Last Updated on September 25, 2023
Studying GMAT Sentence Correction (SC) can be a nerve-racking experience for test-takers. As a result, it’s no surprise that everyone is looking for shortcuts, secrets, and tricks that will “crack” the GMAT SC code.
There is plenty of advice out there about how to master Sentence Correction, but the truth is, gimmicks won’t earn you a high GMAT Verbal score, and in some cases, relying on shortcuts may even hurt your score.
How can shortcuts hurt your GMAT Verbal score? Well, much like GMAT Quant, GMAT Verbal tests the level of sophistication of the thinking you use when you answer questions. Thus, memorizing rules alone isn’t enough to take your Sentence Correction skills from basic to advanced.
Much like GMAT Quant, GMAT Verbal tests the level of sophistication of the thinking you use when you answer questions.
There are, however, some must-know strategies that all GMAT students can put into practice to ensure that they’re attacking Sentence Correction questions in a smart, efficient way.
In this article, I’ll share 15 essential tips for understanding and ultimately mastering Sentence Correction. Whatever stage of studying GMAT Verbal you’re at, these tips will be invaluable for helping you approach Sentence Correction questions.
Here are the must-know tips we’ll cover:
- Learn and Practice One Sentence Correction Topic at a Time
- Meaning Matters in Sentence Correction!
- Plug Each Answer Choice into the Full Sentence
- The “Original” Sentence Is Not Special
- Correct Answers Don’t Have to Be Perfect
- Don’t Get Stuck on What “Sounds Wrong”
- Clearly Articulate What the Errors Are in Wrong Choices
- Eliminate Non-Essential Modifiers to Pinpoint Errors
- Eliminate “Easy Out” Wrong Answers by Checking for Land Mines
- Learn and Understand How to Correctly Use the Most Commonly Tested Idioms
- When Stuck Between Two Choices, Lean Into Them
- Don’t be Afraid to Select Choice A
- Be Sure to Read the Non-Underlined Portion of the Sentence
- The Sentence Version Produced by Choice A Is the Same as the Original Sentence
- Mastering GMAT Sentence Correction Takes Time
- Frequently Asked Questions About GMAT Sentence Correction
- In Conclusion: Essential GMAT Sentence Correction Tips
- What’s Next?
Tip #1: Learn and Practice One Sentence Correction Topic at a Time
There are numerous concepts to learn for GMAT Sentence Correction, and numerous ways each concept can be tested. Some common mistakes that students make are:
- starting off their GMAT prep doing mixed-concept Sentence Correction problem sets
- jumping right into answering SC practice questions without fully learning the concepts on which those questions are based
- skipping straight to the hardest concepts without shoring up SC foundational skills
These mistakes will make your GMAT Verbal prep disorganized and inefficient, and you’ll quickly hit a wall. On the contrary, a much better approach is to take a topic-by-topic approach, starting with basic Sentence Correction concepts and progressing in a linear fashion to more advanced ones. In fact, you can apply this tip to your GMAT preparation in general: You will learn more and learn faster if you proceed in this manner.
Sentence Correction Concept Mastery is Essential
Expecting to perform well on Sentence Correction questions without FIRST mastering the concepts on which those questions are based is unrealistic. Instead, you need to learn as much as you can about a particular SC topic, and then answer numerous realistic practice questions to drill what you’ve learned about that topic, instead of just bulldozing through dozens of random practice questions as your method of learning.
After learning a particular SC topic, engage in focused practice with 30 or more questions involving that topic. Then, as your skills improve and you learn about other SC topics, practice with questions that test you on concepts from multiple topics. Keep in mind that, if your foundational knowledge is fairly strong, you may move through more basic concepts and questions relatively quickly. However, don’t fool yourself into thinking that you can skip over an “easier” SC topic (for example, subject-verb agreement) altogether. Remember, the GMAT can come up with some pretty tricky ways to test basic concepts.
TTP PRO TIP:
Take a topic-by-topic approach to your SC study, learning as much as you can about a particular topic, and then answering 30 or more realistic practice questions involving that topic.
For more on how students truly master GMAT topics, check out our article on the learning phases of GMAT preparation.
