CrackVerbal's GMAT SC Handbook

Sentence Correction Basics For The GMAT:

A 5-Day Handbook

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Contents of SC Pre-Read Day 1:  Nouns  Pronouns  Adjectives Day 2:  Verbs  Adverbs  Propositions  Conjunctions  Interjections

Contents of SC Pre-Read (contd.) Day 3:  Subjects, Objects and Predicates  Phrases and Clauses  Verbals

 Punctuations Day 4:  Subject Verb Agreement  Pronouns Day 5:

 Modifiers  Comparisons  Tenses  Idioms

Introduction

This 5-Day Handbook will help you brush-up your basic grammar, especially that required to ace the Sentence Correction section on the GMAT. This is a required pre-read for our Sentence Correction course.

Expectations In this guide, we will discuss concepts as elementary as parts of speech, parts of sentences, tenses, idioms etc, but they will all be dealt with from a GMAT perspective.  You need not memorize numerous grammatical terms and rules to score 700+ on the GMAT. These are mentioned here only to help you

understand concepts. You simply need to understand how to apply grammatical concepts to crack SC problems!  You need not go through the entire deck in one sitting. This material has been organized day-wise rather than section-wise on purpose. Every day,

spend time reading and digesting only the pertinent section and nothing more.

The 7 Concepts Tested On GMAT SC Here’s the good news – GMAT Sentence Correction tests you on only 7 grammar concepts, namely:

1. Subject Verb Agreement 2. Pronouns 3. Modifiers

4. Parallelism 5. Tenses 6. Comparison 7. Idioms

Day 1

Parts Of Speech The English language consists of just 8 basic Parts of Speech. Some words portray the name of a person or place. Some describe actions. Some join two or more words and others describe the quality of an object.

Let us look at this sentence:

Wow! Sophia and her little sister sang beautifully at the party. This sentence is composed of all the 8 parts of speech: Nouns: Sophia, sister, party Pronoun: her Adjective: little Verb: sang

Adverb: beautifully Preposition: at Conjunction: and Interjection: Wow!

#1: Nouns A noun is a ‘naming word’. It is used to name an object, place, person, animal, trait or action.

Examples:  Names of objects and things – book, door, curtain, glass, bag  Names of places, people or animals – Eva, boy, Indian, house, Sweden,

sister, tiger, sparrow  Names of actions – sleeping, eating, sailing, watching  Names of traits/qualities – loyalty, splendor, happiness, courage, coldness By adding suffixes to words, we can make them nouns. For example, prosper-prosperity, aspire-aspiration, exclaim-exclamation etc. Common noun suffixes are - ness, -ity, -ure, and –ition

Proper Nouns & Common Nouns:

A proper noun refers to the name of a particular person, place or thing. An important characteristic of a proper noun is that it always begins with a capital letter. Woman Common Noun

Examples: Oprah Proper Noun

Australia, California, Cisco

A common noun refers to a class of person, place or thing.

Examples: mirror, table, woman, village, town, taxi, pencil

Carl,

Taj

Mahal,

Countable & Uncountable Nouns A countable noun refers to nouns that can be counted. Therefore, it has both a singular and a plural form.

Examples:

 Paul kept the book under the table.  The computers are installed in the last room. An uncountable noun refers to nouns that cannot be counted. Therefore, it has only the singular form.

Examples:

 Susan prefers eating rice at home.  She attended art and music classes daily.

As we can see, rice, art, music etc are not countable. More examples: furniture, air, oil, yogurt, news, water, liberty, money, power, cleverness, butter, electricity and so on.

Countable & Uncountable Nouns Amusingly, the same noun can sometimes uncountable, leading to different meanings.

be

countable

and

Examples:

Light (countable): Can you switch off the lights? Light (uncountable): There’s too much light in the room please close the curtains.

Work (countable): Her most famous works were composed in this very room. Work (uncountable): Without any work, William felt bored. Are you clear about countable and uncountable nouns? Test yourself with this mini exercise drill!

Collective Nouns A collective noun refers to a group of things, animals, or persons. The individual elements of the group can be counted, but the group is treated as one single entity.

Examples:

 The army has played a significant role in the war.  The company is ready to take up new projects.  The family is going on a long vacation to Paris.

More examples

Association, audience, class, club, college, committee, community, company, crowd, department, electorate, enemy, family, firm, generation, government, group, jury, orchestra, population, press, public, school, staff, team, university, and the names of specific organizations such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, the AIR, Oracle, Maruti. You can check out a huge list of Collective Nouns here!

Possessive Nouns A possessive noun is used to illustrate that something belongs to somebody or something. We generally add ('s) to a singular noun and an apostrophe (') to a plural noun to make it a possessive.

