SC Summary

1. SC Process:
a. Take a 1st glance
b. Read for meaning
c. Find a starting point
a. Start with the original sentence
b. Look for common error types
d. Eliminate
a. Find a starting point
b. Choose and move one
2. Error Types
1. Subject-verb agreement
2. Verb Tense
3. Pronoun
4. Modifiers
5. Parallelism
6. Idioms
7. Meaning
8. Comparisons
9. Redundancy
3. Complex Sentences
4. Independent + Independent Clause
a. Never use comma only for combining independent clauses
b. Use semicolon or comma+FANBOYS
c. FANBOYS (For, and nor, but, or, yet,so), used to combined two
independent clauses
5. Dependent Clause, Independent clause is correct
a. Because his job is so challenging, Tome loves the corporate
office
6. Independent clause+ dependent clause can be combined with
or without comma
a. X, which Y
b. X since Y
7. Subject Verb Agreement:
1. Subject and verb must agree in number: Singular Subject=
Singular Verb
2. Conjunctions
a. P and Q = Plural
b. Both P and Q = Plural
i. Never say Both X and also Y. Correct Idiom is Both X
and Y

c. Additive Phrases: as well as, including, accompanied by, in

addition to
i. e.g P as well as Q:
1. If P is singular, verb is singular.
2. If P is Plural, Verb is Plural.
d. P or Q
e. e.g. Either P or Q, Neither P nor Q:
i. Ignore P, if Q is singular, then the verb is singular. If
Q is plural, then the verb is plural
1. The senators or the President is going to issue
the speech
2. The President or the senators are going to
issue the speech
f. Example:
Neither the late 18th composer, such as Mozart or Haydn,
nor Beethoven, as well as Schubert, in the early 19th
century, was known to compose in the suite format, so
popular in the Baroque period.
i. Notice OR conjunction -> focus on the subject
closer to the verb (Beethoven).
ii. Notice additive phrases as well as -> focus on the
first subject (Beethoven).
iii. Beethoven is singular, hence verb is singular (was)
g. Either of X/Neither of Y is always singular even if X or Y
is plural
i. E.g. Neither of the two lights on the streets is
functional
1. Y is lights plural
2. But the sentence starts with Neither
3. So is-verb is singular
3. Collective Nouns:
a. Are SINGULAR
i. E.g. Team, Company names, The Czech Republic, The
green Party, House of Reps, the School Board.
b. Example:
The communications team, with over 600 members, as
well as the extremely well funded research development
team, has not approved of the CFOs proposals or the
allocation of the stock options
i. The communication team is a collective noun hence
singular
ii. Additive phrase as well as results in a verb that is
singular
4. Infinitive Phrases (to-verb) and Gerund (ing-verb as a none)

a. Are always SINGULAR, 100% of the time

b. Example.
i. To err is human (to err is an infinitive verb)
ii. Running is both fun and good for ones health
(running is a Gerund)
iii. Buying tradition growth stocks at the low point
following a sharp decline is not guaranteed to
produce long-term gains.
iv. For Brutus and Cassius to participate in the
assassination of Julius Ceaser, however noble their
motives might have been, was beyond what the
Roman people were willing to accept
1. Think: what was beyond what the Romans were
welling to accept? The participation! To
participate is an infinitive verb hence singular!
1st person
2nd person
3rd person

Singular
I
You
He, She, it

Plural
We
you
They

5. Number
a. The number of P is always singular! Because we are
focused on the number itself.
b. A number of P is always plural because a number
means many
6. Examples:
a. Unaccustomed to the rigors of college life, Jamess grade
dropped.
i. Incorrect because the subject is grade not James
(James is used in the possessive, hence the sentence
is illogical.
b. CORRECT: Unaccustomed to the rigors of college life, James
allowed his grades to drop.
7. Be careful of modifying phrases or prepositional phrases, remove
the fluf
a. E.g. The next generation of hybrid vehicles SHOWS
promise.
i. Ignore the prepositional phrase hybrid vehicles the
next generation is singular
b. Subject will be singular or plural if it takes a portion of the
prepositional phrase (SANAM, half of )
i. E.g.: Half of the cake is for you
ii. E.g.: Half of the slices are already gone