Tip #2: Meaning Matters in Sentence Correction!
There is no denying that you won’t get very far in GMAT Sentence Correction if you don’t know grammar rules. However, too often, students rely on grammar as the sole determinant of which answer choices are correct and which are incorrect in SC questions. And you know what? The GMAT test-makers design Sentence Correction questions to test whether you’ll do just that!
Sometimes, incorrect answers in Sentence Correction are perfectly grammatical, yet they convey illogical or nonsensical meanings. Unfortunately, many GMAT students focus on finding grammatical errors in order to eliminate answer choices while neglecting to analyze the sentence meaning.
Don’t allow yourself to fall for this trap. It’s very easy to get stumped deciding between two answer choices because you failed to consider each sentence’s meaning or to choose a wrong answer because it’s grammatically correct, and you didn’t notice that it makes no sense.
Of course, your knowledge of grammar rules will allow you to spot common SC errors such as subject-verb agreement errors, pronouns without logical antecedents, and dangling modifiers. Spotting those grammatical errors will allow you to quickly eliminate certain answer choices. However, any time you don’t find a “slam dunk” reason (or two) to eliminate an answer, you should ask yourself, “What is the meaning conveyed by this version of the sentence if I read it literally? Does that meaning make sense?” Furthermore, when you think you have a correct answer, double-check the meaning conveyed by that version of the sentence to ensure that the meaning is logical. You know that grammatically incorrect answers are incorrect; just don’t assume that grammatically correct answers are automatically correct.
TTP PRO TIP:
You know that grammatically incorrect answers are incorrect; just don’t assume that grammatically correct answers are automatically correct.
Tip #3: Plug Each Answer Choice into the Full Sentence
A surefire way to spot both violations of grammar rules and errors in meaning is to plug each answer choice into the full sentence.
The reason this tactic is essential is that the underline in a Sentence Correction question (i.e., the portion of the sentence that is different in each answer choice) is strategically placed to make some incorrect answers look correct if you don’t read them in context.
You have to read each sentence version as a whole. If you look at an answer choice in isolation, you’re likely to miss or forget some aspect of the non-underlined portion of the sentence that makes that answer choice incorrect. In fact, GMAT test-takers have committed countless careless mistakes by reading the full sentence only when they first see an SC question, and then relying on memory when evaluating which answer choice will create a correct sentence. Often, test-takers use that method because they feel pressed for time, and often they end up missing errors that they would have easily recognized had they plugged the answer choice into the full sentence.
Similarly, if you look at a sentence version only in pieces, you can miss big-picture issues, such as illogical sentence structures that convey nonsensical meanings or violate grammar rules. Identifying such issues may be well within your skill set. However, by not taking the full context into account, you “give away” questions you could otherwise answer correctly, thus lowering your GMAT score. So, don’t make the mistake of ignoring the non-underlined portion of the sentence.
TTP PRO TIP:
Don’t make the mistake of ignoring the non-underlined portion of the sentence or relying on your memory of what it said. Plug each answer choice into the full sentence.
Tip #4: The “Original” Sentence Is Not Special
Some GMAT students get the impression that the original sentence in an SC question stem conveys the “true” or intended meaning of the correct sentence, or that answer choices that deviate significantly from the “original” sentence will not be correct. Indeed, these Sentence Correction myths have been around for a long time.
In reality, all answer choices must be weighed equally. Choice (A) does not set a standard for the sentence meaning or structure that must be followed by the correct answer. In fact, in many Sentence Correction questions, all five answer choices provided are quite different from one another. A correct answer choice may create a sentence version that conveys a meaning that is very different from the meaning created by choice (A), or incorporate a word or phrase that didn’t appear in choice (A) (or eliminate one that did).
As a result, you must resist the urge to view the meaning of the sentence in the question stem as the “real” or “correct” meaning. There is no intended meaning that the correct sentence version has to express. The correct version will be the one that most effectively expresses a logical meaning.
TTP PRO TIP:
The sentence meaning expressed by the “original” sentence version is not the “intended” meaning that the correct sentence version must convey. All answer choices have equal weight and should be considered equally.
