Acting out: Verbs

Every sentence has a verb, which means that a sentence isn’t complete without one. You should be familiar with three types of verbs:

• Action verbs: These verbs state what the subject of the sentence is doing. Run, jump, compile, and learn are examples of action verbs.
• To be: The verb to be (conjugated as am, is, are, was, were, been, and being) functions sort of like an equal sign. It equates the subject with a noun or adjective. For example: Ben is successful means Ben = successful. She is a CEO means she = CEO.
• Linking verbs: These words join (or link) the subject to an adjective that describes the condition of the subject. Like the verb to be, they express a state of the subject, but they provide more information about the subject than to be verbs do. Common linking verbs are feel, seem, appear, remain, look, taste, and smell.

Telling it like it is: Nouns

You’ve undoubtedly heard nouns defined as persons, places, or things. They provide the “what” of the sentence. A noun can function in a sentence in different ways:

1. The subject plays the principal role in the sentence. It’s what the sentence is about or who is doing the action.
2. A direct object receives the action of an action verb.
3. An indirect object receives the direct object. Sentences with direct objects don’t need indirect objects, but you need a direct object before you can have an indirect object.
4. The object of a preposition receives a preposition. (See the “Joining forces: Conjunctions and prepositions” section, later in this chapter.)
5. The object in a verbal phrase serves as the receiver of the gerund (which is a verb form that functions as a noun, like singing).
6. An appositive clarifies or renames another noun.
7. A predicate noun follows the verb to be and regards the subject.

So you can see how these different types of nouns function, we’ve marked their appearances in these two sentences with numbers that correspond to the preceding list:

Being a businesswoman (5) with great leadership abilities (4), Anna Arnold (1), an MBA (6), gave her employees (3) the opportunity (2) to succeed. Anna (1) was a supportive supervisor (7).

The GMAT won’t ask you to define the various noun functions, but being familiar with them helps when we talk about the different types of sentence errors you may encounter.

One of the most important things to remember about nouns and verbs on the GMAT is that the subject and verb of a sentence have to agree in number. See the later section “Pointing Out Mistakes: Common Sentence-Correction Errors” for details.

Standing in: Pronouns

Pronouns figure prominently in the sentence-correction portion of the GMAT. Pronouns rename nouns and provide a means of avoiding the needless repetition of names and other nouns in a sentence or paragraph. On the GMAT, pronoun errors are common. To correct these errors, you need to be familiar with the three types of pronouns: personal, indefinite, and relative:

• Personal pronouns: These words rename specific nouns. They take two forms: subjective and objective.
  • The subjective personal pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, and they. Subjective personal pronouns are used when the pronoun functions as a subject or predicate noun (see the preceding section for info on noun functions).
  • The objective personal pronouns are me, you, him, her, it, us, and them. Objective personal pronouns are properly used when they function as an object in the sentence.
• Indefinite pronouns: These pronouns refer to general nouns rather than specific ones. Some common examples are everyone, somebody, anything, each, one, none, and no one. It’s important to remember that most indefinite pronouns are singular, which means they require singular verbs: One of the employees is being laid off.
• Relative pronouns: These words, like that, which, and who, introduce adjective clauses that describe nouns. Who refers to persons; which and that refer primarily to animals and things: He is a manager who is comfortable leading. The consulting work that she does usually saves companies money, which makes her a very popular consultant.

Filling in the details: Adjectives

Adjectives describe and clarify nouns and pronouns. For example: The secretive culture of the corporation created discontented employees. Secretive defines the kind of culture and discontented describes the feeling of the employees. Without the adjectives, the sentence is virtually meaningless: The culture of the corporation created employees.

With sentence-correction questions, make sure adjectives are positioned correctly in the sentence so each adjective modifies the word it’s supposed to. For example, I brought the slides to the meeting that I created makes it seem that the author of the sentence created the meeting rather than the slides. The descriptive clause that I created is in the wrong place. The better composition is I brought the slides that I created to the meeting.

Describing the action: Adverbs

Adverbs are like adjectives because they add extra information to the sentence, but adjectives usually modify nouns, and adverbs primarily define verbs. Adverbs include all words and groups of words (called adverb phrases) that answer the questions where, when, how, and why: The stock market gradually recovered from the 1999 crash. Gradually defines how the stock market recovered.

Some adverbs modify adjectives or other adverbs: The extremely unfortunate plumber yodeled very well.

