How often do you use the word \u201cunidiomatic\u201d when you are eliminating answer choices? Almost regardless of your answer, the real answer is \u201ctoo often\u201d. Consider what \u201cunidiomatic\u201d means, courtesy of the dictionary:<\/p>\n
Unidiomatic: Not idiomatic.<\/p>\n
Idiomatic: Pertaining or conforming to the mode of expression characteristic of a language<\/p>\n
Essentially, \u201cidiomatic\u201d just means \u201cthat\u2019s the way you say it\u201d. And that\u2019s just not scalable for you as you prepare to take this test \u2014 plus it is not a great way for the GMAT to assess your managerial potential and higher-order thinking. Accordingly, you should note that, by far, the vast majority of GMAT Sentence Correction errors have a logical component as well as a grammatical component, and for most of us paying attention to the logical component makes the grammar much more straightforward and easy to remember and apply.<\/p>\n
Consider a sentence like:<\/p>\n
While the economy has recovered somewhat from its crash in 2008, many Americans were still out of work.<\/p>\n
vs.<\/p>\n
While the economy has recovered somewhat from its crash in 2008, many Americans are still out of work.<\/p>\n
The first sentence has a verb tense error \u2014 but that verb tense error is as much a logical error as a grammatical error. The first part of the sentence is talking about an ongoing event \u2014 the economy has recovered, and the use of \u201chas recovered\u201d means that the recovery is still ongoing into the present. So to say that \u201cwhile\u201d that is going on, something has already happened (Americans \u201cwere\u201d still out of work) is illogical. The timeline doesn\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n
In the corrected second version, the indicative tense \u201care still out of work\u201d is \u201cnow\u201d, and therefore consistent with the first half of the sentence which brings us from 2008 to now. That is a logical meaning \u2014 while something has been going on, something else still remains a problem. The timeline makes sense that way. And make sure to note \u2014 many pure-grammar students are annoyed by the fact that the construct in the corrected version contains different verb tenses \u2014 they struggle somewhat to reconcile \u201cpresent perfect\u201d with \u201cindicative\u201d, as those are two different tenses. But grammar is quite a bit more nuanced than one could simply memorize as an if\u2026then flowchart. These two tenses are quite logical when used together, but the first case was not. Verb Tenses, like Modifiers, lend themselves well to your use of logic \u2014 and that\u2019s precisely why the GMAT tests them: business schools want logical decision makers, not necessarily green-underliners (like the Microsoft Word grammar check function).<\/p>\n
That is not to say that you shouldn\u2019t learn grammar \u2014 but keep in mind that the GMAT tests a limited scope of grammar, and most-if-not-all of it is the type of grammar that is more rooted in logic than it is in arbitrary \u201cthe queen speaks this way, so thus it is\u201d parlance. The GMAT is, after all, a test of how you think, process information, and make decisions, and GMAT questions are painstakingly written to reward you for employing those skills. Which brings us to the second point.......<\/p>\n
Study only well-written questions<\/strong><\/p>\n As discussed above, the GMAT does a masterful job of including questions that test grammar and logic in a way to ultimately test your decision-making. If you ask in the right way, you may even get someone affiliated with the exam to admit that a handful of the questions in the Official Guide for GMAT Review<\/em> \u2014 likely those retired long ago from the active pool of test questions \u2014 probably would not make the cut today, as the authors of those questions have become increasingly more sophisticated to test a global audience. Simply put, high-quality GMAT sentence correction problems are hard to create, and lower-quality problems often confuse students as to what is really being tested. The GMAT doesn\u2019t make hard questions by employing more obscure knowledge (the way that \u201cWhat is the capital of Uzbekistan?\u201d is a harder question to most Westerners than \u201cWhat is the capital of France\u201d ); it makes hard questions by better obscuring the logical component being tested.<\/p>\n As a result, you should plan to study official questions \u2014 those from the GMAC-produced Official Guide for GMAT Review<\/em> series, the MBA.com practice tests, and the new GMAC iPhone application.\u00a0 and those from reputable sources like Veritas Prep<\/a> and other leading test prep companies with the resources and experience to better approximate GMAT-style SC subtlety. GMAT sentence correction questions have an art to them that is difficult to replicate, and often the poorer attempts to do so can lead you astray as you study. For example, many GMAT students will have learned incorrectly<\/em> that:<\/p>\n Shaquille is taller than Muggsy.<\/p>\n is incorrect, at least when compared to:<\/p>\n Shaquille is taller than Muggsy is.<\/p>\n Comparisons, a form of \u201cEquivalent Elements\u201d or \u201cParalellism\u201d, which is something widely tested on the GMAT, tends to tie test-takers in knots as they attempt to find a noun parallel to a noun, a verb parallel to a verb, and items as silly \u2014 I\u2019ve seen it happen! \u2014 as a three-syllable word parallel to another three-syllable word. What\u2019s truly important, however, is the logic. Here, in either case we\u2019re correctly comparing Shaquille to Muggsy on the basis of height. What would be wrong, however, is a sentence like:<\/p>\n Shaquille\u2019s height is nearly twice as tall as Muggsy.<\/p>\n Here, we\u2019d be comparing a height to a person, and that\u2019s not an apt comparison. Logically, we either compare height to height (a number against a number) or person to person. Correctly, we could say:<\/p>\n Shaquille\u2019s height is nearly twice that of Muggsy.<\/p>\n Or<\/p>\n Shaquille\u2019s height is nearly twice Muggsy\u2019s.<\/p>\n Remember, well-written GMAT questions (or approximations from leading companies) will do this well, but there are plenty of rogue practice questions floating around that will make you think that you need to consider these rules on a much more technical (and therefore confusing) level. Logic is scalable \u2014 you can do it over and over again with similarly-excellent results \u2014 so let that be your guide, and use quality questions that will reward you and reinforce those positive habits while you study.<\/p>\n Ultimately, as you learn to think and study more logically about GMAT sentence correction, consider this logic: Why would top business schools want to use the results of a test that even the brightest thinkers and most successful businesspeople would need to study in obscurity for several months? Should business schools want to reward the kind of idleness of time that allows someone to page-by-page memorize Strunk and White\u2019s \u201cElements of Style\u201d? Or would they prefer to admit a successful young professional who volunteers at low-income schools in her spare time, still pursues hobbies and fitness and networking events, and efficiently studies by recognizing patterns and employing logic?<\/p>\n The latter student is the one business schools want \u2014 success on the GMAT should require you to prepare and devote some time to studying, but in the end if you have several months to spend on labor-intensive memorization\u2026you\u2019re probably not who a top business school wants to admit over someone who excels at a challenging job and lives a well-rounded life.<\/p>\n Ready to sign up for a GMAT course ? Enroll through GMAT Club and save up to $180 (use discount code GMATC10)! Take a look at our course options in some of our most popular cities: New York<\/a>, Chicago <\/a>and Los Angeles<\/a> and make sure to check the Veritas Prep blog<\/a> for daily articles.<\/p>\n
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