you receive about idiomatic expressions will be on familiar terms.
Here’s an example of an idiomatic expression question:
Since I don’t like football, I would prefer tickets to the Pirates rather with the Steelers.
The chances are pretty good that you immediately thought, wait, the answer should be “rather than.” All you would then need to do is choose that expression from the answer choices.
As you can tell, this type of question responds particularly well to being mouthed so that you have a sense of what it would sound like aloud. It only takes one read-through to know that “rather with” sounds very awkward.
Here’s a table of idiomatic expressions you can look for on the test:
According to
Appear to
As great as
As good as, or better than
Attributed to
Based on
Because of
Choose from
Conclude from
Contribute to
A debate over
Defined as
Determined by
A dispute over
Different from
In danger of
In regard to
Not only … but also
Prohibit from
Rather than
Regard as
Result of
See … as
Subject to
Think of … as
You’re no doubt familiar with the old phrase “comparing apples and oranges.” Well, keep that in mind for the next type of question you can find on the GMAT, which looks for incorrect, or invalid, comparisons. There are two kinds of this question. The first compares two things that are not comparable. Here’s an example:
The sweaters stored in this drawer are larger than the other drawer.
Now, of course, we understand that the writer of the sentence intends to say that the sweaters in this drawer are larger than the sweaters stored in the other drawer. But the sentence doesn’t actually say that; instead, it compares the sweaters to the other drawer. To fix the sentence, you’ll have to fix the underlined portion to better reflect the actual comparison. The sentence should be something like this:
The sweaters stored in this drawer are larger than those stored in the other drawer.
Nouns are not the only false comparisons, which leads us to our second type of false comparison question, which incorrectly compares actions:
After visiting the zoo, Gretel and I agreed that elephants move more gracefully than ostriches.
We know, we know. The example above sounds exactly like something you would say. That’s the trick with these questions, because formal written English doesn’t match the way we speak. Although it may seem silly, the above is actually a false comparison because it is comparing how elephants move to ostriches. Here’s the correct sentence:
After visiting the zoo, Gretel and I agree that elephants move more gracefully than ostriches move.
The way this type of sentence violates our “if it sounds right, it probably is right” guideline is why we’ve particularly pointed it out to you. Be alert for it and the other false comparisons on the test. Words to watch out for include like, as, than, similar to, and any other construction that shows a comparison is being made.
Another tricky, and possibly unfamiliar, form of Sentence Correction question is the sentence that describes quantity. Even if you learned these rules in school, you may not remember them now, or often hear people employ these words with complete accuracy. Let’s review them.
Basically, English has a number of different words for quantity, and those words are split between those that describe quantities of two and those that describe quantities of more than two. Here’s a table of those words:
Thus, if you have five answer choices, you choose among those choices. But if you’re only trying to decide whether to choose B or D, you would choose between them. Similarly:
I’m trying to decide who is the better of the two singers who auditioned, because I want to choose the best of all the people who tried out.
We often use these words interchangeably when speaking, but in written English, they should be used with more care. It’s worth your time to memorize the table above.
There’s another kind of quantity question, which asks you to look at the distinction between countable and noncountable items. The distinction is instinctive: if you would usually be able to count the number of items, then it’s countable; if not, you wouldn’t. So, for example, the number of people in your car is countable, while the amount of traffic is noncountable. The kind of number you are working with determines which kind of words about quantity you should use. Here’s a quick overview:
And here are a couple of example sentences:
Madeline gave me fewer cookies than she gave Matteo.
There wasn’t much discussion about the amount of work we had to do before we continued.
In one of those quirks of English that can drive you crazy, while there are different words for smaller quantities, depending on whether they are countable or noncountable, there’s only one word for a greater number or larger amount for both countable and noncountable quantities. That word? More.
It took us more time than we expected, but we were able to buy more towels at the sale.
Look at the reverse of the above:
It took us less time than we expected, and we were able to buy fewer towels at the sale.
English is a puzzling language. Just be ready for this mistake on test! When you see numbers or quantities—really, any of the words in the tables above—that should be a warning to you that there’s likely a mistake ahead.
