GMATSentCorrS PDF

Grammar
and Sentence
Correction
© Princeton Review Management, L. L. C. | 1
01 GMAT Grammar 1 .indd 1 4/16/2012 2:49:43 PM

Grammar: Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Grammar and
Sentence Correction
Doing well on GMAT Sentence Correction questions requires two things. First,
you need to know the grammar rules that the GMAT tests. Second, you need to
have a strategy for working your way through the questions. A grasp of the gram-
mar rules tested by the GMAT will help you to identify errors in the sentences and
answers. You’ll also feel more confident when you pick your answer. A strategy for
working Sentence Correction questions will help you to find the answer quickly. A
good strategy will also help you to make good decisions when you are uncertain.
Most GMAT test takers approach GMAT Sentence Correction questions without
really thinking about either grammar or strategy. Instead, most test takers simply
read the sentence and react to whatever part they think sounds wrong. Then, they
read through the answers looking for an answer that sounds better. There are sev-
eral problems with such an approach. Chief among these problems is that GMAC
expects most test takers to approach Sentence Correction questions in this man-
ner. Of course, one cardinal rule of testing is that whenever you do what the test
writers expect, you don’t get the best score that you could. After all, test writers
design tests around expected test taking behaviors. To get a better score, you need
to approach the test in a better way. For sentence correction, a combination of
grammar and strategy is that better way.
Studying grammar may not be your favorite pastime. That’s okay. You may have
never studied grammar formally in school. That’s okay, too. We have some good
news for you. The GMAT only tests a short list of fairly straightforward grammar
rules. English grammar can be complex and confusing. However, we don’t need to
worry about rules that the GMAT doesn’t test.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
We will mention one small caveat. Every so often the GMAT does throw a curve
ball by testing a rule that almost never shows up. Don’t worry about the stuff that
rarely happens. Worry about the stuff that shows up all the time. The strategy that
we will review both in this guide and in class will help you out should you happen
to see a question that tests a rule that shows up only rarely.
PARTS OF SPEECH
Every word in the English language can be classified as one (or more) parts of
speech. Understanding grammar rules starts with understanding these eight parts
of speech. Some of these parts of speech are important for GMAT grammar rules
and some aren’t. We’ll point out the less important ones as we go.
Even though the GMAT does not ask you to identify parts of speech, it’s still a
good idea to learn these terms. Explanations in both class and the Official Guide
will use these terms. After all, the discussion of a topic requires a common vocabu-
lary for that topic. That common vocabulary for grammar starts with the names of
the parts of speech.
Articles
Articles are words that are used with nouns to indicate a degree of definiteness.
There are only three articles in the English language—a, an, and the. Basically,
the is used when the speaker knows that the listener knows the identity of the
noun whereas a and an are used when the identity of the noun is not known. For
example, if you say a coat you may be speaking about a generic coat but when you
say the coat, you mean a specific coat.
The rules for choosing the correct article are, of course, more complicated. For-
tunately, you don’t need to worry about article selection for the GMAT because
you’ll never be asked to choose between a definite and an indefinite article when
picking an answer to a GMAT Sentence Correction question. Articles can, how-
ever, help you to identify nouns in sentences.
Nouns
A noun is a word used to denote a person, place, or thing. In the previous sen-
tence, noun, word, person, place, and thing are all nouns. One of the most impor-
tant properties of nouns is that they can be singular or plural. In general, nouns
that end in -s are plural while those that don’t end in an -s are singular. For exam-
ple, car is singular and cars is plural. Of course, in English, there’s almost always
4 | © Princeton Review Management, L. L. C.

Grammar: Chapter 1
1
an exception to any rule, and this rule is no exception to this general observation.
The best way to determine whether a noun is singular or plural is to ask yourself
whether the noun is used to refer to one item or more than one item. For example,
consider the following sentences:
That species has a number of interesting habits.
Economics is one of my favorite subjects.
The Netherlands is a country in Europe.
The italicized nouns in these sentences are all examples of singular nouns that
end in -s. In each case, however, it’s clear that the noun refers to only one object.
The GMAT will sometimes use such nouns as the subject of a sentence to make it
harder to spot a subject-verb agreement issue.
Some nouns also form their plurals in different ways. Most of the time, these
different ways are carryovers from the original language from which English
imported the word. For example, the plural of woman is women. The plural of ox
is oxen. Some words still form their plurals based on Latin rules. For example,
the plural of curriculum is curricula. By and large, the GMAT doesn’t use less
common words that form their plurals in unusual ways. For example, a GMAT
Sentence Correction is much more likely to use women as the subject than
curricula.
Nouns can also be classified in a variety of ways. For the purposes of the GMAT,
two of those ways are important. First, nouns can be concrete or abstract.
Examples of concrete nouns include desk, chair, bed, and television. In other words,
if you can touch it, it’s concrete. Examples of abstract nouns include truth, justice,
and knowledge. You can’t touch any of these items. Abstract nouns are considered
singular. For example, you could say “Justice always prevails.”
Nouns can also be countable or not countable. Examples of countable nouns in-
clude chickens, cars and trees. In each case, you can line the items up and count
them. Examples of nouns that are not countable include Jell-O, traffic, and foliage.
Each of the countable nouns on our list has a singular and a plural form. For ex-
ample, tree is singular and trees is plural. Nouns that are not countable are singu-
lar. For example, you could say “Jell-O is my favorite dessert.” Or, “The traffic in
Delhi is unreal.”
Nouns can be used in two main ways in sentences. Nouns can be subjects. The
subject of the sentence performs the action. For example, consider the sentence
“The cat ran quickly.” In this sentence cat is a noun that is used as the subject of
the sentence. Nouns can also be used as objects. When a noun is used as an object,
it receives the action. There are a variety of ways to use a noun as an object. For
now, we’ll look at the simplest way. For example, consider “The dog chased the
cat.” In this sentence cat is a noun used as an object.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
Verbs
Verbs are used to express an action, an event, or a state. Examples of verbs include
walk, run, ruminate, fulminate, and regurgitate. Don’t worry, the GMAT tends to
avoid the big vocabulary words in sentences. So, more examples of verbs include
think, condemn, and repeat. Some verbs, notably the verb to be, simply express a
state.
When used in sentences, there are several characteristics of verbs that can help you
to identify a word as a verb. First, verbs typically follow the subject of the sentence.
Let’s take another look at “The cat ran quickly.” Here, the verb is ran and it follows
the subject cat. The subject and the verb do not need to be next to each other. In
fact, the subject and the verb are often separated by many other words in a GMAT
Sentence Correction.
Verbs can also express tense. For example, we can change our sentence to “The cat
runs quickly.” Here, we’ve changed the tense and the meaning of the sentence. If
you are unsure whether a word is used as a verb in a sentence, see whether you can
change its tense. If so, the word is a verb. If you can’t change the tense, then the
word is not a verb. We’ll have more to say about verb tenses a little later.
Like nouns, verbs have several properties that you want to know about for the
GMAT. First, verbs can be singular or plural and, as such, must agree with the
subject of the sentence. It should be noted that singular and plural only refers
to some verb tenses. For the most part, the verbs in GMAT sentences tend to be
in one of the simple tenses—past, present, or (occasionally) future. Present tense
verbs have distinct forms for the singular and the plural. For example, you would
say “he walks” but “they walk.” On the other hand, past tense verbs do not have
distinct singular and plural forms. For example, you would say “she walked” and
“they walked.” Some other verb tenses, such as the present prefect, have distinct
singular and plural forms. We’ll describe the other verb tenses that you need to
know for the GMAT a little later.
It can also be important to know that there are two main classes of verbs. Most
verbs are what are referred to as lexical verbs. The name doesn’t matter as much
as knowing that most verbs fit into this class. Auxiliary verbs are special and a
much smaller class of verbs. The two most important auxiliary verbs, which are
sometimes also called helping verbs, are to be and to have. These auxiliary verbs
are used to form perfect and progressive tenses. Hence they are important indica-
tors of how a verb is used in a sentence and what meaning that usage of the verb is
meant to convey. For example, consider the sentence “I had already worked on the
project for years before the client canceled it.” In this sentence the auxiliary verb
had indicates the verb had worked and helps us to know that the work occurred
before the cancellation of the project. In some cases, the auxiliary verb also indi-
cated whether the verb is singular or plural. So, for example, has worked is singular
but have worked is plural.