iii.
Pronouns Agreement
a. Antecedent: person or group of people that the pronoun
represents
a. In GMAT, pronoun must refer to an Antecedent
b. Personal Pronoun
c. Subjective pronouns (I, he, she, we, they) is used when the
pronoun is the subject of the verb
d. Objective pronouns (me, him, her, us, them) is used when the
pronoun is the object of the verb.
a. E,g Margret was a top athlete in high school, now Chris
runs faster than she does (use she not her)
e. Possessive pronouns (my, his, her, out, their) is used like any
possessive noun to modify the object possessed.
f. Personal pronouns must match the compared term in case:
subjective, objective and possessive
a. Margret was a top athlete in high school, now Chris runs
faster than she does (use she not her)
g. Demonstrative pronoun
a. This and That: singular. E.g. This/that is interesting
b. These and those: plural. E.g: These are interesting
h. Interrogative and relative pronouns
a. Begin modifying clauses,
b. Who, whom, whose, what , which
c. That:
i. Indefinite pronouns (each*, some*,any*
a. Tricky in SV agreement
b. Pronouns that end in one, -body, -thing, are SINGULAR
i. E,g, Everyone, everybody, no one, nobody,
somebody, anyone, something, anyone
c. Other singular indefinite pronouns: every, each,
another, neither, either, little, less, much
i. E,g, every state senator and assemblyman is elected
every four years.
1. Every makes the whole subject singular (even
if the subject was plural before)
ii. Much of the last few years of her scholarly research
has been devoted to the Italian manuscripts of the
13th century.
1. Much is singular
2. Much is uncountable
d. If each or every appears after the subject, the verb is
dependent on the subject

e. The four largest truck fleets each account for at least 20

percent of the market share
i. Each appears after
ii. Fleets is the subject and is plural
iii. Account if correct (plural)
j. Plural Indefinite Pronouns: Both, Many, several, few, fewer,
others,
a. E.g. Many of the industries in the sector have adopted the
euro,
1. Many is a countable pronoun, plural.
k. Indefinite pronouns that can be singular or plural
a. SANAM: Some, Any, None, All, Most, More
i. Express quantity
ii. Used as part of a prepositional phrase
iii. Verb depends on the prepositional phase
b. E.g. Some of the cake is in the fridge -> cake is singular,
hence the verb is singular
c. Some of the cookies are in the fridge -> cookies is plural,
hence the verb are is plural.
d. Some of the poetry of the 20th century harkens back to
earlier forms, such as the sonnet, but most explores
entirely new forms.
i. Some is used in the singular form because poetry is
not countable
ii. Most is better for the phrase because most can be
singular or plural
l. Antecedent of pronouns
a. Collective nouns are singular hence are the antecedent of
pronouns
i. E.g country = it NOT they
ii. Thermion Corporation, with over 16,000 employees
on five continents, sends its executives to meetings
in exotic locations.
1. Thermion Corporation is a collective noun
hence singular
2. The verb sends is therefore singular,
3. Its is the singular pronoun (dont fall for using
their which is a plural pronoun
b. Pronouns and Ambiguous Antecedent
i. It must be clear the antecedent and pronoun match
ii. Common error: During the holiday season, Thermion
Corporation gave each of tis employees an expensive
dish set, but most of them were fragile and broke in
the next couple of months,
1. What does most of them refer to employees
or dish set?

iii. Antecedents should not be in the possessive (as a

modifier)
1. Eg After Caesars triumph in Gaul, the Roman
people loved him
a. Caesars X <- possessive hence cannot
be the antecedent of the pronoun
b. The subject is triumph. Caesar acts as a
modifier hence cannot be the antecedent
of the pronoun him
iv. Exception to #3: a noun in the possessive can be the
antecedent of a possessive pronoun.
1. E.g. Caesars triumph in Gaul significantly
enhanced his reputation at home.
v. Same pronoun applied in diferent antecedents is
flawed