Examples:  The girl’s dress (one girl)  The girls’ dresses (two or more girls)

Watch this short interactive presentation to learn more about Possessive Nouns!

Compound Nouns Compound nouns are constructed from two or more words. They may be written as a single word or joined with a hyphen.

Examples: newspaper, toothpaste, father-in-law, dry-cleaner, underpass, whiteboard, paper-clip, check-in, eyeball, moonlight, rainbow, bodyguard, houseboat, joystick, well-being, and so on

Try out this mini-drill to see how well you have understood Compound Nouns!

Concrete Nouns Concrete nouns can be experience with at least one of the five senses. These nouns can be touched, seen, heard, felt or smelled.

Examples:  This perfume has a captivating fragrance.  Learn how to eat with a knife and fork.  The teacher shouted at the students.

More examples:

sugar, wall, window, plate, rainbow, fire, curtains, computers, employees, cat, butterfly, noise and so on.

Abstract Nouns Abstract nouns are conceptual in nature. These nouns cannot be heard, seen, felt, tasted or smelled. Abstract nouns display philosophies, concepts, and ideas that are intangible in nature.

Examples:  Love conquers the world!  He was awarded for his bravery.  Her dedication towards her work got her the Best Employee Award.

More examples:

independence, power, trust, happiness, intelligence, sympathy, anger, hatred, compassion, beauty, skill, integrity, misery, beliefs, pain, knowledge, and so on.

Singular & Plural Nouns On the GMAT, one of the most vital noun-related questions includes the differences between singular and plural nouns.  A Singular noun refers to one entity only. For e.g. a pen, a dog, the moon, a girl, etc.  Plural nouns refer to more than one entity. For e.g. flowers, dresses, tables, hands, lamps, etc.  Usually, plural nouns end in ‘s’ or ‘es’ but this is not a thumb rule. Not all nouns ending with ‘s’ or ‘es’ are plural nouns For e.g. Thomas Gates.

Read more about Singular and Plural Nouns here!

#2: Pronouns A pronoun works as a substitute for a noun. It is used to replace a noun or another pronoun and thus avoid awkward repetition of words.

Example:

Instead of writing

Sam is my best friend. Sam is an only child. Sam’s father is a doctor. I like Sam a lot. We can use pronouns to write:

Sam is my best friend. He is an only child. His father is a doctor. I like him a lot. More examples of pronouns: I, my, us, she, we, you, thou, these, those, this, that, they, it, everyone, each, all, both, such, who, your, his, her, our, their, somebody, everybody, etc.

Subject & Object Pronouns 1. Subject Pronouns Subject pronouns refer to those pronouns that are used as a subject.

Examples:

 They will reach the party hall in half an hour.  She is a teacher.

2. Object Pronouns Object pronouns refer to those pronouns that are used as an object.

Examples:

 The politician lied to all of us.  Please return the book to me in two days. Test your knowledge of Subject and Object Pronouns here and here!

Possessive & Singular Pronouns 3. Possessive Pronouns Possessive pronouns refer to those pronouns that replace possessive nouns. For e.g. my, mine, your, yours, her, hers, his, our, ours, its, their, theirs, whose.

Examples:

 Your dress is very pretty.  Our team will win this match.

Take a mini-test on Possessive Pronouns!

4. Singular Pronouns Singular pronouns are those pronouns that appear to be plural, but are really not. In fact, only singular verbs are used after these pronouns.

Examples:

 Each of these students was involved in the prank.  Nobody has submitted the assignment. A few more examples: any, anybody, everybody, everyone, anything.

Relative Pronouns 5. Relative Pronouns Relative pronouns refer to those pronouns that connect one phrase or clause to another phrase or clause. As their name suggests, they relate to the word that they modify. Relative Pronoun

Modifies

Which

Things, Situations

That

Things, Situations

Whose

People

Who

People

Whom

People

Where

Place

When

Time

Relative Pronouns (Contd.) Examples:  The judges that passed the sentence… This sentence is incorrect as “judges” are people and therefore, “that” cannot modify “judges”.  The garden where his mother was buried...

This sentence is correct because “where” can modify garden, a place. “In which” is typically used to describe situations or circumstances.

Example:

 My friend and I had an argument yesterday in which she nearly lost her temper. Test yourself on Relative Pronouns!

Indefinite Pronouns 6. Indefinite Pronouns Indefinite Pronouns refer to those pronouns that do not pertain to any particular person or place or thing. They replace nouns without specifying which noun they are replacing.

Examples:  Each player was given a second chance.  Many people will attend this seminar.

Examples of Singular Indefinite pronouns : each, every, everyone, anyone, someone, nobody, etc

Examples of Plural Indefinite pronouns : few, many, others, several, etc Examples of Indefinite pronouns that can be both Singular and Plural : Most, Any, None, All, Some (MANAS).