The previous sections covered the kinds of question you are most likely to find in the GMAT’s Sentence Correction portion. Your best plan is to know the rules from those sections inside and out, but if you have time, you can learn this handful too. They are not very likely to be the main question, but they may help you eliminate answer choices.
Split Infinitives: They look like this:
To carefully pick out the crab meat
To angrily complain about the service
These are technically incorrect, because they split the infinitive (To … [verb]) with an adverb. Do not choose an answer choice that splits the infinitive.
The Subjunctive Mood: This verb tense expresses things that the speaker or writer wishes were true, but which are not true, as in this sentence:
If Kate were younger, she would qualify for that award.
The wish is in the first part: were Kate younger than she is, which is impossible to achieve, something could have happened. Every once in a while, the GMAT will try to trip you up with a sentence like this:
If Jim was a nice guy, he would have asked for forgiveness.
Seems OK, right? Well, the subjunctive verb is always were, no matter how many people or things make up the subject. So it should read:
If Jim were a nice guy, he would have asked for forgiveness.
Possessives: Sometimes the GMAT will test you to see if you use possessives properly. The one that’s most likely to trip you up is it’s. Remember that it is = it’s. If you want to say “something belonging to it,” write it as in this example:
The dog chewed its leash when left alone.
Terminal Prepositions: This grammatical rule has somewhat fallen out of favor lately, but some grammarians say that you shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition:
She didn’t know who to go with.
He wasn’t sure what to do as there wasn’t anyone to talk to.
Because this rule is no longer so steadfastly enforced, it’s unlikely you’ll see it as a main question. However, we suggest avoiding any answer choices that force the sentence to end in a preposition.
If you’re familiar with our suggestions for other portions of the Verbal part of the GMAT, you won’t be surprised by our suggestions here:
First read the entire question. Some of the sentences are quite long, even stretching to what looks like a paragraph. (While you’re at it, make sure you’re on a Sentence Correction portion of the test and not a Critical Reasoning passage; they can look very similar!) Don’t just read the underlined portion of the sentence. It won’t make sense without the entire passage.
Before you look at the answer choices, try to figure out if there’s something wrong with the underlined portion of the question. (A hint: it might be helpful to mouth the sentence, since you can’t say it aloud. Errors are sometimes easier to spot that way.) If you think there is an error—still before looking at the answer choices—try to articulate to yourself what the problem is. Is it a subject-verb disagreement? The wrong verb tense?
Test all of the answer choices. On the other hand, if you think the sentence is correct as is, make a note, but you’ll still need to test all of the answer choices to make sure that they are not somehow more correct. It’s helpful to articulate to yourself why you think the sentence is correct as it is so that you do not get confused.
Next, try out the answer choices. You want to attempt to eliminate them as quickly as possible. Obviously, if you’ve found an error, that rules out A, so now you have a 25 percent chance of being correct, even if you guess! If you can, choose the one answer choice you think is correct.
If you’re stuck between two answer choices, compare them to each other. They can’t be identical, so one will fix one aspect of the underlined passage and the other will fix something else. Which seems better? That’s the one you choose.
Directions: The following questions present a sentence, part of which or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose one of the others.
These questions test correctness and effectiveness of expression. In choosing your answer, follow the requirements of standard written English; that is, pay attention to grammar, choice of words, and sentence construction. Choose the answer that produces the most effective sentence; this answer should be clear and exact, without awkwardness, ambiguity, redundancy, or grammatical error.
1. In 1980, lack of precipitation reduced Costa Rica’s coffee production to about 30 million tons, nearly 20 percent less than those of the 1979 harvest.
less than those of the 1979 harvest.
less than the 1979 harvest.
less than 1979.
fewer than 1979.
fewer than that of India’s 1979 harvest.
2. Veronica needs to buy a new dress, resole her dancing shoes, and the visit to the doctor needs to be rescheduled.
and the visit to the doctor needs to be rescheduled.
and visiting the doctor needs to be rescheduled for later in the day.
and reschedule her visit to the doctor.
and doctor’s visiting needs to be rescheduled.
and visit the doctor.