1. Correct form

Sentence Correction Countable vs. Uncountable

a. These words are used to refer to countable nouns
Number
Fewer
Many
b. These words are used to refer to uncountable nouns
Amount
Less
Much
The amount of money (correct) vs. the amount of dollars
(incorrect, dollar(s) is countable)
Sentence Correction - Grammatical Construction
a. Show Purpose with infinitive
a. To- verb, in order to-verb, so as to verb
b. Missing verb mistake

a. A subject must have a full verb order to be a complete

sentence,
b. Full verb = auxiliary verb and participle e.g name vs.
was naming
c. Double subject mistake
a. Had to find when you have fluf in the middle.
b. Be suspicious of the structure [subject][long modifier],[].
c. Sentence must make sense after the long modifier.
d. Run on sentences
a. [Independent clause], [independent clause] make sure
they are joined by a pair of conjunctions NOT comma
Modifiers
a. There are two kinds: Noun modifiers and Adverbial Modifiers
b. Noun modifier: Relative pronouns and prepositions
a. Answer the question which? What kind?
b. Obeys the touch rule, must be in close proximity to the
noun it is modify
c. Typical GMAT Mistake: having the modifier mixed with other
statements
i. E.g. The fugitive eluded the federal agents who had
crossed state lines in their pursuit, fearing arrest. <fearing arrest appears to modify the agents (the
closest noun) which renders the sentence illogical.
ii. Correction > The fugitive, fearing arrest, eluded the
federal agents who had crossed state lines in their
pursuit
c. Noun modifier: prepositions
a. Rule1: If a preposition immediately follows a noun, then it
modifies the noun.
i. E.g. The executive director of the company resigned
three days ago. <- of the company is a prepositional
phrase.
b. Participles can be present or past
Verbs

Present Participle (- Past Participle (-ed)

ing)
To play
Playing
Played
To manage
Managing
Managed
To begin
Beginning
Begun*
Note: *past participle could be in an irregular verb such as begin
c. Participles can function as a verb, nouns or various types of
modifiers (verb or noun modifier).
d. As a verb: another verb must be before it.

i. She is playing soccer <- is acting as a verb before

the participle playing
e. ing words that are not separate by a COMMA:
i. Acts as a subject
1. Playing soccer is fun (Playing =subject (noun))
ii. Either modifies the noun
1. The girl playing soccer is my sister.
a. There is no verb before playing so it cant
be acting as a verb
b. It is not the subject.
c. There for it is modifying the subject (Girl)
f. Comma ing is an adverbial modifier.
g. ed modifiers act the same way except
i. They can act as a verb along (She played soccer)
ii. It cannot act as a noun or subject.
d. Noun modifier: Relative Pronouns
a. Which, that, who, whose, whom, where and signifies
modifiers (sometimes that is used for complex sentences)
b. Do not use that or which for people.
i. The factory workers which went on strike < wrong
ii. The factory worker who went on strike.
c. Use which only to refer to a noun (never a verb)
i. Which typically begins with a comma and refers to
the noun directly before the comma
ii. Crime has recently decreased in our neighborhood,
which has led to a rise in property values.
1. Crime and Neighborhood are the only nouns in
the clause
2. Which cannot be referring to them <- not
logical
3. Which is trying to refer to the verb
(decreased). Which is wrong!
iii. Crime has recently decreased in our neighborhood,
leading to a rise in property values.
d. Use that for essential modifiers <-marker for essential
modifier is no comma.
e. Use which for non-essential modifiers <- marker for nonessential modifiers is comma.
f. Who and whom: for modifying people
g. Whose: can modify people or things
h. Which or whom follows prepositions: "through which
(Through is a preposition, in which, for whom
i. In which can be used to modify a place instead of
where
ii. E.g. a 13th century rebellion was centered in Rome,
the city in which papacy resided in the 14th century.

