Where can I learn about the basics of SC/grammar?

Question

I came to the states when I was 6, so I don't know if I'm a native speaker? Anyway, I'm having an extraordinary hard time understanding SC. I'm using Manhattan GMAT and I'm dumbfounded. This is take 2 of me trying to study it. I understand what verbs, noun, modifiers mean but I cannot apply them Ie: If you give me a GMAT sentence I wouldn't be able to tell you the verb or the noun. I also have a very difficult time understanding meaning, I read the explanations and I don't get it. To me it sounds the same.

1. I'm looking for a place where I can practice identifying different parts of a sentence 
2. also, is there a place that will slowly teach me grammar from the basics?

TLDR: My foundation sucks.

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

Yes, you definitely need a strong foundation to absorb the ideas in our SC book. You may well benefit from backing up and working through our Foundations of GMAT Verbal book.

In any case, your best starting point SC wise is the relationship between subject and verb. In every sentence you read, ask yourself "What is the sentence about? What is that person/thing doing?"

Here--I'll grab the first sentence I see on the NY Times site:

"The remarks by Susan E. Rice, President Obama’s national security adviser, were the administration’s strongest public rebuke since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel agreed to speak to Congress."

So, what's the subject? And what's that subject doing? (read on when ready)

It might seem that Susan Rice is the subject. After all, she's the person the sentence is talking about. However, her name appears in a modifier ("by Susan E. Rice") and so she isn't the subject. The subject is "remarks" and the verb is "were." If we want to add the object, it would be "rebuke." So the (highly simplified) core of this sentence is "The remarks were the rebuke." That's the grammatical skeleton to which all the details are tacked on. Does that make sense?

Once you get used to finding that sentence core and noticing if there's an error (much more common in SC than on the front page of the Times, although they do slip up from time to time), you can go on to looking at how the modifiers interact with the core and with each other.

I hope this helps! Check out our Foundations book if you want to boost your confidence with the basic elements of a sentence before diving in again.

aces021 · Answer

Thanks for the response. I've read the entire foundations book, but I didn't find it helpful. S/V agreement has my lowest accuracy rate of 22%. And when I read the sentence you gave me I wrote that SBR was the subject, and the verb was remark - because that was the action she performed - she said something. Why is remark not a verb? It's an action word. To me it's similar to said or sat. 
Why isn't the speaker the main subject? You mentioned that "by" is a modifier, should I make a list of possible modifier words and refer to them when I'm reading?

When I'm reading a sentence, what is the important thing? What should I be focusing on when I read?

To my understanding, I should be reading on a higher level and paying attention to keywords like "by" in the sentence, but I should also focus on the meaning of the sentence... but to me it all sounds the same. It's similar to if someone has 2 similar shades of blue, to me, they're just blue. I'm blind to the difference. Can you recommend another place that teaches basic grammar? Thanks!

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

I don't have any other book recommendations, but let's look at that sentence again.

First, "remarks" is a noun here because of its placement. (Unless you are Yoda, you will usually place the verb  after  the noun.) In general, any time you see an article ("the" or "a"), it will be followed by a noun or a modifier and then a noun:

The rain fell swiftly.
The acid rain fell swiftly. 
The main thing I want to know is how she did it.
The sharp kick delivered to me under the table reminded me not to mention Dan.

(The subject-verb pairs are "rain-fell, rain-fell, thing-is, and kick-reminded. Note that in the second sentence, acid precedes the subject and serves as an adjective. In the fourth, we know that "kick" is a noun, not a verb, because it's after "the sharp" (article-adjective)).
 
If you start a sentence with a noun and it's not in a modifier, then it will be the main subject of the sentence, and whatever it does will be the main verb. So in our original sentence, we know that "remarks" is the subject before we even get to "by." Even if we didn't have "the" or "by," we could still tell that it was a noun, again because of placement:

Remarks can hurt people's feelings.

(Remarks-can)

One important difference between this approach and yours is that we don't really have to read the sentence first and think about what the main subject is. We should know automatically because of the structure. You don't wait until the end and then ask "What is this sentence about and what is that subject doing?" Rather, answering this question should be part of your reading process.

Let's do a few more. Again, find the main subject and verb.

The only thing preventing me from running away was the big pile of cash on the table. 
The abundance of minerals in the earth's crust is replenished when plants decompose.
In my opinion, hip-hop is overrated.
Aside from his parents, no one else in the world knows what he achieved today.
If future generations of Americans decide to connect their computers directly to their brains, the world will change dramatically.

thing-was ("Preventing" can be a verb, but it's modifying "thing" here. If we stopped at "The only thing preventing me," we wouldn't have a sentence. We'd still be saying "Yes, what about it?" We need that main verb--was.)

abundance-is (Minerals isn't the subject because it came second and is in a modifier--"of minerals.")

hip-hop-is ("In my opinion" is an opening modifier, so "opinion" is not the subject.)

No one-knows (Again, "Aside from his parents" is an opening modifier. "He-achieved" is a second subject-verb pair here.)

The last one is tricky. "If" creates a connection between the first clause, in which the subject-verb pair is "generations-decide" and the second, in which the pair is "the world will." You could say that the second pair is the main subject-verb of the sentence, but that really doesn't matter as long as they are both correct on their own. Also notice that both verbs are followed by additional verbs that work with them--"decide to connect" and "will change." When identifying the subject-verb pair, we'll generally include these, making the full core of the sentence "If Americans decide to connect, the world will change."

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi aces021, I strongly recommend that you consider our book  EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana .

Incidentally, since you specifically mention  basic grammar , I would suggest you take a look at the following link:  https://pothi.com/pothi/book/educationaisle-gmat-sentence-correction-nirvana . On this link, you would find the  preview  option, where we have actually made the  entire  basic grammar section of our book, free for preview.

So,  almost  all the basic grammar that you  must  know for GMAT, including parts of speech, Phrases & Clauses, Participles etc. are covered as part of this free preview. Make sure you read this at least twice, and thereafter, I can guarantee that you would be as comfortable with grammar as back of your hand:).

aces021, there are obviously  no  direct  grammar related  questions on GMAT. So, GMAT would obviously not ask you: What are the types of nouns; what is a relative pronoun etc. However, a basic understanding of these fundamental concepts in grammar is a prerequisite to effectively tackle GMAT sentence corrections. From your post, I get a feeling that you are  already  aware of this.

So, make sure you  invest  time in  reading  and  understanding  the grammar section. In fact, if you have any doubt/question/clarification (after you go through the section), you are most welcome to continue on this thread.

MelindaOsteen · Answer

Of course you can take some course to learn grammar. But I'd recommend you to study by yourself or just with a good tutor. Find any grammar book, they all are general and informative, do some exercises, write essays, and if you are not sure if they are correct, give them for proofreading to Papers Gear. Just create your schedule, work hard and you will see the result.

Where can I learn about the basics of SC/grammar?

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