You’ll recognize many adverbs by the -ly ending. But not all adverbs end in -ly. For example, in The company’s manufacturing moved overseas, the adverb overseas reveals where the manufacturing is located. In The Human Resources director resigned today, today explains when the director resigned.

Positioning adverbs correctly is important on the GMAT. Separating adverbs from the words they modify makes sentences imprecise.

Joining forces: Conjunctions and prepositions

Conjunctions and prepositions link the main elements of the sentence.

• Conjunctions: This part of speech joins words, phrases, and clauses. The three types of conjunctions are coordinating, correlative, and subordinating. Don’t worry about memorizing these terms; just remember that the three types exist.
  • The seven coordinating conjunctions — and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet — are the ones most people think of when they consider conjunctions.
  • Correlative conjunctions always appear in pairs: either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also. These conjunctions correlate two similar clauses in one sentence. Therefore, if you use either as a conjunction, you have to include or.
  • Subordinating conjunctions introduce dependent clauses and connect them to independent clauses. Although, because, if, when, and while are common examples of subordinating conjunctions. We talk more about clauses in the section “In so many words: Phrases and clauses.”
• Prepositions: These words join nouns to the rest of a sentence. We’d need several pages to list all the prepositions, but common examples are about, above, at, for, in, over, to, and with. A preposition can’t function within a sentence unless the preposition is connected to a noun, so prepositions always appear in prepositional phrases. These phrases consist of a preposition and noun, which is called the object of the preposition: The woman in the suit went to the office to sit down. The preposition in relates its object, suit, to another noun, woman, so in the suit is a prepositional phrase that works as an adjective to describe woman; to the office is an adverbial prepositional phrase that describes where the woman went. Note that the word to in to sit down isn’t a preposition; rather, it’s part of the infinitive form of the verb to sit — the phrase doesn’t have an object, so you don’t have a prepositional phrase.

Prepositions often play a part in sentence-correction questions. The GMAT may provide you with a sentence that contains an improper preposition construction. Here’s a simple example: He watched the flood while sitting in the roof. The correct preposition is on, not in. Other types of preposition questions may not be so easy, but we highlight these for you in the section “Pointing Out Mistakes: Common Sentence-Correction Errors.”

Trouble comes in threes: Subject, verb, and third element

The subject is the main character of the sentence; it’s the noun that carries out the action of the sentence or whose condition the sentence describes. The verb describes the action or links the subject and predicate. Depending on the verb used, the third important part of the sentence could be a direct object, an adverb, an adjective, or a predicate noun. The third element for a sentence with a transitive verb (an action verb that must be followed by a direct object) is always a direct object. Intransitive verbs (action verbs that can’t be followed by direct objects) may be completed by adverbs. You can follow the verb to be with either an adjective or a predicate noun. Recognizing the three main elements of the sentence helps you spot errors in the sentence-correction questions.

In so many words: Phrases and clauses

In addition to the main elements, a sentence may contain single words, phrases, or clauses that convey more information about the sentence’s main message. Phrases and clauses are groups of words that work together to form a single part of speech, like an adverb or adjective. The difference between phrases and clauses is that clauses contain their own subjects and verbs, and phrases don’t. A good understanding of both clauses and phrases can help you greatly on the sentence-correction portion of the GMAT.

Subject-verb agreement

When we say the subjects and verbs agree, we don’t mean they’re having a meeting of minds. We mean that plural subjects pair with plural verbs and singular subjects require singular verbs. Errors in simple constructions are pretty easy to spot. It just doesn’t sound right to say He attend classes at the University of Michigan.

It’s when the subject isn’t simple or obvious that determining subject-verb agreement gets a little more difficult. For example, take a look at this sentence: His fixation with commodities markets have grown into several prosperous ventures, including a consulting business. The subject is fixation, but the prepositional phrase with commodities markets may confuse you into thinking that markets is the subject. Markets is a plural noun, so it would take a plural verb if it were the subject. But you know that markets can’t be the subject of the sentence because markets is part of a prepositional phrase. It’s the object of the preposition with, and a noun can’t be an object and a subject at the same time. The subject has to be fixation, so the singular verb has, rather than the plural have, is proper.

Focus on the three main elements of any complex sentence by mentally eliminating words and phrases that aren’t essential to the sentence’s point. Then you can check the subjects and verbs to make sure they agree. For example, when you remove the prepositional phrase with commodities markets from the sample sentence we just discussed, you get His fixation have grown, which reveals an obvious disagreement in number between the subject and verb.