3. After I called all of your friends, you was surprised when they showed up for the party.
you was surprised
you were surprise
you was surprising
you were surprised
surprised was your feeling
4. Nancy, like many nurses, work long hours.
work long hours.
work long hour.
works long hours.
work for long hours.
work for longer hours.
5. The audience, already amazed by the special effects, gasp when the curtain rose on the second act’s new set.
gasp when the curtain rose
gasped when the curtain rose
gasp when the curtain roses
gasp upon seeing the curtain rise
gasps when the curtain rose
6. Once we realized that the polar bear wasn’t going to try to find its toys again, we were ready to move on to another part of the zoo.
to try to find its toys again
to try to find it’s toys again
to try to find their toys again
to try to find it’s toys once more
to tries to find its toys again
7. From what Mellie told me, Rick and Shanna took Nathan to the amusement park, but he got scared and didn’t want to go on the roller coaster.
but he got scared and didn’t want to go on the roller coaster.
but he got scared, and therefore didn’t want to go on the roller coaster.
but he got scared, making Rick not want to go on the roller coaster.
but he got scared, being then that he did not want to go on the roller coaster.
but Nathan got scared and didn’t want to go on the roller coaster.
8. Screaming like a banshee for his team to win, Grandma escorted Jeffrey from the stadium.
Screaming like a banshee for his team to win, Grandma escorted Jeffrey from the stadium.
Because he would not stop screaming like a banshee for his team to win, Grandma escorted Jeffrey from the stadium.
Because she would not stop screaming like a banshee for her team to win, Grandma escorted Jeffrey from the stadium.
Jeffrey and Grandma had to be escorted from the stadium.
Since Jeffrey was unable to stop screaming at every play his team made, and because his screams were like those of a banshee, Grandma felt she had to escort him from the stadium.
9. Marie Curie was a gifted scientist, but they did not know the dangers of radiation at that time.
but they did not know the dangers of radiation at that time.
but they did not know the dangers of radiation back then.
but he did not know the dangers of radiation at that time.
but neither she nor anyone else knew the dangers of radiation at that time.
but not gifted enough to say she knew the dangers of radiation.
10. Leaping up to grab the phone, the entire office turned to watch Alfonso’s actions.
Leaping up to grab the phone, the entire office turned to watch Alfonso’s actions.
As Alfonso leapt to grab the phone, the entire office turned to watch him.
The entire office was turning to watch as Alfonso was leaping to grab the phone.
It felt as if the entire office leapt to grab the phone, not just Alfonso.
Having leapt up to grab the phone, the entire office turned to watch Alfonso’s actions.
11. To say that Michelle is a voracious reader is understating the case!
To say that Michelle is a voracious reader is understating the case!
To say that Michelle is a voracious reader was understating the case!
Michelle is a voracious reader, it isn’t understating the case to say it!
To say that Michelle will be a voracious reader, is saying that the case is understated!
To say that Michelle is a voracious reader is to understate the case!
12. The Austrian princess had to choose the best of two suitors’ offers: that of the Duke from Hungary and that of the Viscount of England.
the best of two suitors’ offers
the best of both suitor’s offers
the better of two suitors’ offers
the best of each suitors’ offers
the best of two suitor’s offers
13. The presidential debate dissolved into a debate over which of the candidates should drop out of the race.
dissolved into a debate over
dissolved for a debate over
dissolving into a debate over
dissolved into a debate around
dissolves into a debate regarding
14. If she was shorter, Hannah could have been a gymnast.
If she was shorter
If she was short
If she were shorter
Had she been shorter than she is
Shorter
15. The report indicated that the rise in inflation was attributable to the rising in costs the bank will notice.
to the rising in costs the bank will notice.
to the rising in costs that the bank will notice.
to the rising in cost the bank noticed.
to the rise in cost the bank noticed.
to the rising in the costs that the bank noticed.
16. Natalia asked the reporters to quietly wait by the steps for the press conference to begin; of course, they ignored her.
to quietly wait by the steps
to quietly go to the steps and wait
to the steps to go to wait quietly
to wait by the quiet steps
to wait quietly by the steps
17. Less students came to the show than Paulo was expecting, which was a disappointment to him; he thought that at least half of his class of 16 would show up.
