GMAT Verbal

Solving GMAT Verbal Questions

There is no need to fear GMAT verbal questions as you can get the score you need with a little preparation and insight.The verbal section of the GMAT tests your verbal expression and reasoning skills, and is a critical part of acceptance into most business schools.

GMAT verbal questions require a little logic and general knowledge of basic English and communications skills.These tips will help you complete the GMAT questions. If you use them, you may just surprise yourself with your results.

Tips for Sentence Correction

Here are 11 tips specifically targeting the GMAT verbal questions and sentence correction:

1. Do not worry about answer choice A as it usually repeats the part of the sentence that is underlined.

2. Punctuation is not something you have to worry about as it is not tested in sentence correction questions.

3. Usually the first answer you choose is correct but you may have a tendency to question yourself.

4. Say the answer out loud. If it does not sound right in the sentence, eliminate it and move to the next answer.

5. Automatically eliminate any choices that change the intended meaning of the original question.

6. There may be some answers that have internal errors on purpose, and are grammatically incorrect. Look for these and eliminate them straight away.

7. If you need to make a judgment call, choose the one that most effectively expresses the meaning of the sentence.

8. Do not think that a long winded answer is necessarily wrong. If it has no grammatical errors, and the rest of the choices do, then it is the most accurate of all your choices.

9. If one of the answers is grammatically correct, it does not automatically make it the correct answer. There may be other things wrong with it such as it may be passive or wordy.

10. You may find an answer that is perfect for the question but it may contain new problems such as it may be awkwardly written or introduce new grammatical errors.

11. Before answering, make sure you reread the whole sentence with the answer you choose in the sentence.

Critical Reasoning Tips

GMAT verbal questions also include a section of critical reasoning questions. Here are three tips to help you get a good score:

1. Identifying the assumption of the argument is similar to choosing the answer that most weakens an argument. In both these types of questions you need to make assumptions based on the information you are given to find the answer that fits best. Where you need to find what weakens the argument most, you also need to consider the answer choice that disproves the assumption.

2. Whenever you need to identify either the weakest or strongest answer from the choices, you know there will be a trick answer there to trip you up. Watch out as the intention is to confuse you, and often it succeeds because you are short on time and working under high pressure.

3. Many of the written pieces have superfluous sentences that have nothing to do with choosing the right answer. Use your logic to separate what is relevant to choosing your answer.

Strategies for Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is another part of the GMAT verbal section. Here are some tips to help you make good choices:

1. Always read the first question before you start reading the text. This will make you read actively right from the start and look out for information the first time you read the passage.

2. Use your scarp paper to make notes as you read to minimize the time you spend rereading and looking for details.

3. Do not get bogged down in details like dates and lists. Note where these are in the passage so you can return to them quickly if you need to.

4. Once you finish the passage, sum it up in a sentence in not more than 15 seconds. Doing this means you answer the questions with this summary in mind.

5. Eliminate any questions that bear no relevance to the overall theme of the passage.

6. Watch out for answers that do not respond to the question, though contain relevant information from the text. This is a favorite trap.

7. Watch out for answers that contain information not given in the original passage. This is another deliberate trap as it is easy to think you overlooked something.