Some GMAT Sentence Correction answer choices are wrong because their meaning isn’t clear enough – they might be misconstrued. But others are wrong because they have one clear meaning which is simply illogical. Almost always, this happens when the sentence is structured incorrectly so that a modifying clause is not properly attached to the element it’s intended to modify.
Syntax: the meaning of a sentence is governed by the positions of its elements (word order)
English has a code related to syntax (word order): the meaning of the sentence is governed by the positions of its elements. Using the exact same words, we can create two sentences with very different meanings:
The man ate the snake.
The snake ate the man.
You want to be the subject in this sentence, not the object. Sentence Correction questions won’t be so short and sweet, but once you see enough of these meaning mistakes, they’ll be some of the easiest errors for you to spot. Here’s an example to start:
GMAT Sentence Correction Question
Using study groups managed by the principal popular organizations and political parties, the Swedish public was informed by the government about energy and nuclear power.
(A) the Swedish public was informed by the government about energy and nuclear power
(B) the government informed the Swedish public about energy and nuclear power
(C) energy and nuclear power information was given to the Swedish public by the government
(D) Information about energy and nuclear power was given to the Swedish public by the government
(E) the public of Sweden was given energy and nuclear power information by the government
Here’s the all-important rule in the syntax “code” of English: when a sentence begins with a modifier or with a participle phrase, the first noun after that phrase is the person or thing being described in the modifier or performing the participle.
Grammar: Participle and Gerund
Grammar time: a participle is a verb being performed that ends with -ing; it is an auxiliary (extra) verb, never the main verb of the sentence. It gives extra information about how the main verb was done or about something that happened simultaneously. In this sentence, the main verb is informed. A verbal root can also end take the -ing ending while functioning as a noun rather than as a verb. In this usage it is called a gerund.
Eating is fun.
Vacuuming is not fun.
In these sentences, the words eating and vacuuming are actually nouns – each one functions as the subject of the main verb is.
Now that you know about participles and gerunds, let’s apply the syntax rule to this sentence. Who or what is doing the informing in this sentence? Who or what is “using study groups managed by the principal popular organizations and political parties” to do this informing? It’s the government of Sweden, not the public of Sweden, and certainly not information, as answer choices C and D indicate. The only logical answer choice is B!
GMAT Sentence Correction Question
Here’s a similar question:
Not trusting themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of investment opportunities on the market, stockbrokers are helping many people who turn to them to buy stocks that could be easily bought directly.
(A) stockbrokers are helping many people who turn to them to buy stocks that could be easily
(B) stockbrokers are helping many people who are turning to them for help in buying stocks that they could easily have
(C) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help from them to buy stocks that could be easily
(D) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help to buy stocks that easily could have been
(E) many people are turning to stockbrokers for help in buying stocks that could easily be
By beginning with stockbrokers, answer choices A and B say that these stockbrokers don’t trust themselves to choose wisely among the wide array of investment opportunities on the market. In 2022, this might be true, but it’s not the intended meaning of the sentence. The sentence is trying to say that many people don’t trust themselves to choose wisely and so turn to stockbrokers for help.
Choice C contains the unnecessary phrase from them after help, and choice D uses the wrong verb tense at the end and also misplaces the word easily. The correct answer is choice E.
GMAT Sentence Correction Question
Here’s an interesting one:
When viewed from the window of a speeding train, the speed with which nearby objects move seems faster than that of more distant objects.
(A) the speed with which nearby objects move seems faster than that of
(B) the speed that nearby objects move seems faster than for
(C) the speed of nearby objects seems faster than
(D) nearby objects’ speeds seem to be faster than those of
(E) nearby objects seem to move at a faster speed than do
We can answer this question very quickly by asking who or what is being viewed from the window of a speeding train. It is not the speed of nearby objects but nearby objects themselves.
The correct answer is choice E. Done.
GMAT Sentence Correction Question
Next:
Almost like clones in their similarity to one another, the cheetah species’ homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease.
(A) the cheetah species’ homogeneity makes them especially vulnerable to disease.
(B) the cheetah species is especially vulnerable to disease because of its homogeneity.
(C) the homogeneity of the cheetah species makes it especially vulnerable to disease.
(D) homogeneity makes members of the cheetah species especially vulnerable to disease.
(E) members of the cheetah species are especially vulnerable to disease because of their homogeneity.
Who or what are “almost like clones in their similarity to one another”? Not multiple cheetah species and certainly not homogeneity, as choices C and D indicate, but the members of the cheetah species. The correct answer is E again.
GMAT Sentence Correction Question
Here’s one more:
Rivaling the pyramids of Egypt or even the ancient cities of the Maya as an achievement, the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete.
(A) the army of terra-cotta warriors created to protect Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, in his afterlife is more than 2,000 years old and took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to complete.
(B) Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, was protected in his afterlife by an army of terra-cotta warriors that was created more than 2,000 years ago by 700,000 artisans who took more than 36 years to complete it.
(C) it took 700,000 artisans more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors more than 2,000 years ago that would protect Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, in his afterlife.
(D) more than 2,000 years ago, 700,000 artisans worked more than 36 years to create an army of terra-cotta warriors to protect Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, in his afterlife.
(E) more than 36 years were needed to complete the army of terra-cotta warriors that 700,000 artisans created 2,000 years ago to protect Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, in his afterlife.
It takes almost 36 years just to read those answer choices. Sheesh. If you know your modifier syntax rules, you can save yourself a lot of time and a massive headache. Who or what rivals the pyramids of Egypt or the ancient cities of the Maya as an achievement? Answer: the army of terra-cotta warriors. As soon as you see that none of the answer choices besides A begins this way, you’re done. The given sentence was fine, and A is the correct answer.
To learn more about another common error, check out our next article on “Common Sentence Correction Errors: Correlative Conjunctions”
Have you been studying for the GMAT and need a private tutor? Our elite tutors, who scored over 770 on the GMAT, offer 30-minute complimentary call.