MANAS Indefinite Pronouns For the MANAS indefinite pronouns, examine the “of” phrase following the pronoun to determine whether it is singular or plural:  Most of the boys are unwell. “Boys” is the word that follows the “of” phrase and therefore, we need the plural verb “are”.  Any kind of music goes. “Music” is singular and therefore, we use the singular verb “goes”.  All of the money was stolen. “Money” is singular and requires the verb “was”.  None of the ships have returned. “Ships” is plural and therefore, we use “have”.

Interrogative Pronouns 7. Interrogative Pronouns Interrogative pronouns are used to commence or establish interrogative sentences. For e.g. who, whom, whose, what, and which etc. Though they are similar to relative pronouns, they are used differently.

Examples:  What is the capital of Sweden?  Who was the first President of the United States?

Intensive Pronouns 8. Intensive Pronouns Intensive pronouns or emphatic pronouns end with ‘self’ or ‘selves’ and highlight a noun or another pronoun.

Examples:  She finished solving the question paper herself. (‘herself’ emphasizes ‘she’)  The driver himself carried the luggage at the counter. (‘himself’ emphasizes ‘driver’)

Other examples include myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves etc.

#3: Adjectives Adjectives are “describing words” that qualify a noun/noun phrase, and give more information about it.

Examples:  He looks handsome in formals.  Sandra is a short girl.  It was a pleasure seeing a skilled artist at work  The green leaves swayed in the breeze.

Comparative & Superlative Adjectives 1. Comparative adjectives help us compare two things. They usually end with ‘-er’.

Examples:

 Peanuts are cheaper than cashews.  Pebbles are smaller than rocks. 2. Superlative adjectives illustrate the extreme or highest degree of a quality of one thing in a group of three or more things. They typically end with ‘-est’.

Examples:

 Peter is the richest guy in his locality.  Antarctica is one of the coldest places on earth.

Demonstrative Adjectives 3. Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives are used to demonstrate or indicate specific things. For e.g. this, that, these, those etc.

Examples:  Please pass me that book, I need to note down something important.  If you feed this dog, he will stay by your side always!

Test yourself on Demonstrative Adjectives!

Indefinite Adjectives 4. Indefinite Adjective Indefinite adjectives do not point out specific things. They are formed from indefinite pronouns such as no, any, many, few, several etc.

Examples:  Many offices will be closed on next Friday.  Very few people will agree to this.

Nouns As Adjectives When one noun is used to describe another, the former acts as an adjective (a describing word). For e.g. tennis ball, race horse, dress exhibition, school shoes, chocolate box, etc.

Examples:

 This love story has a happy ending.  Please go to the bicycle shop. What kind of story? A love story. Which shop? A bicycle shop. In some cases, you may even come across multiple nouns acting as adjectives.

Example:

 American airways traffic investigation centre The nouns ‘American’, ‘airways’, ‘traffic’ and ‘investigation’ are describing the noun ‘centre’.

Day 2

#4: Verbs Verbs depict action, existence or happening. The verb is possibly the most significant part of speech. It is extremely difficult to make a meaningful sentence without a verb in it. Even the shortest sentences comprise a verb. For instance, “Shoot!” , “Go!”

Examples:

 The children will play in the evening.  She visits the hospital twice a week.

Some verbs describe the idea of existence instead of expressing an action. For e.g. be, exist, belong, seem etc.

Examples:

 Henry seems very happy.  Let it be here.

Main & Helping Verbs 1. Main verbs Main verbs have a proper meaning of their own. They express something concrete.

Examples:

 Michael sings.  Dogs bark. 2. Helping verbs Helping verbs have no meaning on their own; however they are vital for the correct grammatical structure of the sentence. These verbs do not convey much when used alone. Helping verbs are generally used together with main verbs.

Examples:

 He must take care of himself.  The shop will close by 7 PM.

Try out this fun exercise on Helping Verbs!

Transitive & Intransitive Verbs 3. Transitive Verbs A transitive verb needs an object to receive the action displayed and make it meaningful.

Examples:

 She wants to buy the pink dress.  He wrote the essay in one hour. 4. Intransitive Verbs An intransitive verb is complete in itself or is completed by other words without the need for an object.

Examples:

 James arrived at the airport half an hour early.  Clara went for her daily aerobic classes.

Test your understanding of Transitive & Intransitive Verbs here!

Auxiliary & Lexical Verbs 5. Auxiliary Verbs The English language consists of 4 auxiliary verbs: Be, Have, Will and Do. These are used to add meaning, tense, voice, emphasis etc. These cannot exist on their own, but need a main verb.