i. Where is used to modify a place CANNOT be used for

situation case circumstances.
i. Typical error: we had arranged where he cooked and I
cleaned.
ii. Correction: We had arranged in which he cooked and
I cleaned.
e. Examples:
a. People that are well informed know that Bordeaux is a
French region whose most famous export is the wine
which bears its name.
i. That <- wrong! That cannot be used to reference a
person. Replace with who
ii. Whose<- correct. Can be used to reference a person
or things
iii. Which <- used as a non-essential clause with a
comma. Here bears its name/ is an essential clause
so replace with that.
b. People who are well informed know that Bordeaux is a
French region whose most famous export is the wine that
bears its name.
c. Of all the earthquakes in European history, the earthquake,
which destroyed Lisbon in 1755, is perhaps the most
famous.
i. Error because a logical essential modifier is shown as
a non-essential modifier by which and comma.
d. Of all the earthquakes in European history, the earthquake
that destroyed Lisbon in 1755 is perhaps the most famous.
f. Adverbial modifiers:
a. Modify anything else except a noun (verb or clause)
b. Answer questions such as how, when, where, or why an
action occurred but this time, the answer will not point to a
noun.
c. They act on a verb on the action/clause in itself
d. Modifier touch rule does not apply to verbs. Verb
modifier can appear anywhere on the sentence as long as
it is clear what it is modifying.
e. Careful!: The CEO declared that everyone has to work
everyday through the holiday to make the production
deadline, but in calling for such an extreme measure,
the companys employees were upset to the point of
mutiny.
i. In calling for such an extreme measure <modifier
ii. Is it modifying the action of the CEO or modifying the
employees reaction?

1. But is a conjunction so it modifying the clause

afterwards (see page 63)
g. Subject of a participle must always appear in the sentence
a. E.g. Congress lowered taxes, stimulating the economy <subject is Congress
b. Error: taxes were lowered, stimulating the economy <subject is missing
h. Subordinators:
a. Although, before, unless, because, that, so that, if, yet,
after, while, since, when.
b. Make sure that the right contrast is being portrayed.
i. Sentence A: Although the economy is strong, the
retail industry is struggling
ii. Sentence B: Although the economy is strong, the
retail industry is doing well.
iii. Sentence A is correct because the contrast is
portrayed.
Parallelism
i. Once outside and twice inside
j. What out for parallelism markers. Preposition should be inside
twice or outside once
a. E.g. Not only A but also B (A and B is inside)
b. WRONG: Not only with A but also B is wrong because with
is only inside once.
i. Should be Not only with A but also with B OR
ii. With Not only A but also B
k. Two verbs with the same auxiliary verb:
a. Once OUTSIDE: E.g. was doing X but thinking about Y, was
not only doing X but thinking about Y,
b. Twice INSIDE: E.g. was doing X but was thinking about Y,
not only was doing X but was thinking about Y,
l. Three verbs with the same auxiliary verb: inside outside rules
may be right but too wordy. Be careful about the error of outside
and partially inside e
a. E.g. was doing x, thinking about Y and was saying Z
m. Conjunctions (and, but, yet) & Infinitive parallelism:
a. To do X yet do Y: to is used once OUTSIDE and is correct
b. To see A, think B and do C is correct
n. Correlative Conjunctions (not only X but also Y) & Infinitive
parallelism:
a. Be careful about split infinitive: to understand (correct) vs.
to deeply understand (incorrect, deeply splits the infinitive
verb).
b. To Not only do X but also do Y is incorrect <- not only splits
the infinitive