Grammar: Chapter 1
Finally, there are several verb forms that you want to be on the lookout for in
GMAT sentences. Verbs have present and past participles. All present participles
end in -ing. Past participles of some verbs end in -ed but many verbs have irregular
past participles. For example, eaten is the past participle of eat. Participles have two
main jobs. First, participles combine with auxiliary verbs to form perfect and pro-
gressive tenses. For example, for the verb had worked, which is in the past perfect
tense, worked is a past participle. Participles can also be used to create modifying
phrases. For example, consider the sentence “Working nonstop for weeks on end,
John finally finished the project.” In this sentence, the phrase working nonstop for
weeks on end starts with the present participle working and modifies John. This lat-
ter use of participles is very important for the GMAT, so we will discuss this usage
in more detail when we discuss misplaced modifiers.
Verbs also have infinitive forms. The infinitive is most typically thought of as the
“to” form of the verb. For example, to make is an infinitive. You can also think
of the infinitive as the form of the verb that we look up in a dictionary. So, you
would look up make rather than made. There are a variety of ways that infini-
tives can be used in sentences—including ways that omit the word to before the
verb. For example, some verbs are somewhat naturally followed by infinitives. For
example, you might say “I arranged to meet him after work.” In this sentence, to
meet is an infinitive. The GMAT does not test when an infinitive should be used
but you will see infinitives used in both Sentence Correction items and in the
answer choices for those items.
Pronouns
Pronouns stand in for nouns in a sentence. In a sense, pronouns exist to avoid a
certain amount of redundancy in a sentence. For example, without pronouns you
would be forced to construct sentences such as “John asked that John be allowed
to take a vacation.” With pronouns, the sentence becomes “John asked that he be
allowed to take a vacation.” Note that the pronoun must refer to a noun, called the
antecedent or referent, in the sentence.
There are various types of pronouns. Types include personal, reflexive, possessive,
relative, and demonstrative. Don’t worry too much about all the different types
of pronouns. For the most part, the GMAT only tests errors that happen with
personal pronouns. So, while you’ll certainly see sentences that contain relative
pronouns such as that and which, the GMAT does not test the rules for the usage
of these pronouns.
By and large, the GMAT creates errors by using personal pronouns improperly.
Personal pronouns are the pronouns that can be used as either the subject or the
object of a sentence or clause. For example, in the sentence “He travels great dis-
tances,” he is a personal pronoun that acts as the subject of the sentence. Other
examples of personal pronouns include I, you, it, and they. We’ll provide a compre-
hensive list of personal pronouns when we discuss the pronoun rules that you need
to know for the GMAT.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
Personal pronouns have four properties: number, case, person, and gender. These
properties provide a convenient way to categorize personal pronouns. In the con-
text of preparing for the GMAT, these properties allow us to quickly focus on the
pronouns in a sentence that need to be checked for errors. In effect, the pronoun
rules tested on the GMAT apply to a small list of pronouns. We will describe the
properties and then we’ll list the pronouns that GMAC uses to create errors.
Number refers to singular or plural. Pronouns such as I and It are singular, while
pronouns such as we and they are plural. Note that you can be either singular
or plural depending on the sentence. Person refers to first, second, or third per-
son. First person pronouns, such as I and we, are used when you are the speaker.
Second person pronouns, such as you, are used to address someone. Third person
pronouns, such as she and they, are used to describe the actions of another person.
Gender only applies to third person singular pronouns. He and him are masculine
while she and her are feminine. Note that the third person singular pronoun it is
neutral and is used to refer to things which have no gender.
Case describes the role that a pronoun uses in a sentence. In some languages, dif-
ferent forms of nouns are used depending on the role that the noun plays in the
sentence. One form may be used for the subject, another for the object, and still
a third to show possession. English mostly lacks this feature but pronouns are an
exception. Pronouns such as he and she are used as subjects while pronouns such
as him and her are used as objects. For example, in the sentence “She assigned the
project to him,” she is used as the subject while him is the object.
We’ll cover some of these concepts in greater detail later when we discuss pronoun
rules that are tested by the GMAT. For now, we will simply point out that the vast
majority of GMAT pronoun errors involve the pronouns it, its, they, their, theirs,
and them.
Adjectives
Adjectives describe or modify nouns. For example, in the phrase “delicious meal,”
delicious is an adjective that describes the noun meal. Most adjectives have com-
parative and superlative forms. The comparative, which is typically formed by
adding -er to the base form, is used to compare two objects. For example, when
you say “faster car,” you are comparing the speeds of two, and only two, cars. The
superlative, which is typically formed by adding -est to the base form, is used to
compare more than three things. For example, when you say “fastest car,” you are
comparing the speed of more than two cars. So, all the forms of the adjective fast
are fast, faster, and fastest.
Some adjectives do not form their comparative and superlative forms by adding -er
and -est to the base from. In some cases, you need to add the words more or most to
the base form to make the comparative or superlative. For example, the compara-
tive form of debatable is more debatable. There are also some adjectives that form