Examples:  Please be seated. (‘be’ is the auxiliary verb; ‘seated’ is the main verb)  Do you like coffee? (‘do’ is the auxiliary verb; ‘like’ is the main verb) 6. Lexical Verbs Lexical verbs or full/main verbs, unlike auxiliary verbs, express a concrete idea and are independent of other verbs.

Examples:  She played very well.  The child crawled out of the room.

Take a short quiz on Auxiliary & Lexical verbs here!

#5: Adverbs Adverbs modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, phrase or clause. They depict time, place, manner, cause or degree and answer questions such as where, when, how, how much etc. Some adverbs are characterized by the suffixes like “ly” and “ily”. For e.g. easily, softly, eagerly, slowly, more, fast, willingly and so on.

Examples:  Robin finished his homework quickly in order to watch TV.  She was eagerly waiting for her results to be published. The main difference between adjectives and adverbs is that adjectives describe ‘nouns’ and adverbs describe ‘verbs’. An adverb can be placed just before or just after a verb.

Examples:  She answered all the questions confidently. (after ‘answered’)  We found her peacefully asleep. (before ‘asleep’)

Adverbs Of Manner & Time 1. Adverbs of Manner answer the question “How?” These are generally placed after the direct object or if there is no direct object, after the verb itself.

Examples:

She shouted angrily. Ramesh shut the door noisily. 2. Adverbs of Time answer the question “When?” These are generally placed either at the beginning of the sentence or at the end.

Examples:

We meet him at the park frequently. Yesterday, we went to the movies.

Adverbs Of Place, Degree & Frequency 3. Adverbs of Place answer the question “Where?” These are generally placed after the object or the verb.

Examples:

They’re playing cricket indoors. Please take the dead rat elsewhere. 4. Adverbs of Degree answer the question “To What Extent?” These are generally placed before the word they modify.

Examples:

After the long trek, I was nearly dead from exhaustion. 5. Adverbs of Frequency answer the question “How many times?” These are generally placed after the verb.

Examples:

We meet at the café weekly.

#6: Prepositions Prepositions connect nouns and pronouns to other words in a sentence. Thus, they depict a chronological, logical or spatial relationship. For e.g. on, at, by, over, above, against, in, from and so on. In the following examples we will see how prepositions can alter the position of the same object.

Examples:     

The pen is kept on the table. Please keep this pen near the book. I couldn’t find my pen inside the box. Please write your answers with this pen. She hid my pen under the desk.

In each of these sentences, a preposition positions the noun “pen”.

#6: Prepositions (Contd.) Prepositional Phrase A ‘prepositional phrase’ is composed of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. It can act as an adjective. For e.g. The stains on the table have turned dark brown. (Which stains? The ones on the table.) It can also act as an adverb. For e.g.

With spry jingles of the bell on her handlebars, a woman sped by in a crimson smock and a witchy black hat. (How did she speed by? With spry jingles…)

#7: Conjunctions Conjunctions help to link words, clauses, phrases, or sentences. For e.g. but, and, because, as, yet, or and so on. Interestingly, some conjunctions such as “but” and “for” can also be used as prepositions.

Examples:    

My favorite holiday destinations are London and Paris. Give me a call when you reach your office. David wanted to eat, but there was no food left. He couldn’t attend the party because he had to work.

Coordinating Conjunctions 1. Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions join individual words, phrases, and independent clauses that are grammatically equal. For e.g. but, because, or, nor, yet, so, for.

Examples:

 She came home late because it was raining heavily.  George and Harris went to play tennis. In the first sentence, the coordinating conjunction “because” is used to connect two independent clauses. And in the second sentence, the coordinating conjunction “and” connects two nouns. Read more about Coordinating Conjunctions here!

Subordinating Conjunctions 2. Subordinating Conjunctions A subordinating conjunction connects a subordinate (dependent) clause to a main (independent) clause. For e.g. although, before, how, after, since, when, where, while, whether, though, till, until, than etc.

Examples:

 If you eat nutritious diet, you will get well soon.  After he graduated from college, he received lucrative job offers. In the first sentence, the subordinating conjunction “if” is establishing a dependent clause “if you eat nutritious diet” and in the second sentence, the subordinating conjunction is establishing a dependent clause “after he graduated from college”.

Test yourself on Subordinating Conjunctions!

#8: Interjections Interjections refer to exclamations that do not have much grammatical significance, though they are used quite often, especially in conversations. They express an emotion or sentiment. Interjections may or may not be followed by an exclamation mark (!) in written communication. They are usually positioned at the beginning of sentences. However, these are not tested on the GMAT.

Examples: Hi! Nice to see you here. Hmm, I think you are right. Well, what do you think about this project? Ouch! The injection is so painful. Alas! Today is our last day in college. Interjections such as um and er also fill in the gaps when people do not know exactly what to say Test yourself on the various Parts of Speech!

