GMAT sentence correction involves a question where the candidates are given a sentence with an underlined portion or phrase. Candidates will have to check if the underlined portion is the right usage or it could be changed to any of the options provided. Here are some tips to approach these problems the right way.

Strong fundamentals

Your basic fundamentals in grammar would be tested a lot in this section. You must ensure that you know all the basic rules of grammar and sentence formation well. Without a thorough understanding of grammar and how various parts of speech and other aspects are used, you will not be able to score highly in this section. This requires you to go back to the basics which we learn in school.

Look for often confused words

You should know common words that are confused by people such as affect and effect. By knowing about their right usage, you could spot errors in the sentence correction questions. There are a lot of other words in the English dictionary whose usage is quite confusing and hence you have to prepare for such scenarios.

Elimination

If the question looks tough, try to eliminate some options which change the meaning of the sentence or are wrong for very obvious reasons. That way you would be left with fewer options to choose from. Read more…

There are some simple things which can greatly enhance your scores in the GMAT sentence correction section. You can do well through hard work and diligence in grammar. But you need to take care of the simpler things which often become the difference between an average score and a good score. Here are some tips that will help you maximize your scores in this section.

Don’t worry about reading out the first option

The first option is invariably the underlined part, which has to be selected when you feel that the sentence is correct as is and no further modifications are required. Don’t waste your precious seconds checking and double checking this option. Another tip on the same lines is that you shouldn’t try to hyper correct believing that a sentence has to be wrong. Sometimes, what you get could indeed be the right option.

The common list of problems

Most candidates, including those who are well prepared face maximum problems in concepts like the usage of adverbs, sentence fragments, subject predicate treatment, active and passive voice usage, verb tenses, misplaced modifiers and the difference in the usage of words like among and between or fewer and less. It is good to take a thorough look at these concepts to score even in the toughest of questions. Read more…