Noun-pronoun agreement

Another relationship you need to keep on track is the one between nouns and the pronouns that refer to them. A pronoun must agree in number with the noun (or other pronoun) it refers to. Plural nouns take plural pronouns, and singular nouns take singular pronouns. For example, this sentence has improper noun-pronoun agreement: You can determine the ripeness of citrus by handling them and noting their color. Citrus is a singular noun, so using plural pronouns to refer to it is incorrect. It would be correct to say You can determine the ripeness of citrus by handling it and noting its color.

Another problem with pronouns is unclear references. To know whether a pronoun agrees with its subject, you have to be clear about just what the pronoun refers to. For example, it’s not clear which noun the pronoun in this sentence refers to: Bobby and Tom went to the store, and he purchased a candy bar. Because the subject of the first clause is plural, the pronoun he could refer to either Bobby or Tom or even to a third person. To improve clarity in this case, you’d use the name of the person who bought the candy bar rather than the ambiguous pronoun.

If a GMAT sentence-correction question contains a pronoun in the underlined portion, make sure the pronoun clearly refers to a particular noun in the sentence and that it matches that noun in number. Otherwise, you need to find an answer choice that clarifies the reference or corrects the number.

Here’s a sample question that contains both types of agreement errors:

Sentence fragments

Sentence fragments on the GMAT usually show up as dependent clauses pretending to convey complete thoughts or as a bunch of words with something that looks like a verb but doesn’t act like one (technically, a verbal).

• Dependent clauses standing alone are fragments because they don’t present complete thoughts. For example, this clause comes complete with a subject and verb: Although many companies have failed to maintain consistent profits with downsizing. However, it begins with a subordinating conjunction, although, so it leaves you hanging.
• Phrases with a verbal instead of a verb can appear to be complete if you don’t read them carefully. The verbal phrases in this sentence look like verbs but don’t function as verbs: The peacefulness of a morning warmed by the summer sun and the verdant pastures humming with the sound of busy bees. Warmed and humming can function as verbs in other instances, but in this sentence, they’re part of phrases that provide description but don’t tell what the subjects (peacefulness and pastures) are like or what they’re doing.

You get the hang of recognizing sentence fragments with practice. If you read the sentence under your breath, you should be able to tell whether it expresses a complete thought.

Correcting fragments is usually pretty simple. You just add the information that completes the thought or change the verbal phrase to an actual verb. For example, you can make although many companies have failed to maintain consistent profits with downsizing into a complete sentence by adding a comma and some still try, like so: Although many companies have failed to maintain consistent profits with downsizing, some still try. To complete the peacefulness of a morning warmed by the summer sun and the verdant pastures humming with the sound of busy bees, you can change the verbal phrases: The peacefulness of a morning is warmed by the summer sun, and the verdant pastures hum with the sound of busy bees.

Run-on sentences

Run-on sentences occur when a sentence with multiple independent clauses is improperly punctuated. Here’s an example: I had a job interview that morning so I wore my best suit. Both I had a job interview and I wore my best suit are independent clauses. You can’t just stick a coordinating conjunction between them to make a sentence. Here are the two rules for punctuating multiple independent clauses in a sentence:

• Independent clauses may be joined with a comma and a coordinating conjunction. You can correct the problem by adding a comma, like this: I had a job interview that morning, so I wore my best suit.

• Independent clauses may be joined by a semicolon. The sentence can look like this: I had a job interview that morning; I wore my best suit.

Of course, you can change one of the independent clauses to a dependent clause, like this: Because I had a job interview that morning, I wore my best suit. If you do that, remember to separate the clauses with a comma when the dependent clause precedes the independent one.

The GMAT probably won’t give you a run-on sentence to correct, but it may give you an answer choice that looks pretty good except that it makes the original sentence a run-on. Make sure the answer you choose doesn’t create a run-on sentence.

Verb tense issues

In addition to checking for subject-verb agreement, make sure the verbs in the underlined portion of the sentence-correction question are in the proper tense. The other verbs in the sentence give you clues to what tense the underlined verbs should be in.