Day 3

Parts Of Sentences This is a collection of phrases and clauses that link together to form sentences.. Consider the following sentences:  After it stopped raining  While he was sleeping  Until you reach home safely Do you find anything ambiguous about these sentences? Are they complete by themselves? Certainly not! These are ‘sentence fragments’ as they express unfinished ideas.

Parts Of Sentences (Contd.) Now, consider these sentences:

 Jenny drove his car.  He wept.  Joseph ran. These sentences are complete and make sense. Thus, these are not examples of sentence fragments. Remember: A sentence fragment is not necessarily short – it is just incomplete.

Read more about Sentence Fragments here!

Subject, Object & Predicate The 3 main parts of a sentence are Subject, Object and Predicate.

Subject Subject refers to the person or a thing who or which performs the action of the verb. In simpler words, subject is the ‘noun’ to which the sentence's verb refers.

Examples:  Julie is eating lobster.  Annie has written this poem.

In the first sentence, the verb or the action is ‘eating’. This action is performed by ‘Julie’, who is the subject of the sentence.

In the second sentence, ‘Annie’ is the subject who is performing the action of ‘writing’.

Subject, Object & Predicate (Contd.) Object Object refers to the person or a thing upon whom or upon which the action of the verb is performed. It showcases the subject’s action. In the first example, the action of ‘eating’ is performed upon the ‘lobster’. So, ‘lobster’ is the object of the sentence. And in the second example, the action of ‘writing’ is performed upon the poem, so ‘poem’ is the object in this sentence. A sentence may have indirect objects along with the direct ones.

Example:  Please send me that email. In this example, ‘email’ is the direct object and ‘me’ is the indirect object.

Subject, Object & Predicate (Contd.) Predicate Predicate refers to what a person or a thing does or did or what happened to a person or a thing. A predicate consists of a verb and other parts of speech. Certain rules for predicates:  The predicate must agree in number with the subject  It must have the correct tense  It must be in the proper voice (active or passive) In the sentence “Julie is eating breakfast”, the phrase ‘is eating’ is the predicate. In the sentence “Annie has written the poem”, ‘has written’ is the predicate. Thus, a predicate must have a verb. Sometimes, a verb by itself can also be a predicate. However, predicate and verb are NOT synonymous.

Phrases & Clauses Phrases A phrase is a collection of words that makes some sense, but not complete sense.

Examples:  After lunch…  The book Fredrick gave me… Clauses A clause is a collection of words that consists of both a Subject and a Predicate. A clause may or may not be able to stand independently and make complete sense on its own.

Types of Clauses 1. Independent Clause Can stand on its own and make complete sense. It contains sufficient information to construct a complete sentence.

Examples:  Betty didn’t like the main course but she enjoyed dessert.

In the above sentence, we have two independent clauses — "Betty didn’t like the main course" and "she enjoyed dessert ", joined by a coordinating conjunction "but“. Each of these makes complete sense on its own.

Phrases & Clauses (Contd.) 2. Dependent Clause This cannot stand by itself and does not make sense on its own. It is dependent on some other clauses to form a meaningful sentence.

Examples:  If you lend me that book, I will be grateful to you.  When I was in New York, I worked for a law firm. Phrases make up a clause and clauses make up a sentence. It is important to understand the differences in these, because the use of punctuation depends on these.

Test your understanding of clauses here!

Verbals : Gerunds A verbal refers to a word formed from a verb but which works as a different part of speech, such as a noun or an adjective. These words signify action in a general way, without limiting the action to any time or subject. There are 3 kinds of Verbals – Gerunds, Participles & Infinitives Gerunds A gerund refers to a verbal that ends in –ing, and which functions as a noun.

Examples:  Dancing made him famous.  My favorite pastime activity is fishing. In the above examples, words like ‘dancing’ and ‘fishing’ are used as nouns and not as verbs, making them gerunds. Read more about Gerunds here!

Verbals: Participles Participles A participle refers to a verbal that usually ends in –ing or –ed and is used as an adjective. Since participles function as adjectives, they can modify only nouns or pronouns.

Examples:  The night sky was dotted with shooting stars.  Her cheeks were stained with drying tears.

Read more about Participles here!

Verbals: Types of participles

1. Present participles Present participles express ‘what a thing does’ and usually end in –‘ing’. E.g. talking, loving, hurting, weeping, shouting etc.

Examples:  Have you heard the story of the sleeping beauty?  The dancing dolphins captured the attention of the tourists.

In these sentences, words such as ‘sleeping’ and ‘dancing’ express something more about beauty and dolphins respectively, thus forming present participles .