Less students came to the show
Fewer students came to the show
Lesser students came to the show
Less students coming to the show
Few students came to the show
18. The ban enacted by the World Space Association last week will prohibit member countries from contributing to space debris, among other provisions.
will prohibit member countries from
will be prohibiting member countries from
will prohibit all of the member countries from
will prohibit the countries that are members from
will have prohibited member countries from
19. Although I cannot tell which is best, Christine can always differentiate between the four flavors.
can always differentiate between the four flavors.
can always differentiate between all of the four flavors.
can always differentiate among the four flavors.
can often differentiate between the four flavors
can usually differentiate between the four flavors
20. “We can poll all of the voters in the country,” Takeya said, “But until we know what he thinks, we’re at a loss.”
But until we know what he thinks, we’re at a loss.
But until we know what they think, we’re at a loss.
But until we know what they thinks, we’re at a loss.
But until we know what he thinks, we are at a loss.
But until we know what he thinks, a loss is where we’re at.
1. B is the right answer. This looks like a quantity question, but you actually need to look at word choice, so it ends up being more of an idiomatic expression question. Those is not a necessary word in the sentence.
2. C is the right answer in this parallelism question. All parts of the sentence should be parallel.
3. D This is a subject-verb agreement question, which isn’t too difficult if you recollect that you is always paired with were, not was, even when it is singular.
4. C Another subject-verb agreement question. Don’t get thrown off by the modifying phrase. The subject is Nancy, not nurses.
5. B This is a verb tense question. The verb rose is past tense, so the verb gasped needs to be past tense as well.
6. A This sentence is correct as written. Its is the possessive form of the word. It’s stands in for it is. A quick way to check is to substitute it is into the sentence. If that makes sense, you need the apostrophe.
7. E is correct. This is a question of pronoun reference. It’s not clear in the sentence which male is meant by he. E corrects that.
8. B This is a misplaced modifier. Jeffrey is the one screaming like a banshee, not Grandma. B best fixes this out of the choices.
9. D is the correct answer in this pronoun number question. They seems to refer back to Marie Curie, but she is a she, not a they.
10. B fixes the misplaced modifier. The office didn’t leap up, Alfonso did.
11. E fixes the parallelism mistake in the sentence. The infinitive at the beginning of the sentence means that there must be one later in the sentence.
12. C is the answer for this question of quantity. When two people are involved, the correct word is better. You’d need one more person to have best in the sentence.
13. A This is an idiomatic expression question. The expression is a debate over. While other answers provided may sound acceptable, this question wants you to choose the most likely standard English expression.
14. C This is an example of that tricky subjunctive mood question we warned you about! Remember that the subjunctive verb is always were, never was, even with a singular subject.
15. D This answer fixes both the parallelism and subject-verb agreement problems within the sentence. If you notice two problems in the underlined portion of the sentence, look for the answer that solves both of them.
16. E Don’t split infinitives!
17. B Fewer goes with countable numbers. The rest of the sentence proves that Paulo’s class was small enough to be countable!
18. A There aren’t any problems with this sentence. The verbs line up with the subjects, and the idiomatic expression, prohibit from, is used correctly.
19. C When there are two flavors, between is correct; here, with four, among is better.
20. B is the best answer. The pronoun he used later in the sentence is unclear. The only noun it could refer to is the voters, which means that he has to be incorrect. By the way, we hope you didn’t fall for E, which ends in a preposition!
Directions: The following questions present a sentence, part of which or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose one of the others.
These questions test correctness and effectiveness of expression. In choosing your answer, follow the requirements of standard written English; that is, pay attention to grammar, choice of words, and sentence construction. Choose the answer that produces the most effective sentence; this answer should be clear and exact, without awkwardness, ambiguity, redundancy, or grammatical error.
1. Adam felt that the water pressure in the 747’s cabin was stronger than the other plane.
stronger than the other plane.
stronger than the water pressure on the other plane.
stronger than he expected.
strongest of the two water pressures.
stronger than what he had experience on the other plane.
