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

Heres 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): Theres 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 girls 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.

Sams 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:

Theyre 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 caf 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 couldnt 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 couldnt 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 subjects 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 didnt like the main course but she enjoyed dessert.

In the above sentence, we have two independent clauses "Betty didnt 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 arent.
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 ladys 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 artisans home.

Subject Verb Agreement (Contd.)

Eitheror / Neithernor
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:
Alans ideas are better than Ians (ideas).
He works harder than his brother (does).
My dress is prettier than Jessies (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.

Thats 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!

CrackVerbals 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

Stay Connected!

For the latest news from the GMAT and MBA world!

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