c. Not only to do X but also do Y is incorrect <- once outside,

twice inside rule
d. Not only to do X but also to do Y is correct
o. Relative clauses (e.g relative pronouns) :
a. Preference is two inside because once outside can lead to
confusion
b. I admire writers who call convention into question and
challenge the status quo
i. Who challenges: I vs writers?
ii. Leads to diferent meanings depending on the
interpretation
c. Correction: I admire writers who call convention into
question and who challenge the status quo
p. Omitting words: Parrallelism allows that
a. E,g: Mark went to Paris for work in January, Luke went to
Paris for work in April <- wrong two independent clauses
cannot be separated by comma
b. Mark went to Paris for work in January and Luke went to
Paris for work in April <- correct but too wordy
c. Mark went to Paris for work in January, and Luke in April <too short
d. Mark went to Paris for work in January, and Luke did so in
April <- correct
e. Do so, did so, can be used to omit words connected by
parallelism
q. Comparison:
a. Than, more, less, like, unlike, similar to, diferent from,
compared to, in contrast to/with, as as
b. Comparisons must be logical.
c. E,g Software X crashes more often than Software J
i. What is being compared? Software X crashes to
Software J? <-illogical
ii. Correction: Software X crashes more often than does
Software J
d. GMAT typical error.
Key differences
Live vs. AS comparisons
a. Use Like for nouns. Can have a clause as long as it is a noun
modifying clause
b. Use As for clauses
a. Eg. He walked into the office like Bogart sauntered into
Ricks Caf in Caseblanca <- wrong, action. Like+ noun
+ full verb
b. He walked into the office as Bogart sauntered into Ricks
Caf in Caseblanca <- right

c. He walked into the office like Bogart sauntering into

Ricks Caf in Caseblanca <- right, like + noun+ noun
modifier.
d. He walked into the office like Bogart sauntering into
Ricks Caf in Caseblanca <- right, like + noun+ noun
modifier.
Like vs. including:
Like is used to indicate similarities
Including is used to introduce examples
Past perfect
Had: Used for a situation where there are 2 events and the had
event happened first.
The second event must be CONCLUDED IN THE past

For- Verbing:
Mostly wrong or considered awkward
o E.g. Money for spending is wrong
Use the infinitive (to-verb)
Being Commonly wrong when used in the middle of the sentence
Some say it is used to describe a temporary state

Others say it is used as a connector in the beginning of a

sentence, or immediately after a comma.
It is usually replaced with as or since or eliminate it altogether

Subjunctive mood:
Orders demands,
Laws, restrictions, rules,
Suggestions, requests.
Instruction sentence always include that to announce the
instruction
a. The doctor suggested that the patient reduce sugar and carbs
intake
Notice it is reduce (plural for what is being reduced)
Hypothetical sentences
If, suppose
Use were not was
Use would, could, should,
If I were to win the election, I would restore the vitality of the
downtown area
Comparison
As_____ as; like/unlike___ than
Make sure the right thing is being compared. Dont imply!
Like vs such as
o Like is used to compare something similar
o Such as is used for examples
o Example: Some types of bears, like polar bears are more
likely to attack humans when searching for food, than are
American black bears. <- WRONG, like should be used for
similarity not as an example
o Correction: Some types of bears, such as polar bears are
more likely to attack humans when searching for food, than
are American black bears. <- WRONG
RC Summary:
1. On Paper
a. Headline each paragraph
b. Bullet Key points you will forget
i. ABBREV!!!!!!
ii. Cause and efect
c. Dont copy everything!
2. Point:

a. The main idea that the author wants to convey

b. Can be located anywhere
c. Often one of the following
i. Resolution (of a problem)
ii. Answer (to a questions)
iii. New Idea (vs old Idea)
iv. Reason (for a phenomenon)
d. Similar to the conclusion of CR Argument but not usually as
opinionated.
e. Note the point on the headline list afterwards
The various works at the Library of Congress, including rare titles such
as Margaret Hayworths Letter, ____ irreplaceable.

Idiomatic Expressions
1. Dated to be vs. Dated at?
a. Correct: Dated at
2. Ability to vs Ability for?
a. Correct: Ability to
3. Enable to and able to are the same thing
4. GMAT Does not like in that. In that is the same as in as much
as
a. GMAT Prefers for to imply because of
Present Progressive (is- + verb-ing): Used to state facts that are
happening atm
Present Perfect: Used to state facts that are true in the current time
(may not be happening in the instance
E.g Amy is boiling water <at this instance if you find Amy she
is boiling water
Water boils at 100deg <- fact that is true in the present may
not necessary be boing water at the moment.
Past Progressive (was + verb-ing) used to describe continuous event
that was happening in the past when another event occurred.
Amy was sleeping when the phone rang.