2. Tabies, a disease first identified in the hospitals of Cleveland, Ohio, believed to be the first snake-borne illness that manifests in humans.
believed to be
believes to be
will be believed to be
is believed to be
should be believed to be
3. In danger for being arrested, Susan B. Anthony insisted on leading the protest for Women’s Voting Rights anyway.
In danger for being arrested,
In danger and being arrested,
In danger of being arrested,
In danger despite being arrested,
In danger or being arrested,
4. The number of zebras was more than the horses.
was more than
was lesser than
being greater than
were greater than
was greater than that of
5. Upon visiting the church where the murder had taken place, the grotesque brickwork unnerved the Duke.
Upon visiting the church where the murder had taken place, the grotesque brickwork unnerved the Duke.
Upon visiting the church where he knew the murder had taken place, the grotesque brickwork unnerved the Duke.
As he visited the church where the murder had taken place, the Duke was unnerved by the grotesque brickwork.
The grotesque brickwork, visiting the church, unnerved the Duke, for it was where the murder had taken place.
The murder having taken place in the church with the grotesque brickwork, the Duke was unnerved.
6. The corporation sells both stocks and bonds, but they do not offer any financial security.
but they do not offer any financial security.
but they do not offer much in the way of financial security.
but he does not offer any financial security.
but it does not offer any financial security.
but they does not offer any financial security.
7. Skipping past the house that was supposedly haunted, the old woman who lived inside stared at the little girl as she went by.
Skipping past the house that was supposedly haunted, the old woman who lived inside stared at the little girl as she went by.
As the little girl went skipping by, the old woman who lived inside the house that was supposedly haunted stared at her.
The old woman who lived in the house stared at the little girl who went skipping by the supposedly haunted house.
Supposedly haunted, the old woman stared at the little girl who skipping by her house.
As the little girl went skipping by, the old woman who lived inside stared at the house that was supposedly haunted.
8. Although Wellington feared a French invasion, he was confident that the coastal defenses could handle anything that the French threw at them.
Although Wellington feared a French invasion, he was confident that the coastal defenses could handle anything that the French threw at them.
Although Wellington feared that the French would invade, he confidently knew that the coastal defenses could handle anything that Wellington threw at them.
Although Wellington feared a French invasion, he was confident that the coastal defenses could be sure to handle anything that the French threw at them.
Although Wellington feared a French invasion, he was at the same time confident that the coastal defenses could handle anything that they threw them.
Although Wellington feared a French invasion, he was confident that the coastal defenses could handle anything that they threw at him.
9. Either the girls or the boys are the winners; we’ll have to check the results to be sure.
Either the girls or the boys are the winners;
Either the girls or the boys will be the winners;
Either girls or boys are the winners;
Either the girls or the boys is the winner;
Either the girls or the boys is the winners;
10. I bought Julie, Cindy, Irina, and Melissa the quarterly reports they asked for, but she thinks the font is too small to be easily read.
but she thinks the font is too small to be easily read.
only she thinks the font is too small to be easily read.
but she thought the font was too small to be easily read.
but she thinks the font is too small.
but Cindy thinks the font is too small to be easily read.
11. To say that Emerson founded transcendentalism is to say that the movement came to life in the woods of Concord.
is to say that the movement came to life in the woods of Concord.
is saying that the movement came to life in the woods of Concord.
is a way of saying that the movement came to life in the woods of Concord.
was to say that the movement came to life in the woods of Concord.
says that the movement came to life in the woods of Concord.
12. Because Ronald does not enjoy vegetables, he would rather than cook them for his children.
rather than
rather not
rather
then rather
but not also
13. A king with a reputation for social justice, Edward the II’s reign was a long and happy one for most of its span.
A king with a reputation for social justice, Edward the II’s reign was a long and happy one for most of its span.
As a king with a reputation for social justice, Edward the II’s reign was a long and happy one for most of its span.
For most of its span as a king with a reputation for social justice, Edward the II’s reign was a long and happy one.
Edward the II was a king with a reputation for social justice; his reign was a long and happy one for most of its span.
Since he was a king with a passion for social justice, and his reign was a long and happy one, Edward II was a king.