Verbals: Types of participles 2. Past Participles Past participles denote a past or completed action or time and generally express ‘what was done to a thing’. They usually end in –ed, -en, -d, -t, or –n. E.g. cracked, lost, repaired, required, arisen, beaten, anchored, and so on.

Examples:  Are you still looking for the lost watch?  Please throw away the cracked mirror. In these sentences, words such as ‘lost’ and ‘cracked’ are used as adjectives to modify the nouns ‘watch’ and ‘mirror’ respectively, thus forming past participles.

Verbals: Infinitives Infinitives An infinitive comprises the word ‘to’ and a verb (in its simplest form) and functions as a noun, adjective, or adverb. Infinitive uses the base form of the verb: to eat, to be, to say, to play, to deliver, to eat and so on.

Examples:  Please help him to pack lunch.  Do not pretend to be someone you aren’t. Types of infinitives: The perfect infinitive The continuous infinitive The perfect continuous infinitive The passive infinitive

(to (to (to (to

have + past participle) be + present participle) have been + present participle) be + past participle)

Read more about Infinitives here!

Punctuation Punctuation marks enable us to structure our sentences more accurately. For e.g. period/full-stop(.), comma (,), question mark (?), exclamation mark (!), colon (:), semi-colon (;), apostrophe (&), brackets (()), quote (“), hyphen (-) etc. The colon (:) and semi-colon (;) are tested on the GMAT. Colon(:)

The colon is used in 2 situations: While introducing a list: Beth is planning to buy a few vegetables: capsicum, ladyfinger, carrot, cabbage, cauliflower and snake gourd. While introducing an explanation or an example: There was only one possible explanation: the flight had never arrived.

Punctuation (Contd.) Semicolon(;) Semicolons are used to split sentences that are grammatically independent but still have closely linked meaning.

Example:  Annie is fond of ice creams; Joseph prefers chocolates. Sometimes, conjunctions can be used in place of semicolons.

Example:  Annie is fond of ice creams but Joseph prefers chocolates. We cannot use a comma in place of a semicolon – this would result in what is known as a “run-on sentence”.

Example:  Annie is fond of ice creams, Joseph prefers chocolates. 

Day 4

Subject Verb Agreement The golden rule of Subject Verb Agreement is this:

A singular subject always takes a singular verb and a plural subject always takes a plural verb.

Examples:

 The stranger has stolen the lady’s purse.  The children are having a lot of fun! In the first sentence, the singular subject ‘stranger’ is accompanied by a singular verb ‘has stolen’. In the second sentence, the plural subject ‘children’ is accompanied by a plural verb ‘are having’. Any mismatch of singular and plural concept will render the sentences incorrect.

Subject Verb Agreement (Contd.) Additive Phrases

Example:  Nick, along with his brother, are going to attend the seminar.  The above sentence is incorrect, because ‘Nick’ is a singular subject and thus, requires a singular verb ‘is’. The correct sentence is:  Nick, along with his brother, is going to attend the seminar. Except ‘and’, all other additive phrases keep the subject singular. For e.g.

 The king, together with his courtiers, was an honored guest at the artisan’s home.

Subject Verb Agreement (Contd.) Either…or / Neither…nor Thumb rules:  If both subjects are singular, the verb takes the singular form.  If both subjects are plural, the verb takes the plural form.  If one subject is singular and one is plural, the verb takes the form of the subject closer to it.

Example:  Either Mona or her cousins is organizing the party.  This sentence is incorrect, since the subject closest to the verb (‘organizing’) is plural (‘her cousins’). So, the correct sentence will be:  Either Mona or her cousins are organizing the party.

Subject Verb Agreement (Contd.) Each and Every – always singular!

Consider the following sentences:  Each of the students are participating in the annual sports day.   Every person in the country are working for a better life.  The above two sentences are incorrect as words ‘each’ and ‘every’ cannot be followed by plural verbs. In English grammar, a singular verb is always used with each and every. The correct form is:  Each of the students is participating in the annual sports day.

 Every person in the country is working for a better life.

Subject Verb Agreement (Contd.) Collective Nouns

 The team is going to play the match tomorrow. This sentence is correct because ‘the team of 11 players’ is not seen as a collection of individuals but as a single subject, requiring a singular verb ‘is’.  The herd of cattle is moving up the mountain slope. This sentence is also correct because we are looking at the herd as a single entity.

Subject Verb Agreement (Contd.) Plural Nouns Some nouns are inherently plural and take a plural verb. For e.g. belongings, congratulations, earnings, goods, outskirts, particulars (= information), premises (= building), riches, savings, stairs, surroundings, thanks etc.

Example: His savings were not enough to tide him over hard times. “Savings” is a plural noun and therefore, requires the plural verb form “were”.

Pronouns On the GMAT, there are only two pronoun concepts you need to remember: 1. Pronouns must agree in number with the nouns they replace.