Where Did the Intended Meaning Myth Come From?
I suspect that the intended meaning myth arose because, when people couldn’t see why an answer choice in an SC question is wrong, they erroneously decided that the only way to choose the right answer is to predict what the author’s intended meaning is.
The truth of the matter is that, in a well-written Sentence Correction question, such as an official SC question written by GMAC or a well-written third-party SC question (for instance, one written by Target Test Prep), there is only one sentence version that both is grammatically correct and effectively conveys a logical meaning.
TTP PRO TIP:
In an SC question, there is only one sentence version that both is grammatically correct and effectively conveys a logical meaning.
Tip #5: Correct Answers Don’t Have to Be Perfect
Often, the correct answers to GMAT Sentence Correction questions push the boundaries of what is acceptable or logical. Consequently, you must look for the best version of the sentence, not a perfect version.
TTP PRO TIP:
Correct Sentence Correction answers are not perfect answers; they’re simply the best of the available choices.
The best version of the sentence will be the one with the most logical sentence meaning and structure out of all the versions. However, “better than the rest” doesn’t necessarily mean that you couldn’t come up with a cleaner, more straightforward way to write the sentence.
You’ll find that, in many SC questions, none of the answer choices create “ideal” or flawless sentences. The answer choice that is most concise, for example, may be grammatically incorrect or convey a ridiculous meaning. In contrast, a sentence structure that seems a little more awkward than some others may be the only one that creates a sentence version that is both grammatically correct and logical.
Ask yourself, if correct answers to Sentence Correction questions always looked and sounded perfect, would finding them be much of a challenge for anyone?
Ask yourself, if correct answers to Sentence Correction questions always looked and sounded perfect, would finding them be much of a challenge for anyone?
Tip #6: Don’t Get Stuck on What “Sounds Wrong”
A common trap in Sentence Correction questions is that correct answers sound a little “off.” Sentence Correction question writers frequently use quirky wording or phrase answer choices in ways that don’t exactly roll off the tongue. After all, they don’t want the correct answer to be completely obvious to everyone. Similarly, SC answer choices may contain wording that is commonly used in colloquial speech but is incorrect on the GMAT.
Let’s look at a basic example.
Sentence Correction Example Question:
Review of company reports, like statements of cash flows, balance sheets, and quarterly income statements, often reveal inconsistencies in a company’s accounting practices.
- company reports, like statements of cash flows, balance sheets, and quarterly income statements, often reveal
- such company reports as statements of cash flows, balance sheets, and quarterly income statements often reveals
- company reports, like statements of cash flows, balance sheets, and quarterly income statements, often reveals
- company reports such as statements of cash flows, balance sheets, and quarterly income statements often reveal
- such company reports like statements of cash flows, balance sheets, and quarterly income statements often reveals
Now, you may know from your GMAT Verbal study that, in Sentence Correction, “like” is used for comparisons, while “such as” is used to introduce examples. However, it is very common in everyday conversation for people to use “like” when giving examples. In fact, you’ve probably done so yourself many times (we all have!). The GMAT test-makers know this.
They also know that the phrasing “such company reports as” in choice (B) sounds far less natural than either “company reports, like” or “company reports such as.” Choice (B), however, is the only grammatically correct and logical answer (notice the subject-verb agreement error, “review … reveal,” in choice (D) that allows us to eliminate that choice).
Don’t fall into a trap by choosing an answer “by ear.” The best-sounding choice may not be the correct answer.
TTP PRO TIP:
Don’t fall into a trap by choosing an answer “by ear.” The best-sounding choice in a Sentence Correction question may not be the correct answer.
Tip #7: Clearly Articulate What the Errors Are in Wrong Choices
A great way to ensure that you’re not falling for trap answers because you’re going by what “looks right” or “sounds wrong” is to learn to clearly articulate what the precise errors are in each wrong answer you see. This skill is one that you should practice again and again.
If you can point to specific errors in answer choices and articulate why they are in fact errors, then you have a powerful weapon at your disposal for eliminating wrong answers and increasing your accuracy in Sentence Correction
TTP PRO TIP:
If you can point to specific errors in answer choices and articulate why they are in fact errors, then you have a powerful weapon at your disposal for eliminating wrong answers and increasing your accuracy in Sentence Correction.