Grammar: Chapter 1
1
their comparative and superlative forms in idiosyncratic ways. For example, the
comparative of good is better and the superlative is best.
Some adjectives do not have comparative or superlative forms. In most cases,

such adjectives describe situations or states that cannot be graded on any sort of
scale. For example, there are no degrees, grades, or shades for the adjective unique.
Something is either unique or it’s not. It makes no sense to describe one item as
more unique than another.
While adjectives can certainly be abundant in the underlined portion of a GMAT

sentence, they are only very rarely the source of error in a Sentence Correction.
In fact, when looking for an error, it can be helpful to ignore any underlined
adjectives.
Adverbs
Adverbs are most commonly used to describe or modify verbs. In that sense,
adverbs make a nice pairing with adjectives. Adverbs modify verbs while adjectives
modify nouns. Of course, the situation is actually a bit more complex than that
because adverbs can also be used to modify adjectives and other adverbs. Consider
these examples.
Oliver edited the documents quickly.
Curtis is an extraordinarily able project manager.
Marty completed his task extremely proficiently.
In this first of these examples, quickly is an adverb that modifies the verb edited.
In this sentence, quickly tells us how Oliver edited the documents. In the second
sentence, extraordinarily is an adverb that modifies the adjective able which is used
to modify the noun project manager. In the third example, extremely is an adverb
that modifies the adverb proficiently which modifies the verb completed.
Note that most adverbs are used to describe things such as time, manner, degree,
and frequency of an event. In most cases, the easiest way to determine whether a
word in a sentence is an adverb is to ask how. In the first sample sentence above,
you can ask how Oliver edited the documents and get back the answer quickly.
Most adverbs also end in -ly but, as with most grammar rules, there are excep-
tions. For example, very can be used as an adverb.
As is the case with adjectives, the GMAT doesn’t really test the grammatical rules
for using adverbs properly. So, if you see adverbs in the underlined portion of the
sentence, try looking for other errors before you consider the adverb.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
Prepositions
Prepositions are the small words in a sentence that help to establish relationships.
For example, prepositions can be used to establish time relationships. Consider
this sentence: “I go to the gym before work.” In this sentence, before is a prepo-
sition that helps to establish a time relationship between going to the gym and
going to work. Prepositions can be used to establish other types of relationships as
well. For example, prepositions such as on, over, under, and through can be used
to establish spatial relationships. Including uncommon prepositions such as abaft,
there are over one hundred prepositions. Fortunately, the GMAT doesn’t use the
uncommon prepositions when constructing Sentence Correction items.
Prepositions are typically followed by nouns and perhaps some words to modify
that noun. The noun that follows a preposition is the object of that preposition.
It can sometimes be important to remember that nouns can only play one role
in a sentence. For example, a noun that follows a preposition is the object of that
preposition, so that noun cannot also be the subject of the sentence.
Taken together, the preposition and the noun that serves as the object of that prep-
osition are called a prepositional phrase. Prepositional phrases can include words
beyond the preposition and its object. Take a look at this sample sentence: “The
cat ran across the red rug.” In this sentence, across the red rug is a prepositional
phrase. Note that across is the preposition, rug is a noun that serves as the object of
the preposition and red is an adjective modifying rug. It’s possible for prepositional
phrases to become rather lengthy. The GMAT mostly uses prepositional phrases
to distract your attention from other errors in the sentence. So, it’s often a good
idea to try reading a sentence without the prepositional phrases when looking for
errors.
It’s often considered a grammar faux pas to end a sentence in a preposition. Of

course, people do commit this terrible error all the time in everyday speech. It’s
often possible to reword a sentence to avoid ending it with a preposition. For ex-
ample, consider the sentence “The consultant displayed the expertise he is known
for.” This sentence can be reworded as “The consultant displayed the expertise for
which he is known.” The customary way to avoid ending a sentence with a preposi-
tion is to use the preposition that would end the sentence and follow it with the
word which. The GMAT generally observes the convention that it is improper to
end a sentence with a preposition. That means that the construction preposition
followed by the word which is generally correct. That can actually help you to spot
some correct answer choices.
Most grammarians will tell you that it is acceptable to end a sentence with a prep-
osition, by the way. In fact, there’s no way to avoid doing so in some situations.
There’s a special type of verb called a phrasal verb that consists of a verb plus a
preposition. For example, break down is a phrasal verb. So, a sentence such as the
“The car broke down,” is correct even though it ends with a preposition. In gen-
eral, however, the GMAT avoids ending sentences with prepositions even in the
case of phrasal verbs. In part, that’s because GMAT sentences typically avoid the

Grammar: Chapter 1
1
use of phrasal verbs. If you’re getting the impression that the GMAT writers go
out of their way to avoid the debate over whether it’s acceptable to end a sentence
with a preposition, you’ve gotten the right idea.
Prepositions can also be important in the construction of idioms. Idioms are com-
binations of words that must go together for no better reason than that’s the prop-
er idiom. Many, but not all, idioms involve verbs that must be followed by specific
prepositions. For example, it’s proper to prohibit (somebody) from (doing) some-
thing but it’s improper to prohibt (somebody) to (do) something.
Conjunctions
The last major part of speech that we need to discuss is the conjunction. Con-
junctions provide links in sentences. There are two main types of conjunctions.
Coordinating conjunctions provide links between items of similar grammatical
status. These items of similar status can be anything from words to clauses. Here
are some examples:
Dogs and cats are common types of pets.
The army marched over the mountains and through the forests.
Entering into an agreement and signing a contract, the two

companies finalized their merger after many months of negotiations.
In the first of these sentences, the conjunction and is used to link two words, dogs
and cats, together. In this case, words are the items of similar grammatical sta-
tus. In the second sentence, the conjunction and is used to join two prepositional
phrases, over the mountains and through the forests. In this sentence, the preposi-
tional phrases are the items of similar grammatical status. In the last sentence, the
conjunction is again the word and. In this case, two participle phrases, entering
into an agreement and signing a contract, are joined.
There are only seven single-word coordinating conjunctions in the English lan-
guage: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. You may have heard the mnemonic FAN-
BOYS used to remember these conjunctions. Because coordinating conjunctions
are used to connect similar grammatical constructions (words, phrases, clauses,
etc.), these conjunctions are an important marker for parallelism in sentences. Par-
allelism is the requirement that list items in a sentence be in the same grammatical
structure. Of course, those list items need to be in the same grammatical structure
because they are joined by a coordinating conjunction. We’ll have more to say
about parallelism a little later because it’s a frequent source of error on the GMAT.
There are some conjunctions that consist of pairs of words or even pairs of pairs of
words. These conjunctions are called correlative conjunctions and can be thought
of as another type of coordinating conjunction. The most common correlative
conjunctions are either…or, neither…nor, both…and, and not only…but also.
For the purposes of GMAT Sentence Correction items, you can think of these