Example:

The plight of the animals after it was chased out of the forest was piteous.  Plural ‘animals’ requires plural pronoun ‘they’ and plural verb ‘were’. The plight of the animals after they were chased out of the forest, was piteous.  2. Pronouns must have unambiguous antecedents. i.e. it must be clear what noun each pronoun refers to.

Example:

The tourists are afraid of the leeches as they suck their blood.  ‘they’ and ‘their’ have ambiguous antecedents – who is sucking whose blood?

Modifiers A modifier is a non-compulsory constituent in a phrase or a clause. It changes the meaning of another element in the sentence, on which it is dependent. A modifier can be long or short. On the GMAT, modifiers can be pretty long. Basic Rules for Modifiers: 1. The modifier should be placed as close as possible to what it modifies; otherwise the entire meaning of the sentence gets altered drastically.

Examples:  Possessing fifteen legs, Shyam had never seen such a creature in his life. Who has fifteen legs? Shyam or the creature? The creature, of course! Thus, the modifier “Possessing fifteen legs” should be placed close to “creature” and not “Shyam”.  Possessing fifteen legs, the creature was unlike anything Shyam had ever seen in his life.

Modifiers (Contd.) 2. An adjective can modify only a noun or a pronoun; adverbs can modify almost anything except a noun or a pronoun.

Examples:  Adjective modifying nouns and pronouns: This is a fascinating book. (the adjective ‘fascinating’ modifies the noun ‘book’)  Adverbs modifying verbs: Her sister danced gracefully. (the adverb ‘gracefully’ modifies the verb ‘danced’)  Adverbs modifying adjectives: Jim is extremely rich. (the adverb ‘extremely’ modifies the adjective ‘rich’)

Modifiers (Contd.)  Adverbs modifying other adverbs: She decorated the house most beautifully. (the adverb ‘most’ modifies another adverb ‘beautifully’)  Adverbs modifying clauses: Certainly, his presence was disturbing to the gathered audience. (the adverb ‘certainly’ modifies the clause ‘his presence was disturbing’)  Adverbs modifying whole sentences: Tomorrow, we will announce the winner. (the adverb ‘tomorrow’ modifies the entire sentence)

Modifiers (Contd.) A modifying phrase can appear not only at the start of a sentence, but also in in the middle or at the end.

Examples:  Mrs. D’ Souza, the tall lady, teaches us English.  He fell to the floor, his limbs flailing helplessly.

Modifiers are tested very often in GMAT Sentence Correction. So remember this golden rule: whenever a sentence begins with a modifier, make sure that the noun or pronoun following the comma is what the phrase is referring to.

Misplaced Modifiers Example:  To come first in the race, regular work-outs were done by the athlete. In this sentence, ‘to come first in the race’ is modifying a subject which is not mentioned within the phrase. The subject of the sentence is the person who is aiming to come first. i.e. the athlete. As the modifier should be as close as possible to what it modifies, the above sentence is incorrect. Thus, the correct sentence is:  To come first in the race, the athlete worked out regularly..

Dangling Modifiers Example:  Using the graphical charts, the concept was explained to the students. Though this sentence seems to be correct at first glance, according to the rule of modifiers, the person using the graphical charts must be mentioned after the comma. Thus, this sentence fails to indicate who is using the graphical charts, this is an example of dangling modifier. We need to add some more words to make this sentence correct.

 Using the graphical charts, the teacher explained the concept to the students.

"That" versus "Which“ On the GMAT, you will come across quite a few modifiers that are linked to the rest of the sentence using “that” or “which”. Many test-takers get confused between “that” and “which” and make mistakes. Use of comma: Generally “which” is preceded by a comma whereas “that” is not.

Examples:  The book that lay on the table had a red cover.  The book, which lay on the table, had a red cover. “That” is used for an essential modifier – its removal will change the meaning of the sentence. “Which” is used for a non-essential modifier – its removal will not affect the meaning of the sentence.

Day 5

Comparisons Compared items must be logically similar.

Example:

 The doctors of City hospital are more dedicated than other hospitals.  This sentence is incorrect because it is comparing doctors with hospitals, which is illogical.

The correct sentence is:  The doctors of City hospital are more dedicated than those of other hospitals.

Comparison (Contd.) Compared items must be grammatically similar.

It means that nouns should be compared with nouns, verbs with verbs, etc. It is grammatically wrong to compare a noun with an adverb or an adjective with a pronoun.

Example:  Paul likes eating yogurt more than to drink buttermilk.  This sentence is incorrect because it is comparing ‘eating’ (gerund) with ‘to drink’ (infinitive). This is grammatically incorrect. The correct sentence is:  Paul likes eating yogurt more than drinking buttermilk.

