{"id":7542,"date":"2011-07-05T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2011-07-05T15:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=7542"},"modified":"2011-06-15T19:21:45","modified_gmt":"2011-06-16T03:21:45","slug":"problem-words-and-phrases-in-gmat-sentence-correction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/problem-words-and-phrases-in-gmat-sentence-correction\/","title":{"rendered":"PROBLEM WORDS AND PHRASES IN GMAT SENTENCE CORRECTION"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kaplan<\/a> Many GMAT<\/a> preppers struggle with Sentence Correction. <\/a> Probably most reading this post have some trouble with it. But why should that be? Presumably everyone reading this speaks English. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the key to the puzzle right there. We all speak English, but the GMAT doesn\u2019t test spoken English, it tests written English, otherwise known as Standard English. Unless you are trained as a writer or normally read university-level texts, your exposure to Standard English may be fragmentary and\/or faded. <\/p>\n

One remedy for this situation is to read well-written books and periodicals such as The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal. Most GMAT prep materials will also provide a review of many of the commonly tested usages. Just to get you started, however, let\u2019s look at six problem words and phrases that come up within GMAT Sentence Correction questions.<\/p>\n

Different from.<\/strong> This is a prepositional idiom that many people get wrong. Correct usage is to say that \u201cred is different from blue\u201d. \u201cDifferent than\u201d is incorrect (although \u201cother than\u201d is correct). Those of you who speak some variety of British English may say \u201cdifferent to.\u201d That is acceptable when addressing the Queen, but not on the GMAT.<\/p>\n

However.<\/strong> Students regularly think that \u201chowever\u201d is a conjunction, like \u201calthough.\u201d Actually, \u201chowever\u201d is an adverb, like \u201cwhenever\u201d and \u201cwhoever\u201d and means \u201cto whatever degree\u201d or \u201cin whatever manner.\u201d It does not always imply a contrast. For example, \u201cHowever you got to work, I am glad to see you\u201d does not mean \u201cDespite the fact that you got to work, I am glad to see you.\u201d The GMAT will try to trick you into substituting \u201calthough\u201d or \u201ceven though\u201d for it. Don\u2019t fall for the trap!<\/p>\n

Not only . . . but also. <\/strong> There are two traps associated with this correlative conjunction. The first is not realizing that whenever there is a \u201cnot only\u201d there must be a \u201cbut also.\u201d It is not enough to say just \u201cbut\u201d or nothing at all. Only the full construction is good enough for the GMAT. The second trap lies in taking the two things being correlated as equal, as if they were joined by \u201cand.\u201d In reality the second item should always represent a farther step than the first, for example: \u201cYour promotion is not only good for you but good also for your co-workers.\u201d Notice that the words \u201cbut\u201d and \u201calso\u201d can be correctly separated.<\/p>\n

Between A and B.<\/strong> When speaking of options people frequently say \u201cI can choose A or B.\u201d That is correct. But if you say \u201cbetween,\u201d you must say \u201cand,\u201d not \u201cor,\u201d as in \u201cI can choose between A and B.\u201d The reason for this is simple: if you are standing on your driveway with your house on one side and your car on the other, you would say that you are between your house and your car. You would never say \u201cor\u201d when you use \u201cbetween\u201d literally. You should not say \u201cor\u201d when you use it metaphorically, either.<\/p>\n

Two problems with Like<\/strong>. The word \u201clike\u201d is overused. It means \u201csimilar to.\u201d It does not mean \u201cfor example.\u201d For that you might wish to say \u201csuch as.\u201d Example: \u201cI listen to a lot of baroque music, such as concertos by Bach.\u201d Also \u201clike\u201d and \u201cjust like\u201d do not mean the same thing. \u201cLike\u201d refers to a similarity. \u201cJust like\u201d means \u201cidentical in the relevant respect.\u201d For example, \u201cLike my friend Harriet, I studied hard for the GMAT\u201d doesn\u2019t mean you studied the very same number of hours. But \u201cJust like my friend Harriet, I got into Wharton and Kellogg,\u201d means you got into exactly the same two schools.<\/p>\n

GMAT sentence correction is all about details, but most mistakes come from just a few major categories of grammar so if you can master these, you should do well.<\/p>\n

~Kurt Keefner
\nhttps:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/gmat<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many GMAT preppers struggle with Sentence Correction. Probably most reading this post have some trouble with it. But why should that be? Presumably everyone reading this speaks English. That\u2019s the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,558,243,719,735],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","category-kaplan-blog","category-blog","category-sentence-correction-gmat","category-verbal-gmat-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7542"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7544,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7542\/revisions\/7544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}