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
1
pairings as both conjunctions and as idioms. As conjunctions, these pairings re-
quire parallel construction. In answer choices, however, an error is sometimes cre-
ated by using one part of the pairing without the other. For example, an answer
choice may use not only but follow that with and also. Whether you want to think
of this error as an idiom error or a conjunction error doesn’t really matter. One
way or the other, you can eliminate the answer choice.
The GMAT does have some favorite coordinating conjunctions with which it
creates parallelism errors. The most common conjunctions used to create such
errors are and, but, and not only…but also. That’s not to say that the GMAT never
uses the other coordinating conjunctions to create parallelism errors, but it’s help-
ful to know the most commonly used conjunctions when looking for errors.
You may have also heard of subordinating conjunctions. Subordinating conjunc-

tions are used to join a dependent clause to an independent clause. Common
subordinating conjunctions include although, because, and while. You’ll see sub-
ordinating conjunctions used in GMAT Sentence Correction questions, but, in
general, the GMAT does not test the proper usage of these conjunctions.
PHRASES, CLAUSES, AND SENTENCES

The parts of speech apply to words. Words, of course, are used as the building
blocks for
Phrases
A phrase is a group of words that acts as a part of speech, specifically as either a
modifying phrase or a noun phrase. Some phrases have verbs but you don’t know
who performs the action specified by that verb. Other phrases, such as the preposi-
tional phrases discussed above, do not include a verb.
Adjectival and Adverbial Phrases

Modifying phrases take on the role of adjective or adverb. Consider this sentence:
Taking in every word, the girl actually believed his story. The girl is what? Taking in
every word. Girl is a noun and Taking in every word is thus acting as an adjective for
that noun.
How about this one? Michael bought a new suit with his credit card. How did
Michael buy the suit? With his credit card. Since the phrase describes how Michael
did something, it’s acting as an adverb.

Grammar: Chapter 1
Noun phrases can be the subject or object of a sentence, as illustrated by these

examples:
Preparing for the GMAT requires hard work.
What requires hard work? Preparing for the GMAT.
In this case, the phrase, Preparing for the GMAT, is the subject of the
sentence.
Allen wanted to leave.
What did Allen want? To leave.
So the infinitive phrase, to leave, is the object of the sentence.
Prepositional Phrases
Keep an eye out for prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases also act as parts
of speech do by modifying nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. Prepositional phrases
often show up on the GMAT in ways that might make it hard to determine the
subject of the sentence.
Consider this example: A large group of tourists with cameras is difficult to pass on
the pier. The subject of this sentence is group, which is singular, so the verb also
needs to be singular. The prepositional phrases are of tourists and with cameras. The
subject of a sentence is NEVER in a prepositional phrase.
Clauses
A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb. Clauses can also act as
subjects, objects, or modifiers.
An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence. Conjunctions

such as and, but, and or often link two independent clauses to create one sentence:
I went to the movies, and she went to the library.
Notice that each of the clauses expresses a complete thought and could stand alone
as a complete sentence.
A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. A dependent clause

does not express a complete thought, even though it has a subject and a verb. A de-
pendent clause functions as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.
While waiting for the train to arrive, I had a hot dog.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
In this sentence, while waiting for the train to arrive is a dependent clause. Note
that this clause is introduced by one of the subordinating conjunctions that we
discussed earlier. In this case, the clause cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.
Noun Clause
A noun clause usually comes after the verb, unless it’s the subject of the sentence.
Noun clauses can also be the object of the verb or of a preposition. Noun claus-
es are typically introduced by that, what, which, whom, where, when, whoever, or
whatever.
He decided that he would ask his friend to join him in Vegas.
What did he decide? That he would ask his friend to join him in Vegas. So, this
whole phrase acts as the object of the verb decide.
Adjectival Clause
An adjectival clause MUST come right after the noun it modifies. These clauses
typically begin with one of the relative pronouns who, whom, whose, which, or that.
Consider this example:
She is the woman who was wearing the leopard-skin coat.
The woman was what? Wearing the leopard skin coat. As you can see, this clause
modifies the woman. The clause provides us with additional information about
the woman in the same way that using an adjective such as tall to say the tall
woman does.
Adverbial Clause
An adverbial clause needs to cuddle up right next to the independent clause it’s
modifying. Adverbial clauses, like all adverbs, answer questions such as: How?
When?, Where? and Why? So, look for words such as when, before, after, until, since,
while, where, as, as if, because, although, if, unless, so, and so that to introduce an
adverbial clause.
He hid the box so that she wouldn’t know he had bought her a gift.
Why did he hide the box? So that she wouldn’t know he had bought
her a gift.
Because this phrase answers the question why, it acts as an

adverbial clause in the sentence.

Grammar: Chapter 1
Understanding phrases and clauses and how they work as parts of speech will
help you to analyze GMAT sentences that may seem contorted or complex. Ask
yourself what role each phrase or clause plays in the sentence and you’ll most likely
know whether it’s correctly placed in the sentence. You may even discover that the
phrase or clause shouldn’t even be in the sentence.
Sentences
Now that we have discussed parts of speech, phrases, and clauses, it’s time to
discuss how these combine into sentences.
Let’s look at a complex sentence:

Because he wants to improve his GMAT score, Julian very dutifully
reads the extremely important pre-class assignments in this manual.
This sentence consists of two clauses:
Dependent Clause: Because he wants to improve his GMAT score
Independent Clause: Julian very dutifully reads the extremely important pre-class
assignments in this manual.
Note that the independent clause can stand on its own while the dependent clause
cannot. A subordinating conjunction, because, is used to introduce the dependent
clause. This conjunction serves as a way to identify the dependent clause. The con-
junction also serves a way to link the two clauses.
Next, let’s take a look at the parts of the dependent clause. We already know it
contains the conjunction because. Because it tells us why Julian reads his manual
carefully, this clause is an adverbial clause.
Here are the other parts of the dependent clause:
The subject is the pronoun he, which refers to the noun Julian. Note that it’s okay
for the pronoun in the dependent clause to refer to a noun in the independent
clause.
The verb of the dependent clause is wants.
The object of the dependent clause is the infinitive phrase to improve his GMAT
score. This phrase consists of the infinitive to improve as well as the object of the
phrase, score. His and GMAT are adjectives that modify the noun score.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
Now, let’s break down the independent clause. Here are its parts:
The subject of the independent clause is Julian, a noun.
The verb is reads. So, the core of the sentence is Julian reads.
The object is assignments, a noun.
Next there are some adjectives and adverbs in the independent clause:
Dutifully is an adverb that modifies the verb reads. Very is an adverb that modifies
the adverb dutifully. Extremely is an adverb that modifies the adjective important.
Important and pre-class are adjectives that modify the noun assignments.
Finally, there’s a prepositional phrase that consists of several parts:
In this manual is a prepositional phrase modifying assignments. The prepositional

phrase consists of the preposition in, the object of that preposition manual, and
an adjective describing that noun, this.
As you get better at identifying parts of speech and recognizing the roles
phrases and clauses play in sentences, you’ll find that you are better able to recognize
errors in Sentence Correction questions.

Grammar: Chapter 1
Quick Quiz: Subjects and Verbs

In the following sentences, italicize the main subjects and underline the verbs.
1. What you see is what you get.
2. The unexamined life is not worth living.
3. Commuting by bicycle helps people enjoy the benefits of fresh air

and exercise.
4. His courage as a pilot of a U-2 spy plane earned Gary Powers a

posthumous citation.
5. Made from a single log, a dugout canoe draws very little water.
6. Felicia and Tim went to the same high school.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS
Quick Quiz: Subjects and Verbs

In the following sentences, the main subjects are italicized
and the verbs are underlined.
1. What you see is what you get.
2. The unexamined life is not worth living.
3. Commuting by bicycle helps people enjoy the

benefits of fresh air and exercise.
4. His courage as a pilot of a U-2 spy plane earned

Gary Powers a posthumous citation.
5. Made from a single log, a dugout canoe draws

very little water.
6. Felicia and Tim went to the same high school.

Grammar: Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Common Sentence
Correction Errors
In this chapter, we discuss the most commonly tested grammar rules on the
GMAT.
SUBJECT–VERB AGREEMENT
Subject–verb agreement is one grammar concept tested on the GMAT. The basic
rule for subject–verb agreement is straightforward.
Singular subjects take singular verbs, and

plural subjects take plural verbs.
Don’t Be Fooled
Deciding whether a subject is singular or plural can sometimes be challenging.
02 GMAT Grammar 2 .indd 19 4/18/2012 10:48:47 AM

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
2
Abstract Nouns
Some nouns describe a quality, idea, or state of being. These abstract nouns, such
as sadness, truth, laughter, poverty, and knowledge, represent a single thing.
Justice always prevails.
Wealth is nice, but happiness is better.
Collective Nouns
Collective nouns name a group of things, animals, or people. The group has indi-
vidual members, but it’s a single entity.
The committee votes on the budget this week.
The school of fish swims around the reef.
The family that just moved in next door is nice.
Verb Forms as Nouns
The -ing form of a verb (also known as the present participle) can be used as a
noun, and in such cases it is called a gerund. When the to form of a verb acts like
a noun, we call it an infinitive noun.
Walking is great exercise.
To err is human; to forgive is divine.
Nouns That End in -s
Most of the time, a noun that ends in -s is plural, but some singular nouns end
in -s. If you’re unsure whether a noun is singular or plural, ask yourself whether it
represents one thing or several things. (Hint: Country names are always singular.)
That species has a number of interesting habits.
Economics is one of my favorite subjects.
The Netherlands is a country in Europe.
Singular Pronouns
Some singular pronouns, such as everybody or no one, are easy to mistake for plural
pronouns. Even though we often treat these as plural words in everyday speech,
the GMAT writers use more formal rules and define them as singular.
Each of the witnesses was questioned by the police.
Everyone in the senior class is sick with the flu.
Either of the restaurants is fine with me.


Grammar: Chapter 2
2
In the first example, the subject is Each, not witnesses. Witnesses is the object of the
preposition. Similarly, Either is the subject of the third example, not restaurants.
When the subject of a sentence is a pronoun followed by a prepositional phrase,
the pronoun is the main subject. Make sure the pronoun, not the object of the
preposition, agrees with the verb. Either and neither are singular when they serve
as the subject of a sentence.
These pronouns are singular and take singular verbs:
no one nobody nothing
someone somebody something
everyone everybody everything
anyone anybody anything
none each
Compound Subjects
When a subject includes more than one noun, we call it a compound subject.
My best friend and her sister are very similar in personality.
When and joins two subjects, you must use a plural verb. However, compound
subjects joined by or, either…or, and neither…nor follow a different rule. In these
cases, the verb agrees with the noun closest to it.
Neither the bride nor the groom was able to remember the names of
all the guests.
Neither Joe nor his cousins were happy on the first day of school.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
2
Quick Quiz: Subject–Verb Agreement
Circle the appropriate verb in the parentheses below.
1. Gloria and Calvin (are, is) no longer friends.
2. The number of times I have told you I do not want to go to the

concert with you (amaze, amazes) me.
3. Samantha, in addition to Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda, (is, are)

going to the beach on Saturday.
4. Neither Mark nor his neighbors (is, are) able to open the doors to the
patio.
5. Next month, Jack and Chrissy, along with Janet, (is, are) moving to
the larger apartment upstairs.
6. Tom’s family (is, are) considering whether there (are, is) any
affordable places to go on vacation in Europe.
7. Each of the boys (is, are) overwhelmed by the amount of work to be

done.
8. Every one of the golf balls (has, have) been hit into the sand trap.
9. This sandwich is the only one of all the sandwiches made at the deli
that (is, are) inedible.
10. Skiing is an example of a sport that (is, are) best learned as a child.
Pronouns
Pronouns are words used in place of nouns, and they are usually used to avoid
repetition. In the previous sentence, the word they replaces the word pronouns.
Some pronouns function as subjects, while others function as objects. Another set
of pronouns indicates possession.