Lack of parallelism

You can count on several sentence-correction questions that test your ability to recognize a lack of parallel structure. The basic rule of parallel structure is that all phrases joined by conjunctions should be constructed in the same manner. For example, this sentence has a problem with parallelism: Ann spent the morning emailing clients, responding to voice mails, and she wrote an article for the newsletter.

The problem with the sentence is that the three phrases joined by the coordinating conjunction (and) in this sentence are constructed in different ways. Emailing and responding both take the gerund (or -ing) form, but she wrote initiates a clause. Changing wrote to its gerund form and eliminating she gets rid of the clause and solves the problem: Ann spent the morning emailing clients, responding to voice mails, and writing an article for the newsletter.

Parallel structure is also a factor when you make comparisons. The following sentence lacks parallel structure: To be physically healthy is as important as being prosperous in your work. The sentence compares a phrase in the infinitive form, to be physically healthy, with a phrase in the gerund form, being prosperous in your work. Changing one of the constructions to match the other does the trick: Being physically healthy is as important as being prosperous in your work.

When you see a sentence-correction question with an underlined list, check for lack of parallelism. Look for phrases joined by coordinating conjunctions. If the phrases or sentence parts exhibit dissimilar constructions, you have to correct the parallelism error.

Here’s how the GMAT may question you about parallel structure:

Is that a rhetorical question? Other construction errors

It may surprise you to know that a GMAT sentence can be grammatically accurate and still need correction. Sentences that exhibit awkward, wordy, imprecise, redundant, or unclear constructions require fixing. The GMAT calls these errors in rhetorical construction. The good news is that you can often use your ear to correct these problems. The right answer will often simply sound better to you.

• Using passive instead of active voice makes a sentence seem weak and wordy. Passive voice beats around the bush to make a point, so it lacks clarity. For example, this passive-voice sentence masks the doer of an action: The speech was heard by most members of the corporation. The sentence isn’t technically incorrect, but it’s better to say it this way: Most members of the corporation heard the speech. Notice also that the active voice sentence uses fewer words. So if all else is equal, choose active voice over passive voice.
• Using repetitive language adds unnecessary words and seems silly. A sentence shouldn’t use more words than it needs to. For example, it’s a bit ridiculous to say the following: The speaker added an additional row of chairs to accommodate the large crowd. The construction of added an additional isn’t grammatically incorrect, but it’s needlessly repetitive. It’s more precise and less wordy to say The speaker added a row of chairs to accommodate the large crowd.

The bottom line is that any sentence that uses an excessive number of words to convey its message probably has construction problems. Often, wordiness accompanies another type of error in the underlined part. Look for the answer that uses the fewest words to correct the main error. Try it out with this sample question.

This sample question gives you practice recognizing redundancy:

Never before had American businesses confronted so many challenges as they did during the Great Depression.

(A) so many challenges as they did during the Great Depression

(B) so many challenges at one time as they confronted during the Great Depression

(C) at once so many challenges as they confronted during the Great Depression

(D) as many challenges as it did during the Great Depression

(E) as many challenges as they did during the Great Depression

You’ve memorized that the proper comparison construction is as … as, so you know that the sentence contains an idiomatically improper construction (it also probably sounds strange to you!). Start by eliminating all answers that don’t correct so many … as to as … as. Choices (A), (B), and (C) retain the improper construction, so cross them out.

Now consider Choices (D) and (E). Both maintain the original verb, which is fine. The sentence compares two different periods of time. The first portion of the sentence refers to the period before the Great Depression, which requires the past perfect verb had … confronted. The underlined part of the sentence simply requires the past tense verb did to maintain the proper tense. Choice (D) creates a new error in pronoun agreement by using the singular pronoun it to refer to the plural noun businesses. Choice (E) is the correct answer: Never before had American businesses confronted as many challenges as they did during the Great Depression.

Experts agree that good health may result from following a regimen that includes consuming less fat and calories.

(A) includes consuming less fat and calories

(B) includes the consumption of less fat and calories

(C) includes consuming less fat and fewer calories

(D) including the consumption of less fat and calories

(E) including consuming fewer fats and calories

For a single quantity, use less; use fewer for plural nouns. So the proper construction is less fat and fewer calories. Choices (A), (B), and (D) are incorrect because they apply the singular less to the plural calories. Choice (C) corrects the issue by adding fewer before calories, and Choice (E) changes fat to fats, so fewer appropriately applies to both plural nouns. Choice (E) is wrong, however, because including doesn’t properly follow that. The correct answer is Choice (C).