14. Who do you think is the best writer, Michael or Peter?
Who do you think is the best writer
Who do you think is the better writer
Who do you think is the good writer
Who do you think is well writer
Who do you find to be the best writer
15. The newly inaugurated president turned her attention to her three campaign goals: reducing poverty, improving the nation’s schools, and an end to war overseas.
reducing poverty, improving the nation’s schools, and an end to war overseas.
reducing poverty and improving the nation’s schools and an end to war overseas.
reducing poverty, improving the nation’s schools, and ending war overseas.
reducing poverty, improving the nation’s schools, and an end to overseas wars.
reduction in poverty, improving the nation’s schools, and an end to war overseas.
16. Much of the team’s players did not bother to read the newspaper.
Much of the team’s players
Many of the team’s players
Few of the team’s players
All of the team’s players
An amount of the team’s players
17. Once a new astrological body is located, astronomers choose from a database of names to give it.
astronomers choose from
astronomers choose amongst
astronomers choose between
astronomers choose
astronomers choose to
18. Kristen went to the bank for speaking among Siovhan.
for speaking among
to speak among
to speak with
to speak nearby
to speak
19. Unlike the United States, the president of the Philippines are elected to a six-year term in office.
United States, the president of the Philippines are
United States, the president of the Philippines is
the president of the United State, the president of the Philippines is
United States, the people of the Philippines elect a president
the president of the United States, the president of the Philippines is
20. Being that we were the first to leave the Council meeting, we missed the argument that broke out over the proposition on the ballot.
Being that we were the first to leave the Council meeting
Being that we were the first to take our leave from the Council meeting
Being that we were the first to leave the Council meeting that we were attending
Because we were the first to leave the Council meeting
Being that we would have been the first to leave the Council meeting
1. B This is a false comparison question. If you look at the sentence, you’ll see that the way it was originally written implies that the water pressure in the 747 is stronger than the other plane, not the other plane’s water pressure. B does the best job of fixing that.
2. D This is a question of subject-verb agreement, made somewhat tricky because you’ll have to identify the subject of the sentence. It’s Tabies, which sounds plural because of the s at the end, but as a disease, is singular.
3. C This is an idiomatic expression question. The common American English phrase is in danger of …, and that is the only correct choice here.
4. E This is a quantity question. When the word number is part of the equation, the answer is never more, but always greater.
5. C is the best rewording of this sentence. The problem within it was the participial phrase modifying the wrong noun—the Duke, instead of the church—is fixed in this version, and it is less wordy than any other answer to boot.
6. D A corporation isn’t a they, it’s an it. This is a pronoun reference error.
7. B This is a mess of a sentence, but the real error is in the misplaced modifier. The woman isn’t haunted; the house is. Answer choice B best fixes that problem.
8. A This is a pronoun reference question. It’s correct as written. Although E might look acceptable, it uses they without a clear referent. Who would they be? Only the original sentence makes this clear.
9. A The original sentence is correct. When either … or is used with plural nouns, the verb needs to match the noun closest to it, which in this case is plural, boys.
10. E This is another pronoun reference question. It’s impossible to tell which of the four women mentioned in the sentence is she in the underlined portion. Only E fixes this problem.
11. A This sentence is correct as it is written, matching the parallelism of the infinitive structure begun with the first part of the sentence.
12. B In this question of idiomatic expression, the correct phrase is rather not.
13. D The original sentence has a misplaced modifier, in which Edward’s reign is described as being a king for social justice. While E technically fixes this problem, D does so with more economy of expression and style.
14. B When directly comparing two people, you can have only the “better” of the two. “Best” can be used only when three or more people are being compared.
15. C A question of parallelism. All the phrases used in the end of the sentence must match. Only C accomplishes this by making sure they all begin with a verb.
16. B is the best answer. When you have a countable number (as we can presume the team is), you use many instead of much, which is used for an uncountable number.
17. A It’s correct as written: the idiomatic expression is choose from.
18. C The only phrase that makes sense out of the choices (including that already placed in the sentence) is to speak with.
19. E The original sentence—although it seems correct—compares the United States to the president of the Philippines. E presents a proper comparison and fixes the parallelism error.