Unclear Comparisons  Patrick dislikes Sandra more than Julie.  This is an example of unclear comparisons because this sentence can be understood in two ways. Patrick dislikes Sandra more than he dislikes Julie OR Patrick dislikes Sandra more than Julie dislikes Sandra.

This confusion can be rectified by adding certain words:  Patrick dislikes Sandra more than he does Julie.  Patrick dislikes Sandra more than Julie does.

Illogical Comparisons  The flowers in this vase are much more beautiful than other vases.  This sentence indicates an illogical comparison, as it is ridiculous to compare flowers with vases. A logical comparison would be:  The flowers in this vase are much more beautiful than the flowers in other vases.  The flowers in this vase are much more beautiful than those in other vases.

Comparative/Superlative forms Comparative forms are used when we compare two things, and superlative forms are used when we compare more than two things.

Examples:

 Between Charles and Stephen, Charles is smartest.   Among all the students, Rene is more intelligent.  Both the above sentences are incorrect! In the first sentence, as the comparison is between two people, comparative form should be used. In the second sentence, as the comparison is between more than two people, superlative form should be used.  Between Emily and Kate, Kate is taller.  Among all the students, Rene is the most intelligent. Read more about Comparative and Superlative forms here!

Word Omissions In comparisons, certain word omissions are grammatically correct. For example:  Alan’s ideas are better than Ian’s (ideas).  He works harder than his brother (does).  My dress is prettier than Jessie’s (dress).  Martin received more marks in Physics than

(he received) in Chemistry.

Physics

Chemistry

Types Of Tenses Tenses are verb forms used to indicate time in English language. Basically there are three types of tenses:  Past tense  Present tense  Future tense There are four variations of each of these three tenses:  Simple  Perfect  Continuous

Types Of Tenses Past Tense – Used to talk about events/actions that happened in the past

Example:

Harry sang in the class yesterday. Present Tense – Used to talk about general truths or events/actions/facts that are true at present

Example:

Harry sings in the class everyday. Future Tense – Used to talk about events/actions that will happen sometime in the future

Example:

Harry will sing in the class tomorrow.

The Past Tense Simple Past: The event/action took place in the past and is complete.

Example:

Maria sang in the class. Past Perfect: Used to show the sequence of events when we discuss 2 events that happened in the past. It takes the (had+verb) form.

Example:

The program had ended by the time we reached the hall. Past Continuous: Used to depict an action/event that was ongoing till a certain time in the past.

Example:

Jerry was playing video games till 11 PM last night.

The Present Tense Simple Present: The event/action is true at present; nothing is known about its state of completion

Example:

Maria sings. Present Perfect: The event/action happened at an unspecified time before now or happened in the past, but has a result in the present

Example:

I have travelled to Europe and Africa many times. She has learned knitting. Present Continuous: Used to depict an action/event that is happening now

Example:

It is raining heavily. Sandra is crying her heart out.

The Future Tense Simple Future: The event/action will happen in future. Nothing is mentioned about its state of completion.

Example:

The sun will set. Future Perfect: The event/action will happen in future, before another event/action happens. Used to show sequence.

Example:

Mr. Jones will have arrived by 8 PM. Future Continuous: Used to depict an action/event that will happen at some time in the future, and will not be complete at that particular time.

Example:

The family will be eating dinner at 9 PM.

Learn more about Tenses here!

Idioms An idiom is a phrase or a group of words that has a figurative meaning different from its literal meaning. The idioms tested on the GMAT, however, have more to do with the way certain phrases are framed. Idioms are not governed by logic or rules – they are just the way they are!

Examples:  The Great Himalayan Blue Monkey is native to Himachal Pradesh.

 The Board concurred with his suggestions.  You are old enough to distinguish good from bad.

Idioms (Contd.) For GMAT test-takers whose first language is not English, idioms are a tough nut to crack, simply because there is no logic or rule to learn them. The best way to learn idioms is to create your own study list. Make sure that you learn only the ‘right versions’ of the idioms – if you try to learn what is right and what is wrong, you may end up getting confused on test day! On the bright side, the GMAT will never give you a Sentence Correction question based solely on idioms. Every question will test you on multiple concepts.

You can find a list of idioms commonly tested on the GMAT in Appendices A and B of the CrackVerbal Sentence Correction Guide.

That’s all folks! GMAT Sentence Correction is a lot more than just the above definitions and rules. This was just a primer to prepare you for some more rigorous SC ahead!

CrackVerbal’s 12-Hour SC Course Agenda For Day 1

Agenda For Day 2



Sentence Correction 101



Pronouns



Basic Grammar Review



Modifiers



Subject Verb Agreement

Agenda For Day 3

Agenda For Day 4



Parallelism



Tenses



Comparisons



Idioms



Advanced concepts

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