Sentence completion is a section where you are given a sentence with two blanks and the options include pairs of words which would fit perfectly into those blanks. However, it isn’t always easy to choose the best words to fill a blank and there are certain nuances to help you get to the right answer. Here are some tips that you should keep in mind.

What are the indicators?

Look for contrast indicators, where the author might contradict the first part of the sentence with the second, the support indicators, where the first part is proved by the second part, apposition indicator where one part clarifies the meaning of the other or cause and effect indicator, where one part talks about the cause and the other one talks about effect. This will help you find the answer out more easily.

Try to guess from what you know

It is a good idea to check from your experience, the words that you think will fit in the blank. This helps you avoid confusion when you set your eyes on the options.

Don’t ignore one word because the other one is a perfect fit

In case of two blanks, one of the ploys would be to give you an option where one word fits perfectly but the other doesn’t. So you will have to ensure that both the words in the option fit perfectly. In fact, you can use this trick, to eliminate options where one of the words doesn’t fit at all.

Try to remember usage patterns, idioms and phrases

If one of the options has a word which is used as a phrase or idiom, it will make it easier for you. Similarly if there are usage problems or the overall sentence sounds bad with the word then you can eliminate it.

Consider all the choices for the best fit

Jumping the gun might not be advisable in case of sentence completion. It is wise to try out all the options and see if there are words which had occurred to you when you read the sentence originally.

Don’t panic

It could happen that one of the words is unfamiliar to you. Don’t panic in that case. Try to eliminate as many options as possible. Also try to work out the meaning of the word through its root, prefix or suffix.

Take the Gre Sentence Completion Test to get a better understanding of this section of the test.

Improving vocabulary is not as easy as it may seem. Initially you could swell your vocabulary by memorizing words. But after some time the crammed words could confuse you further. Therefore students follow a lot of strategies to ensure that their preparation actually pays off and they are able to improve their vocabulary to a great extent.

Random order flash cards

The random order flash cards help you to memorize words randomly without following any set alphabetical order. Compared to learning words in an alphabetical manner this could simulate a more normal situation where you come across words randomly. One of the disadvantages of learning words in a random order is that your memory kind of associates them together. That means you can remember the meanings of the words when you check them together. But if you see the word somewhere individually, you might not be able to recollect the meaning.

Constantly read journals to find new words

A great way of learning new words instead of following alphabetical word lists is to read journals and to pick up all the new words that you encounter and learn their meanings. When you do so, it is imperative to note the meanings of the words as well as the context in which they have been used. In the long run, that will help you remember the meaning of the word better, by associating a map or a situation to the word. Read more…

It can be really frustrating trying to ram in thousands of words into your brain for your GRE exam. Typically, the brain has a threshold limit beyond which it cannot afford to assimilate data unless it is fed through a form that is simple and uncomplicated. It’s similar to wanting to watch TV or play a game on the computer after a hard day of work – it takes a little bit of brainwork to comprehend things in movies and games, but nothing on the levels of academics that might give you a brain-freeze.

It is common knowledge that most of these words are not even used in daily life or even in your academics. The word ‘daguerreotype’ may not appear anywhere in your Masters in Mechanical Engineering in all likelihood, nor will you hear this word being spoken in public because it just refers to the world’s first publicly announced photographic process. Read more…

You don’t generally prepare for the GRE exam overnight and take it the next day – this simply doesn’t work even if you’re a master of the language. A person essentially allocates about a month of his time for GRE – reading up on the mode of testing, preparing for the verbal part of the test and taking up mock tests. In case your plans for GRE are not immediate, say spread over six months, I suggest you improve your vocabulary in other ways too – reading newspapers and novels.

For a person with no history of reading habit, he shouldn’t expect to start with Ayn Rand novels and expect to understand what is being narrated. Of course, this could also result in you despising books after this, but it is best to start off slow – not with Enid Blyton as some would suggest. Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock would be good authors to start with, especially if you enjoy crime thrillers. If you’re looking for some books which are more laidback, P.G. Wodehouse and Thomas Hardy are the best choices. Don’t worry about them being English – everybody knows that the British speak better English than Americans; a more purist form of English wouldn’t hurt you. Read more…