Grammar: Chapter 2
2
Subject Object Possessive
Pronouns Pronouns Pronouns
I me my
you you your
he/she/it him/her/it his/hers/its
we us our
they them their
who whom whose
Pronoun Agreement
Read the following paragraph and underline all the pronouns:
This weekend, Matt is throwing a party to celebrate his birthday. He
has invited many friends and family. Matt’s sister, Teresa, is bringing
the cake. She has promised him that it will be chocolate.
Each pronoun agrees with the noun it replaces. He, his, and him all refer to Matt.
She refers to Teresa. It replaces cake. Just as subjects and verbs must agree, pro-
nouns must agree in number with the nouns they replace. The noun a pronoun
replaces is called the antecedent.
Use a singular pronoun to replace a singular noun,

and use a plural pronoun to replace a plural noun.
The same types of nouns that make subject–verb agreement tricky can cause prob-
lems for pronoun agreement. Look at the following examples:
Everyone should do their homework.
The golden retriever is one of the smartest breeds of dogs, but they
cannot do your GMAT homework for you.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
2
In both examples, the use of their or they is incorrect. Since everyone is singu-
lar, it must be paired with a singular pronoun, such as his or her. Either his or
her would be considered correct in this case since we have no information about
gender. In the second example, they refers to the golden retriever. Since the antecedent
retriever is singular, the pronoun it should be used in the second clause.
Pronoun Ambiguity
In addition to agreeing with the noun it replaces, a pronoun must clearly refer to
only one noun. If the pronoun could conceivably refer to more than one noun, you
face the problem of pronoun ambiguity.
Pronouns must unambiguously refer to a single noun.
Look at the following example:

Lisa Marie was supposed to meet Jen at the museum at eleven, but
she was late.
It is unclear to whom she refers, Lisa Marie or Jen. The sentence should be rewrit-
ten to clear up the confusion. If Jen were the one who arrived late, the corrected
sentence would read:
Lisa Marie was supposed to meet Jen at the museum at eleven, but
Jen was late.

Grammar: Chapter 2
2
Quick Quiz: Pronoun Agreement
Correct the pronoun agreement in the following sentences. Not all sentences have
an error.
1. Each of the chefs makes their own special dish.
2. I still keep my diary and scrapbooks from childhood because they

remind me of my youth.
3. A student must see their advisor before turning in his thesis.
4. The person who stole my bicycle is a thief.
5. One should always look where he is going when you cross the
street.
6. In 1980, the Netherlands agreed to limit fishing in certain Atlantic

Ocean beds, but in 1981, they terminated the agreement.
7. The flock of seagulls flew overhead before it swooped down and

settled on the water.
Verb Tenses
Verb tense places an action in time, and the basic tenses are past, present, and
future. The examples below illustrate the tenses you’ll encounter in GMAT
sentences.
Present I study, I am studying, I have studied
Past I studied, I had studied, I was studying
Future I will study, I will be studying, I will have

studied
The variations within the basic categories of past, present, and future allow us to
express ideas more precisely. If a tense uses a helper verb, such as a form of to be or
to have, use the helper verb to determine the tense. For example, I was walking is in
the past tense because was denotes the past. I am walking is in the present because
am denotes the present. Let’s look at the variations in more detail. Knowing the
names of the tenses isn’t necessary, but you need to be able to classify them as past,
present, or future.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
2
Present
The simple present expresses a habitual action, a fact, or something that is hap-
pening now.
Beth runs three miles every morning.
Both baseball games are on television right now.
When you want to describe something that’s in progress right now, use the pres-
ent progressive tense. (It’s sometimes called the present continuous tense.) Pres-
ent progressive uses a form of “to be” followed by the -ing form of the verb (also
known as the present participle).
The kids on the playground are laughing loudly.
The present perfect tense describes an action that started at an indefinite time in
the past and either continues into the present or has just been completed. This
tense uses the helping verb has or have followed by the past participle.
Astrid has read a book a week since she was twelve.
I have never been to Spain.
Past
The simple past indicates a completed action or condition.
I wrote my final paper over the weekend.
Use past progressive to describe an action that was ongoing in the past.
We were sleeping when the fire alarm went off.
Use the past perfect when you want to make it clear that one action in the past
happened before another. This tense requires the helping verb had.
Before she began college last fall, she had never been more than
twenty miles from home.
In the example above, the past perfect action was cut off by an intervening event
in the more recent past. The past perfect cannot stand alone as the only verb in a
sentence.

Grammar: Chapter 2
2
Future
Simple future, as you would expect, describes an action that will take place in the
future. This tense requires the use of the helper verb will.
I will clean my room tomorrow.
Use future progressive to describe an ongoing action that takes place in the fu-
ture. The tense is formed by using the future form of the helping verb to be plus
the -ing form of a verb.
I will be cleaning my room when you arrive.
Use future perfect to indicate an action that will be completed by a specified time
in the future.
We will not have finished dinner by the time you arrive.
Quick Quiz: Verb Tense

Choose the correct verb tense in the parentheses for each sentence below.
1. Yesterday afternoon, clouds rolled in, the sky grew ominous, and
thunder (was, is) heard in the distance.
2. Before the union leadership even began salary negotiations, it (had

made, made) up its mind to stand firm in its position.
3. The Boy Scouts (love, loved) their new clubhouse, which they built
last summer.
4. My new co-workers (had been, were) very friendly to me until they

learned my salary was considerably higher than theirs.
5. Roberts already (finished, had finished) the experiments by the time

Fuller made the discovery in his own laboratory.
6. Since 1980, several economies in developed nations (are

experiencing, have experienced) declines and recoveries.
7. The belief in vampires (was first recorded, had first been recorded)
in the early fifteenth century.
8. By the time Spanish explorers first encountered them, the Aztecs

(have developed, had developed) the calendar.
9. Unlike the brown sparrow, the passenger pigeon (was slaughtered

indiscriminately, had been slaughtered indiscriminately) and became
extinct in 1914.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
2 MODIFIERS, PARALLEL CONSTRUCTION, AND IDIOMS

This lesson reviews important concepts related to idioms, modifiers, and parallel
construction.
Modifiers
As you learned in the last lesson, modifiers are words that describe, or modify,
other words in a sentence. Adjectives modify nouns; adverbs modify verbs, adjec-
tives, and other adverbs. Single words or entire phrases can be modifiers.
Quick Quiz: Modifiers

Underline the modifying words and phrases in the sentences below, and draw
arrows to what they modify.
1. Walking down the avenue, I was caught in a torrential downpour.
2. Left in the refrigerator for several weeks, the meat was now spoiled.
3. Michael Jordan, who is now 40 years old, is still considered one of

the best players in professional basketball.
Misplaced Modifiers
In the movie Animal Crackers, Groucho Marx says, “I once shot an elephant in
my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I’ll never know.” The humor comes
from a grammatical error (and you thought grammar was no fun). Though in
my pajamas is meant to describe I, it seems to describe the elephant. A misplaced
modifier is created when a modifier is not adjacent to the thing it’s intended to
modify.
Misplaced modifiers on the GMAT most often appear in sentences that begin
with an introductory phrase. Consider the following example:
Excommunicated by the Roman Church in 1521, the Protestant Refor-
mation was led by Martin Luther.
The sentence begins with the modifying phrase Excommunicated by the Roman
Church in 1521. Since the noun that immediately follows the phrase is the Protes-
tant Reformation, the sentence implies that the Reformation was excommunicated.
To correct the misplaced modifier, we need to rewrite the sentence:
Excommunicated by the Roman Church in 1521, Martin Luther led
the Protestant Reformation.