You can start by becoming more aware of how you are going about answering SC questions. For example:
- Are you evaluating logic and details, or are you quickly eliminating choices that sound a little off, and then choosing what seems to be the best of the rest?
- Are you considering the meaning conveyed by each version of the sentence?
- Are you matching a verb to the sentence subject and making sure that each pronoun clearly and logically refers to a noun?
Careful analysis of answer choices may initially require devoting a good chunk of time to each practice question — far more than a mere two minutes. To develop your eye for the logical differences between SC answer choices, you have to go beyond simply answering practice questions and reading explanations, and learn to notice everything that is going on in each choice.
TTP PRO TIP:
Learn to clearly articulate what the precise errors are in each wrong answer choice you see, and practice that skill repeatedly.
Tip #8: Eliminate Non-Essential Modifiers to Pinpoint Errors
One skill that you’ll develop in studying GMAT Sentence Correction is identifying superfluous information in SC sentences. The fact is, SC sentences often contain modifiers, such as prepositional phrases, relative clauses, and appositives, that serve no purpose in the sentence other than to obscure a detail you need to see in order to answer a question correctly. For instance, an SC sentence may place several modifiers between a verb and its subject, so that you won’t easily recognize an agreement error, or use modifiers to obscure parallelism errors.
Let’s look at a couple of examples, starting with a subject-verb error.
Eliminate Noun Modifiers to See Subject-Verb Errors
Crossing of prepositional phrases and other noun modifiers can help us to find subject-verb agreement errors in Sentence Correction questions.
Let’s examine the following sentence:
The complex process of sequencing DNA, the highly stable molecule that forms the building blocks of all life on earth and is the common thread that unites all species, are getting ever faster, cheaper, and more compact.
Notice that the sentence’s subject and main verb are separated by a prepositional phrase, “of sequencing DNA,” and an appositive phrase, “the highly stable molecule ….” Eliminating those modifiers allows us to more easily see the subject-verb agreement error:
The complex process of sequencing DNA, the highly stable molecule that forms the building blocks of all life on earth and is the common thread that unites all species, are getting ever faster, cheaper, and more compact.
Of course, the plural verb “are” does not pair with the singular noun “process.”
Eliminate Relative Clauses to See Parallelism Errors
Now let’s look at an example involving a parallelism error.
Consider the following sentence:
Hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol aid your body during a stress response by causing air passages to dilate, by stimulating the liver to produce glucose, which is released into the bloodstream to provide energy to cells, and blood flow to the brain and muscles increases.
Notice that the sentence contains a list of three items related to how “adrenaline and cortisol aid your body during a stress response”: by causing … by stimulating … and blood flow. If you didn’t notice the parallelism error, eliminating the relative clause that separates the second and third items can help you spot the error more easily:
Hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol aid your body during a stress response by causing air passages to dilate, by stimulating the liver to produce glucose, which is released into the bloodstream to provide energy to cells, and blood flow to the brain and muscles increases.
We can see that the noun “blood flow” is not parallel to the other two items in the list. Here is a possible fix:
Hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol aid your body during a stress response by causing air passages to dilate, by stimulating the liver to produce glucose, which is released into the bloodstream, and by increasing blood flow to the brain and muscles.
Use Your Scratch Paper to Cross Off Non-Essential Modifiers
Using your scratch paper to cross off non-essential modifiers in sentence versions can help you more quickly identify errors to eliminate wrong answer choices. Just remember to always read the full sentence also, so you can ensure that you’re not crossing off something that is non-essential in one choice but essential in another.
TTP PRO TIP:
Using your scratch paper to cross off non-essential modifiers in sentence versions can help you more quickly identify errors. Just be sure to also read the full sentence for each sentence version.
Tip # 9: Eliminate “Easy Out” Wrong Answers by Checking for Land Mines
In many Sentence Correction questions, we’ll be able to eliminate two or three “easy out” wrong answers by checking for major errors of logic and grammar, which we refer to as “Sentence Correction land mines.”
