The way the Official Guide to the GMAT, and too many GMAT tutors for that matter, explains how to answer GMAT sentence correction questions is overly confusing. The...
GMAT sentence correction questions are part of the verbal section of the GMAT. As you probably know, with these questions, you are presented with a sentence, part or all of which is underlined. There are five answer choice options, and each one is a different way to replace the underlined part. The first answer is always the same as the underlined portion, but next four are different. You must pick the answer choice which reflects the best way to complete the sentence.
GMAT sentence questions test your ability to use the English language accurately, effectively, and as concisely as possible.
We previously wrote a blog article that covers eight major concepts that are often tested on in GMAT sentence correction questions. One of those concepts concerns how to appropriately use and write about comparisons. Navigating through questions about comparisons are likely to be a major element of your journey through the GMAT sentence correction section.
The video above offers a simple approach to effectively managing comparison questions. It recommends the following steps:
- Set up your scratch pad with the answer choices for process of elimination purposes
- Draw a line where you’ll articulate the issue within the sentence as written
- Read the sentence with an eye towards articulating the issue within the sentence as written (in this case, the issue is an odd or illogical comparison, which is why we call this a comparison question)
Note – steps 1-3 apply to all GMAT sentence correction questions, while 4-7 are specific to “comparison” questions.
- By identifying key phrases, in this case “unlike,” underline what is being compared, as well as what it’s being compared to.
- Determine whether the current comparison makes sense? Can you compare the two things or not?
- Go through each remaining answer choice, without focusing on the sentence in its entirety, and just consider whether the answer choices compare things that can in fact be compared. If not, eliminate that answer (the trick is to just focus on the two things being compared in the text as written)
- Once you have vectored in on an answer that compares two things appropriately, sub in the new underlined information into the sentence and re-read it to check for overall flow and meaning, just to ensure you didn’t miss something.
For additional strategies for dealing with GMAT sentence correction questions, visit our YouTube channel.