Grammar: Chapter 2
2
Now the sentence tells us that Martin Luther was excommunicated, and the mis-
placed modifier has been corrected.
Quick Quiz: Misplaced Modifiers

Decide whether the modifying phrase in each of the sentences below is placed
correctly or if it is misplaced.
1. Arranged in secret, the discovery of Romeo and Juliet’s marriage

was made only after their deaths. (no error, misplaced modifier)
2. Discovered by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, polonium and radium

were first isolated in 1898. (no error, misplaced modifier)
3. Invented by James Hargreaves in 1765, the spinning jenny was

capable of spinning eight to eleven threads at one time. (no error,
misplaced modifier)
4. I overheard him say that he had cheated on the exam while I was
standing in the hallway. (no error, misplaced modifier)
5. Once a very powerful nation, France’s status has declined in recent

years. (no error, misplaced modifier)
Quantity Words
Quantity words that describe nouns raise another modifier issue. Some nouns re-
fer to concrete things, such as children, tables, or dollars, and are countable. Other
nouns refer to abstract ideas or amorphous things, such as air, beauty, or money,
and are non-countable. Different quantity words apply to countable and non-
countable nouns.
Countable Not Countable

fewer less
number amount or quantity
many much
Here are some examples of the proper uses of these quantity words:
If there were fewer cars on the road, there would be less traffic.
The number of cars on the road contributes to the amount of traffic.
There’s too much traffic on this road because there are too many
cars.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
2
Another issue involves comparisons. There are two separate situations: comparing
two things and comparing three or more things. Memorize these rules:
Two Things Three or More Things

-er -est
more most
between among
Examples:
Between you and me, I am taller.
Among the four of us, I am the tallest.
Quick Quiz: Quantity Words

Circle the correct form of the quantity word in the sentences below.
1. The (better, best) you prepare for the GMAT, the (higher, highest)
your score will be.
2. (Many, much) of the population lives in poverty.
3. (Many, much) of the people live in poverty.
4. Since I withdrew money from my bank account, the (number,

amount) of dollars in the account is now (fewer, less).
5. Since I withdrew money from my bank account, the (number,

amount) of money in the account is now (fewer, less).
6. Some people consider the Yankees the (greatest, greater) baseball

team ever.

Grammar: Chapter 2
2
Parallel Construction
When a sentence includes a list or comparison, each word or phrase in the list or
comparison must have the same grammatical structure. The following examples
illustrate parallel construction:
A melody is a succession of single tones that vary in pitch, harmony,
and rhythm.
By the time he was thirteen, Mozart had not only composed sonatas,
but he had also performed before royalty.
Walking briskly can be as aerobically beneficial as jogging.
Her novel was praised as an exciting story, a social critique, and a

philosophical inquiry.
Quick Quiz: Parallelism

Choose the word that creates parallel construction.
1. On Saturday, David had to work on a project, write an e-mail to his

mother, and (play, to play) in a softball game.
2. Three of the events in a decathlon are the 100-meter dash, (pole

vaulting, pole vault), and long jump.
3. Listening to a recording of your favorite band is not quite the same

as (to listen, listening) to that band at a live concert.
4. The mainland was visited by explorers much later than (the outlying
islands, were the outlying islands).

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
2
SUMMARY
Subjects and Verbs
• Singular subjects take singular verbs, and plural subjects take plural verbs.
• Abstract nouns, collective nouns, and verb forms acting as nouns are
singular.
• Pronouns that end in -body, -one, or -thing are singular.
• The number is singular. A number is plural.
Pronouns
• Pronouns must agree in number with the nouns they replace.
• Pronouns must unambiguously refer to only one noun.
• Who is a subject pronoun. Whom is an object pronoun.
Tense
• The basic tenses are past, present, and future.
• Sentences should stay in one tense unless the action takes place at two
different times.
Modifiers
• Modifiers describe, or modify, other words in a sentence. Adjectives

modify nouns. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
• Modifiers must go next to what they modify; otherwise, the modifier has
been misplaced.
• To choose the correct quantity word, decide whether the item is count-
able (such as pencils, coins, or stock options) or not countable (such as
Jell-O, love, or soup).
• Use fewer, number, and many to describe countable nouns. Use less,
amount, quantity, and much to describe non-countable nouns.
• Use between and -er adjectives to compare two things, and among and
-est adjectives to compare three or more things.
Parallel Construction
• Parallel construction is required for lists and comparisons. Each item in

the list or comparison must have the same grammatical construction.