20. D Remember our tip: the alternative to using being is almost guaranteed to be correct.
Directions: The following questions present a sentence, part of which or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose one of the others.
These questions test correctness and effectiveness of expression. In choosing your answer, follow the requirements of standard written English; that is, pay attention to grammar, choice of words, and sentence construction. Choose the answer that produces the most effective sentence; this answer should be clear and exact, without awkwardness, ambiguity, redundancy, or grammatical error.
1. Since the average rate of high school graduations were rising, the school board concluded its plan had been effective.
Since the average rate of high school graduations were rising,
Since the average rate of high school students who were graduating were rising,
Because the average rate of high school graduations were rising,
Since the average rate of high school graduations was rising,
Since the average rate of high school graduation were rising,
2. Noted for its voracious appetite, the Belgian goat, having originally been bred for its creamy-tasting milk, but now is celebrated for the low fat content of the milk.
the Belgian goat, having originally been bread for its creamy-tasting milk, but now is celebrated for the low fat content of the milk.
the Belgian goat is now celebrated for the low fat content of its milk, although it was originally bred for the milk’s creamy taste.
the Belgian goat is now celebrated for it’s creamy-tasting and low-fat milk.
the Belgian goat, celebrated for the low-fat content of its milk now, was originally bred for that milk because it was creamy-tasting.
the Belgian goat gives milk which can be described as creamy-tasting and low-fat.
3. Rising tides of foreclosures across the state has led the governor to declare the housing market to be a source of “perpetual crisis.”
Rising tides of foreclosures
Rising tides of foreclosure
The rising tide of foreclosures
The rising tide of foreclosuring
All of the foreclosures
4. “Three qualities I can bring to the job?” Xi said. “Easy. I’m good at analyzing stock movements, applying the rules of the market to transactions, and writing reports that put this information in a highly readable form.”
I’m good at analyzing stock movements, applying the rules of the market to transactions, and writing reports that put this information in a highly readable form.”
I’m good at the analysis of stock movements, applying the rules of the market to transactions, and writing reports that put this information in a highly readable form.”
I’m good at the analysis of stock movements, the application of the rules of the market to transactions, and writing reports that put this information in a highly readable form.”
I’m good at analyzing stock movements, the application of the rules of the market to transactions, and the writing of reports that put this information in a highly readable form.”
I’m good at: analyzing stock movements; applying the rules of the market to transactions; written reports that put this information in a highly readable form.”
5. Running to catch the train, the people on the platform stared at Francisco as he screamed for the conductor’s attention.
Running to catch the train,
Running as he was to catch the train,
As they ran to catch the train,
As he ran to catch the train,
Seeing him running to catch the train,
6. “This group of students tend to ignore instructions, which is frustrating,” said the professor.
This group of students tend to ignore instructions,
This group of students tend to ignores instructions,
This group, comprised of students, tend to ignore instructions,
This group of students tends to ignore instructions,
The group of students tend to ignore instructions,
7. Five SteadyCam digital cameras were sold last week, and it brought to 15 the number of these popular cameras sold this month.
and it brought
and this brought
bringing
but it brought
and will bring
8. She wanted to safely and quiet ask him for his identification.
wanted to safely and quiet
wanted to safely and quietly
wanted to safe and quiet
wanted, safe and quiet
wanted safely and quietly
9. Kate loves Bubbles, Julie, and Magritte, the birds she looks after for her mother, but she can be difficult to feed.
but she can be difficult to feed.
but she might be difficult to feed.
but feeding her is difficult.
but Magritte can be difficult to feed.
but she finds feeding her difficult.
10. General Grant left for the front after it was clear the troops were in place.
after it was clear
after it would be clear
until it was clear
until it was going to be clear
after it was clearly
11. Neither Mr. Garland nor Mrs. Sloat were aware of the fight in the cafeteria.
were aware of the fight in the cafeteria.
were aware of the fighting in the cafeteria.
were aware that there was fighting in the cafeteria.
were not aware of the fight in the cafeteria.
was aware of the fight in the cafeteria.