One solid way to increase our Sentence Correction scores is to eliminate any sentence version containing a land mine. By eliminating these clearly incorrect sentence versions, we’re able to focus our attention on versions that require more care to eliminate.
TTP PRO TIP:
By eliminating clearly incorrect sentence versions, we’re able to focus our attention on versions that require more care to eliminate.
Here is a list of some land mines that often appear in GMAT Sentence Correction questions.
Obvious Errors That Frequently Appear in Sentence Correction Questions
1. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT – Locate any finite verbs in the sentence version and determine who is performing the action — that is, find the true grammatical subject. Remember, the subject cannot be within a prepositional phrase.
2. VERB TENSE – Tense must be consistent for simultaneous events. Tenses must be different for events that take place at different times.
3. IDIOMS – If there is a difference between the prepositions used in two close choices, you must decide on the proper one. The proper preposition often depends on a verb that precedes it though may be related to some other type of word or phrase.
4. PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT – Always determine whether a pronoun in a choice refers unambiguously to an actual noun, and whether it should be singular or plural.
5. PARALLELISM – Often, an incorrect choice will include a word or phrase that should be parallel to something outside the choice. Bad answers will violate this. Remember that a coordinating conjunction (one of the FANBOYS) always requires some sort of grammatical parallelism. So do items in a series and expressions of comparison or contrast.
6. DANGLING MODIFIERS – Introductory phrases that are clearly adjectival in function must modify the first noun that follows them.
7. COMPARISON LOGIC – Similar things must be compared or contrasted: actions to actions, persons to persons, abstract nouns to abstract nouns, etc. Also, remember that “like” and “unlike” should be used only to indicate comparisons or contrasts, not to introduce examples.
8. REDUNDANCIES – Redundant words and meanings are often inserted to disqualify a choice.
Tip #10: Learn and Understand How to Correctly Use the Most Commonly Tested Idioms
One key to improving your Sentence Correction score is to master as much of the low-hanging fruit as possible. One simple move you can make that will pay dividends is to master (and understand how to correctly use) the most commonly tested idioms.
TTP PRO TIP:
To improve your Sentence Correction score, learn and understand how to correctly use the most commonly tested idioms.
Tip #11: When Stuck Between Two Choices, Lean Into Them
It’s common for people taking the GMAT to eliminate three sentence versions in an SC question. At the same time, it’s also common for them to get stuck between the final two versions. How do you choose between the final two sentence versions in a Sentence Correction question? You lean into both of them, asking yourself the following questions:
- How are the two sentence versions different?
- Does one of the versions contain an error in grammar?
- Does one of the versions say something illogical?
- Is one of the versions more effective at conveying a logical meaning than the other?
- Does one of the versions convey an ambiguous meaning?
When you get into the habit of asking yourself these questions, you’ll become more proficient at choosing the correct answer from the final two sentence versions.
Tip #12: Don’t be Afraid to Select Choice A
Over the years, I’ve noticed that people just beginning their GMAT journeys are sometimes reluctant to select answer choice A in a Sentence Correction question. However, there is no reason to avoid choosing (A). Of course, it will be correct just as often as the other answer choices. Consequently, if you’ve confidently eliminated choices (B) though (E) because of clear mistakes, you can confidently select choice (A) and move on.
TTP PRO TIP:
In a Sentence Correction question, if you’ve confidently eliminated choices (B) though (E) because of clear mistakes, you can confidently select choice (A) and move on.
Tip #13: Be Sure to Read the Non-Underlined Portion of the Sentence
When answering Sentence Correction questions, one mistake GMAT-takers often make is not reading the non-underlined portion of the sentence. We can’t make this mistake, because in a Sentence Correction question, the non-underlined portion of the sentence is just as important to arriving at the correct answer as the underlined portion is.
When answering Sentence Correction questions, be sure to carefully consider both the underlined and the non-underlined portions of a sentence.
TTP PRO TIP:
When answering Sentence Correction questions, be sure to carefully consider both the underlined and the non-underlined portions of a sentence.