Grammar: Chapter 2
ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS 3. A student must see their his advisor before turn-
ing in his thesis. The student must be male,
because it is his thesis, therefore it must also be
his advisor.
Quick Quiz: Subject–Verb Agreement
4. The person who stole my bicycle is a thief. No er-
The subjects are in italicized text, and the verbs are ror. Who is the subject of the clause who stole my
underlined. bicycle and is used correctly.
1. Gloria and Calvin are no longer friends. 5. One should always look where he one is going
when you one crosses the street. Be consistent.
2. The number of times I have told you I do not
want to go to the concert with you amazes me. 6. In 1980, the Netherlands agreed to limit fishing
in certain Atlantic Ocean beds, but in 1981, they
3. Samantha, in addition to Carrie, Charlotte, and it terminated the agreement. The Netherlands is
Miranda, is going to the beach on Saturday. a single country.
4. Neither Mark nor his neighbors are able to open 7. The flock of seagulls flew overhead before it
the doors to the patio. swooped down and settled on the water. No er-
ror. It agrees with the noun flock.
5. Next month, Jack and Chrissy, along with Janet,
are moving to the larger apartment upstairs.
6. Tom’s family is considering whether there are any Quick Quiz: Verb Tense
affordable places to go on vacation in Europe. The correct verb is underlined.
7. Each of the boys is overwhelmed by the amount 1. Yesterday afternoon clouds rolled in, the sky
of work to be done. grew ominous, and thunder was heard in the
distance. There is no reason to switch verb tense,
8. Every one of the golf balls has been hit into the and all the other verbs (rolled, grew) are in the
sand trap. past tense.
9. This sandwich is the only one of all the sandwich- 2. Before the union leadership even began salary
es made at the deli that is inedible. negotiations, it had made up its mind to stand
firm in its position. Past perfect is the correct
10. Skiing is an example of a sport that is best learned tense here because, while both actions occurred
as a child. in the past, one action (had made) occurred
before the other.
3. The Boy Scouts love their new clubhouse, which
Quick Quiz: Pronoun Agreement they built themselves last summer. Presumably
they still love their clubhouse, so it’s okay to
If a correction was needed, the original pronoun has been switch from the past tense to the present tense.
crossed out and replaced with the correct pronoun.
4. My new co-workers had been friendly to me
1. Each of the chefs makes their his own special until they learned my salary was considerably
dish. The pronoun here refers back to the noun higher than theirs. Past perfect is the best tense
each. You could also use her. here because both events happened in the past,
but one happened before the other.
2. I still keep my diary and scrapbooks from child-
hood because they remind me of my youth. No
error. They replaces both diary and scrapbooks.

GMAT VERBAL REVIEW
5. Roberts already had finished the experiments by Quick Quiz: Misplaced Modifiers
the time Fuller made the discovery in his own
laboratory. Past perfect is the best tense here 1. Arranged in secret, the discovery of Romeo and Ju-
because both events happened in the past, but liet’s marriage was made only after their deaths.
one happened before the other. Misplaced modifier. The phrase arranged in
secret modifies discovery, but it was really the
6. Since 1980, several economies in developed marriage that was arranged secretly. The cor-
nations have experienced declines and recover- rected sentence: Arranged in secret, Romeo and
ies. Present perfect is the best tense because the Juliet’s marriage was discovered only after their
declines began in the past and continue into the deaths.
present.
7. The belief in vampires was first recorded in the 2. Discovered by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie,
early fifteenth century. The simple past is best polonium and radium were first isolated in 1898.
here because the sentence describes an action in No error. The phrase Discovered by Marie Curie
the past that has been completed. and Pierre Curie correctly modifies polonium and
radium.
8. By the time Spanish explorers first encountered
them, the Aztecs had developed the calendar. 3. Invented by James Hargreaves in 1765, the spin-
Past perfect is the best tense here because both ning jenny was capable of spinning eight to
events happened in the past, but one happened eleven threads at one time. No error. The phrase
before the other. Invented by James Hargreaves in 1765 correctly
modifies the spinning jenny.
9. Unlike the brown sparrow, the passenger pigeon
was slaughtered indiscriminately and became 4. I overheard him say that he had cheated on the
extinct in 1914. The simple past is best here exam while I was standing in the hallway. Mis-
because the sentence describes an action in the placed modifier. Because the clause while I
past that has been completed. was standing in the hallway is at the end of the
sentence, it seems to describe when the cheat-
ing occurred, not when the conversation was
overheard. The corrected sentence: While I was
Quick Quiz: Modifiers standing in the hallway, I overheard him say that
he had cheated on the exam.
1. Walking down the avenue, I was caught in a
torrential downpour. Walking down the avenue 5. Once a very powerful nation, France’s status has
modifies I. Torrential modifies downpour. declined in recent years. Misplaced modifier.
The phrase Once a very powerful nation modifies
2. Left in the refrigerator for several weeks, the meat status, but it should modify France. The corrected
was now spoiled. Left in the refrigerator for several sentence: Once a very powerful nation, France
weeks modifies meat. Spoiled also modifies meat. has declined in status in recent years.
3. Michael Jordan, who is now 40 years old, is still
considered one of the best players in professional
basketball. Who is now 40 years old modifies
Michael Jordan. Still modifies considered. Best
modifies players. Professional modifies basketball.

Grammar: Chapter 2
Quick Quiz: Quantity Words Quick Quiz: Parallelism

1. The better you prepare for the GMAT, the higher 1. On Saturday, David had to work on a project,
your score will be. write an e-mail to his mother, and play in a soft-
ball game.
2. Much of the population lives in poverty.
2. Three of the events in a decathlon are the
3. Many of the people live in poverty. 100-meter dash, pole vault, and long jump.
4. Since I withdrew money from my bank account, 3. Listening to a recording of your favorite band is
the number of dollars in the account is now not quite the same as listening to that band at a
fewer. live concert.
5. Since I withdrew money from my bank account, 4. The mainland was visited by explorers much later
the amount of money in the account is now less. than were the outlying islands.
6. Some people consider the Yankees the greatest

baseball team ever.

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Grammar

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Economics is one of my favorite subjects.

The Netherlands is a country in Europe.

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Some adjectives do not have comparative or superlative forms. In most cases,

While adjectives can certainly be abundant in the underlined portion of a GMAT

Curtis is an extraordinarily able project manager.

Marty completed his task extremely proficiently.

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It’s often considered a grammar faux pas to end a sentence in a preposition. Of

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Entering into an agreement and signing a contract, the two

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You may have also heard of subordinating conjunctions. Subordinating conjunc-

PHRASES, CLAUSES, AND SENTENCES

Adjectival and Adverbial Phrases

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Noun phrases can be the subject or object of a sentence, as illustrated by these

What requires hard work? Preparing for the GMAT.

Allen wanted to leave.

What did Allen want? To leave.

So the infinitive phrase, to leave, is the object of the sentence.

An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence. Conjunctions

A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. A dependent clause

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He decided that he would ask his friend to join him in Vegas.

She is the woman who was wearing the leopard-skin coat.

Because this phrase answers the question why, it acts as an

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Let’s look at a complex sentence:

This sentence consists of two clauses:

Dependent Clause: Because he wants to improve his GMAT score

Here are the other parts of the dependent clause:

The verb of the dependent clause is wants.

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The subject of the independent clause is Julian, a noun.

The object is assignments, a noun.

Finally, there’s a prepositional phrase that consists of several parts:

In this manual is a prepositional phrase modifying assignments. The prepositional

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Quick Quiz: Subjects and Verbs

1. What you see is what you get.

Future I will study, I will be studying, I will have