12. After it had stopped raining, we will take the boat out on the lake to watch the sunset.
After it had stopped raining,
After it will stop raining,
After it stops raining,
After it is stopping raining,
By the time it stop raining
13. The experiment seems promising, but it is subject to further tests to be sure.
but it is subject to further tests
but it is going to be subject to further tests
but it is subjecting to further tests
but it is the subject of further tests
but these tests will subject it
14. The waiter gave me fewer biscuits than I had ordered.
The waiter gave me fewer biscuits than I had ordered.
The waiter gave me less biscuits than I had ordered.
The waiter presented me with less biscuits that I had ordered.
I had ordered three biscuits, but the waiter gave me less.
The ordering was for three, but the waiter gave me less biscuits.
15. Because to my allergy to shellfish, I will not enjoy the seafood banquet.
Because to
Because on
Because
Because only
Because of
16. The amount of soup that was consumed far surpassed what we were expecting.
The amount of soup
The number of soup
The pounds of soup
The reservoir of soup
All of the soup
17. Miki’ala was asked to carefully review the questions before taking the test.
was asked to carefully review
was asked to, with care, review
were asked to carefully review
was asked to review carefully
was asked carefully to review
18. Being that the company went bankrupt, it’s difficult to tell who owns the rights to their products.
Being that the company went bankrupt,
Because the company went bankrupt,
Although the company went bankrupt,
Being the bankrupt company,
Bankrupted, the company,
19. I wish I had given you better advice about the merger.
I wish I had given you better advice
I wished I had given you better advice
I have wishes that I had given you better advice
I wish I gave you better advice
I gave you advice than I wished
20. If that group of senior citizens don’t quiet down, the group will have to be asked to leave the restaurant.
don’t quiet down
don’t quiets down
quiets down
quiet down
doesn’t quiet down
1. D The best answer matches the verb in the second part of the sentence (concluded). You also must adjust for a singular subject (rate).
2. B This is a whale of a sentence, and the real error is probably in trying to pack so much information into it. That said, B does the best job of presenting the information as clearly as possible, without changing the meaning intended.
3. C This is in idiomatic expression question. The phrase should be The rising tide. Notice that the rest of the question includes a singular verb, and that cannot be altered. Thus, you must choose the finishing phrase that best matches.
4. A The sentence is correct as it is. The parallelism is in order throughout.
5. E As the sentence is written, the opening phrase does not modify the subject of the sentence (the people on the platform). E fixes the mistake in the best way.
6. D The problem here is one of subject-verb agreement. The subject is group, not students, so you must choose the singular form of the verb.
7. C is the best answer out of those offered.
8. B While the words in question are adverbs, you can still apply the rules of parallelism here: both forms of safe and quiet should end in -ly. B does that. If you’re not sure, mouthing the sentence should tell you which sounds best.
9. D In this question of pronoun reference, it’s not clear who she refers to at the end of the sentence. D makes this clear.
10. A The verbs match in this sentence; there are no verb tense errors!
11. E The essential problem in this sentence is the lack of subject-verb agreement. When a writer uses neither … nor … with two or more singular nouns, he must also use a singular verb.
12. C The sentence lacks clear use of verb tense. C fixes this in the simplest way.
13. A The sentence is correct, as the idiomatic expression is subject to.
14. A The sentence is correct. The number of biscuits is a countable number, so fewer is correct. We only use less when the number is noncountable.
15. E The popular expression is Because of, making it the right answer here.
16. A This sentence is correct as written. Soup is a noncountable quantity, and amount goes with noncountable quantities.
17. D Don’t split infinitives! That’s the major problem with this sentence. D fixes it by removing carefully from to review and leaving the meaning of the sentence the same.
18. B is the best answer. Remember that you want to avoid being if you possibly can. B does the best job of that while keeping the meaning of the sentence the same.
19. A There’s nothing wrong with the sentence as it is. It’s in the subjunctive mood and done well, too. The other choices change the meaning of the sentence, even if they are grammatically correct as well. If the sentence works as it is, don’t change it!
20. E In this final subject-verb agreement question, the subject is the group, not senior citizens. Therefore, the singular form of the verb must be used, as in E.