How to Study for the GMAT Verbal Section

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The GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) is a test administered by the Graduate Management Admission Council to help business schools assess the basic academic abilities of MBA, MAcct, and Ph.D applicants. Business professionals must have good critical thinking skills, and so the GMAT tests these abilities in 3 ways: through verbal reasoning, quantitative problem solving, and analytical writing.

To get a high score in the verbal reasoning section, you must have a strong grasp of English grammar, excellent critical reading skills, and be able to analyze the logic of short arguments. You must also familiarize yourself with the format of the GMAT, and learn to answer questions quickly and accurately. Your verbal subscore is combined with your math subscore to create a single overall score ranging from 200 to 800.

Learn How GMAT Adaptive Testing Works

A computer adaptive test (CAT) adjusts to a test taker's performance, i.e., test takers with high abilities get harder questions, and test takers with lower abilities get easier questions. During the GMAT, you are presented with one question at a time. Depending on whether you answer it correctly or not, your next question is either harder or easier. When you get a question right, some points are added to your raw score and you are then presented with a new question that at least as difficult as the previous question, and worth more points. When you get a question wrong, no points are added to your raw score, and your next question is easier and worth fewer points. At the end of the test, your raw verbal score is converted to a number between 0 and 60.

Because of the adaptive nature of the GMAT, you must answer the questions in the order in which they are presented. You cannot go back and change your answers. Before you can see the next question, you must select and confirm an answer for the current question. On the GMAT, there is also a scoring penalty for not finishing the exam. If time runs out before you answer all 41 verbal questions, your score will be lower than if you had just answered the remaining questions incorrectly. Therefore, if you see that you are rapidly running out of time, it is better to randomly guess on the last remaining questions.

Know the Testing Time Limits

On the GMAT verbal section, you must answer 41 questions in 75 minutes. Sentence correction questions may take about 30 second to answer, critical reasoning questions may require about 1 minute, and reading passages can take several minutes. Be aware of the clock when you take the exam; on average, you have just under 2 minutes per question.

The best way to improve your pacing is to take full length practice tests. After each test, review the questions to see where you can improve your timing.

Know the 3 GMAT Verbal Question Types

The GMAT verbal section has approximately 14 questions of each of these 3 types.

Sentence Correction: You are presented with one to three sentences where a portion is underlined. Sometimes an entire sentence is underlined. The answer choices give you edited versions of the underlined portion, and your task is to pick the most correct version. The first answer choice (A) is always the original phrase with no corrections. About 20% of the time the correct answer choice is (A). Be careful not to overcorrect!

Critical Reasoning: You are given a short passage that presents a mini-argument or mini-proposal. It will have a conclusion, one or more pieces of evidence, and one or more assumptions that are implied, but not explicitly stated. The questions will ask you about the structure of the argument, or ways that the argument could be strengthened or weakened.

Reading comprehension: The GMAT will have 3-4 reading passages with 3-4 questions per passage. The questions can cover the main ideas and details, or more subtle aspects of the passage, such as the author's intent, or the author's method of reasoning.

The 3 different GMAT question types will be randomly distributed distributed throughout the verbal section. The only questions that will be grouped together are reading comprehension questions from the same passage.

How to Practice Sentence Correction

The GMAT does not test every rule of English grammar, but they do focus on the most obvious and common ones. Subject/verb/pronoun agreement, parallel structure, and placement of modifying clauses are the big three. Punctuation errors are infrequent, and spelling errors are not tested at all. Ambiguity and mismatched comparisons are also rich sources of errors. A good test for whether something is right or wrong is to ask yourself, "Can this be interpreted the wrong way?"

How to Practice Critical Reasoning

Since every critical reasoning passage will have a conclusion, evidence, and assumptions, you can get a handle on these question types by learning to identify the parts of the argument. The conclusion is the author's main point, the opinion put forth. The evidence is a set of facts or circumstances cited to support the conclusion. The assumptions are unstated. They are circumstances that the author must believe to be true in order for his argument to hold together. Assumptions can be flawed.

How to Practice Reading Comprehension

The GMAT is fairly predictable in terms of the passages' style, question wording, and the wording of right and wrong answers. As you study, you'll pick up these patterns. For example, many passages start with a problem, illustrate a possible solution, find a flaw in that solution, and conclude with the author's opinion on the best solution. Wrong answer choices can often be identified because they paint something in black and white terms, while the passage is more nuanced.

Since you are allowed scratch paper during the test, you can take short notes while you read. Reading carefully is better than skimming. If you skim, you'll have to re-read the entire passage every time you answer a question, which will eat up your time.

Take Full Length Practice Tests

The most effective thing you can do to prepare for the GMAT is to take several full length practice tests that include the Analytical Writing, Quantitative, and Verbal sections. Time yourself during the exam, and take it under test like conditions. This means using only a few sheets of scratch paper at a time, and only taking a 10 minute break between sections. You can download free GMAT practice tests from the test maker's website at mba.com. If you obtain paper exams, try do the questions in order without skipping questions or going back.

Measure your Progress

It is important to keep track of which questions you have the most trouble with so that you can focus your study time on the weak areas. If you start studying several months before your GMAT exam date, try to take a practice test at least twice a month. Research the average GMAT scores of MBA programs that you want to apply to, and set study goals for yourself.