Tip #14: The Sentence Version Produced by Choice A Is the Same as the Original Sentence
For those of you just starting your GMAT prep, it’s helpful to remember that the sentence produced by answer choice (A) is the same as the original sentence presented in the stem of a Sentence Correction question. Therefore, when you select choice (A), you’re saying that the original sentence is the best among the five sentence versions.
KEY FACT:
In a Sentence Correction question, the sentence produced by answer choice (A) is the same as the original sentence presented in the stem.
Tip #15: Mastering GMAT Sentence Correction Takes Time
Correction Takes Time
One of the biggest tips that will help you improve your Sentence Correction score is not to rush your GMAT Verbal prep. Most people who rush end up failing to earn the GMAT Verbal scores that they were seeking. You don’t want to join this group of disappointed people.
Instead, take your time and move at your own pace, one that allows you to master the ins and outs of Sentence Correction. If you take the time you need to build strong SC skills, you’ll find that Sentence Correction questions on the GMAT are very getable! You’ll be prepared to earn a high score!
TTP PRO TIP:
Most people who rush their Sentence Correction preparation end up failing to earn the GMAT Verbal scores that they were seeking.
Frequently Asked Questions About GMAT Sentence Correction
1) How Many Sentence Correction Questions Are on the GMAT?
The Verbal section of the GMAT contains 36 questions divided among three question types:
- Sentence Correction
- Critical Reasoning
- Reading Comprehension
Of those 36 GMAT Verbal questions, usually about 13 are Sentence Correction questions.
2) What Are Some Last-Minute GMAT Grammar Tips?
If your GMAT is right around the corner, and you’re seeking some last-minute GMAT grammar tips to help boost your Verbal score, here is a helpful list:
- Check for subject-verb agreement. Singular nouns and pronouns must be paired with singular verbs, and plural nouns and pronouns must be paired with plural verbs.
- Check to be sure that each pronoun in a sentence has one clear, logical antecedent.
- Check that modifiers are in the correct locations and that their placement creates logical meanings.
- Determine whether each sentence version is actually a sentence. Eliminate versions that are incomplete, are run-on sentences, or contain comma splices.
- Determine whether each verb in a sentence conveys a logical meaning in the sentence.
- Check to be sure that proper parallelism is maintained. Pay close attention to FANBOYS conjunctions and lists.
- Check to be sure that any comparison made is clear and logical.
- Don’t confuse “like” and “such as.”
- Learn how to correctly use common idioms. For example, “considered” is a correct idiom, but “considered as” and “considered to be” are incorrect.
In Conclusion: Essential GMAT Sentence Correction Tips
There are a number of key moves that you can begin making that will help you improve your Sentence Correction skills. Use these 15 essential tips to master GMAT Sentence Correction and take your GMAT Verbal score to the next level:
- Instead of working through random sets of Sentence Corrections questions, learn and practice with one SC topic at a time.
- Grammar is important, but don’t forget that meaning matters!
- Learn to plug each answer choice into the full sentence. Doing so will help you to better spot mistakes.
- There is no intended meaning in Sentence Correction questions.
- The correct answers to SC questions don’t need to be perfect; they just need to be the best answers.
- Don’t use your “ear” when solving Sentence Correction questions.
- Make sure to clearly articulate the errors you find in SC questions.
- Get rid of non-essential modifiers to better see errors.
- Quickly eliminate any sentence version that contains a land mine.
- Master the idioms that are most commonly tested in GMAT SC.
- Master the art of determining how two sentence versions are different.
- The original sentence is correct just as often as the other sentence versions.
- Always read both the underlined and the non-underlined portions of the sentence.
- The sentence version produced by answer choice A is the same as the original sentence.
- Take the time that you need to master GMAT Sentence Correction.
Happy studying!
What’s Next?
Need more information about the types of questions that appear in the Verbal section of the GMAT? This article covers all of the GMAT Verbal question types. You may also want to check out this article on how the Verbal section will change on the new GMAT.
Want to know what a good GMAT Verbal score is? This article covers all you need to know about how GMAT Verbal scoring works and what a good GMAT Verbal score is.
Looking for more ways to increase your GMAT score? Check out our article on how to score 700+ on the GMAT.
