<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Using Your Ear – GMAT</title> <atom:link href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/tag/using-your-ear/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat</link> <description>GMAT Prep Course, Best GMAT Class & Study Books | Manhattan Prep GMAT</description> <lastBuildDate>Thu, 05 Sep 2019 16:00:09 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2</generator> <item> <title>The Top Three GMAT Sentence Correction Errors That Sound Totally Normal</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/the-top-three-gmat-sentence-correction-errors-that-sound-totally-normal/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chelsey Cooley]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 14 Mar 2016 15:13:37 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Study Guide]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sentence Correction]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Common Sentence Correction Errors]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gmat sentence correction]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Using Your Ear]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=11141</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here. Here are three simple mistakes that can fool even the best-trained ear. The GMAT loves testing these rules on tough Sentence Correction problems, since the […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/the-top-three-gmat-sentence-correction-errors-that-sound-totally-normal/">The Top Three GMAT Sentence Correction Errors That Sound Totally Normal</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-11146" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2016/03/blog-sounds.png" alt="blog-sounds" width="676" height="264" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2016/03/blog-sounds.png 676w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2016/03/blog-sounds-300x117.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px" /><strong><em>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=GMAT%20Complete%20Courses%20Plug&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog">Check out our upcoming courses here</a>.</em></strong></p> <hr /> <p>Here are three simple mistakes that can fool even the best-trained ear. The GMAT loves testing these rules on tough Sentence Correction problems, since the test writers know that we misuse them constantly in speech and in writing. Learn these rules by heart, and prevent avoidable mistakes when you take the GMAT.<span id="more-11141"></span></p> <ol> <li><strong> ‘Which’ modifiers modify nouns, not ideas.</strong></li> </ol> <p><em>Wrong: Laura kept kicking my chair during class, which is why I moved to a seat in the back row. </em></p> <p>When a modifier starts with a word like <em>which, who, whose, where,</em> and <em>when, </em>it’s always a noun modifier! It can only ever modify a specific noun (or noun phrase) that’s in the sentence verbatim. It also has to be completely obvious which noun is being modified.</p> <p>In the sentence above, the <em>which</em> phrase describes a consequence of ‘the fact that Laura kept kicking my chair’. ‘The fact that…’ isn’t a noun in the sentence; it’s the <em>idea </em>expressed by the entire first clause. That’s a common way to use <em>which</em> in casual speech and writing, but it’s technically <strong>wrong</strong>. Here’s a sentence that uses <em>which</em> correctly:</p> <p><em>Right: Laura spent the whole class kicking my chair, which finally collapsed to the floor. </em></p> <p><em>Which finally collapsed to the floor</em> modifies one specific noun, <em>chair</em>. Since it’s clearly the <em>chair</em> that collapsed to the floor, this sentence uses <em>which</em> correctly. ?</p> <ol start="2"> <li><strong> ‘Like’ means ‘similar to’, not ‘for example’. </strong></li> </ol> <p><em>Wrong: Tovia eats a lot of healthy food, like kale and spinach. </em></p> <p>I’d feel comfortable saying or writing this, but on the GMAT, it’s unacceptable. A good rule of thumb is that <em>like</em> means <em>similar to</em>, while <em>such as </em>means <em>for example</em>. Since kale and spinach aren’t <em>similar to</em> healthy food — they’re actually <em>examples of</em> healthy food — only <em>such as</em> is correct.</p> <p><em>Right: Tovia eats a lot of healthy food, such as kale and spinach.</em></p> <p><em>Right: Tovia’s spinach casserole was foul-tasting and chewy, like a piece of rubber.</em></p> <p>In the second sentence, <em>like</em> is correct because Tovia’s casserole wasn’t actually a piece of rubber. Unfortunately, it was <em>similar to</em> one. ?</p> <ol start="3"> <li><strong> ‘Either/or’ needs good parallelism. </strong></li> </ol> <p><em>Wrong: For an afternoon snack, Manoj either eats an avocado, or a whole head of broccoli. </em></p> <p>Whenever you see <em>either</em> and <em>or</em> in a Sentence Correction problem, check out the two things that are being compared. Mentally highlight everything that comes after <em>either</em>, and everything that comes after <em>or</em>:</p> <p><em>For an afternoon snack, Manoj <u>either</u><strong> eats an avocado</strong>, <u>or</u> <strong>a whole head of broccoli</strong>. </em></p> <p>This sentence sounds good to my ear, but it’s technically<strong> wrong</strong>. It’s actually comparing the verb phrase ‘eats an avocado’ with the noun phrase ‘a whole head of broccoli’. Correct sentences always compare nouns to nouns, and verbs to verbs. Fix this sentence by moving the word <em>either</em>.</p> <p><em>Right: For an afternoon snack, Manoj eats <u>either</u> <strong>an avocado</strong>, <u>or</u> <strong>a whole head of broccoli</strong>.</em></p> <p>Here’s another correct sentence, this time comparing a verb phrase to a verb phrase:</p> <p><em>Right: After eating his snack, Manoj <u>either</u> <strong>goes back to work</strong>, <u>or</u> <strong>plays a round of foosball</strong>. </em></p> <p><em> </em>In casual speech, we aren’t very careful about where we put the word <em>either</em> in either/or sentences! To avoid this error on the GMAT, look for splits that move the word <em>either</em> around in the sentence. Some of the answer choices will probably have bad parallelism. ?</p> <p><strong>These three grammar rules often fool test-takers who are otherwise great at Sentence Correction</strong><em>. </em>The more you use your ear, the easier it is to pick a bad answer choice just because it sounds fine to you. For more practice with these specific rules, check out the <em>Modifiers</em>, <em>Parallelism</em>, and <em>Parallelism & Comparisons: Extra</em> chapters of our <a href="//www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/store/strategy-guides/sentence-correction/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=GMAT%20Blog%20Sentence%20Correction%20Strategy%20Guide%20Plug&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog" target="_blank">Sentence Correction Strategy Guide</a>. Also, consider keeping a list of other rules that have fooled your ear in the past. The more aware you are of the specific rules that trick you when you practice, the less likely it is that you’ll make the same mistakes on test day. ?</p> <hr /> <p><strong>Want full access to Chelsey’s sage GMAT wisdom? Try the first class of one of <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyCoursesLinkGMATBlog&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog#instructor/336">her upcoming GMAT courses</a> for absolutely free, no strings attached. </strong></p> <hr /> <p><em><strong><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank">Chelsey Cooley</a><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chelsey-cooley/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyBioGREBlog&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-10949 size-thumbnail" title="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GMAT Instructor" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2016/01/chelsey-cooley-150x150.png" alt="Chelsey Cooley Manhattan Prep GMAT Instructor" width="150" height="150" /></a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based in Seattle, Washington.</strong> Chelsey always followed her heart when it came to her education. Luckily, her heart led her straight to the perfect background for GMAT and GRE teaching: she has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and history, a master’s degree in linguistics, a 790 on the GMAT, and a perfect 170/170 on the GRE. Check out Chelsey’s upcoming GMAT prep offerings <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=CooleyCoursesLinkGMATBlog&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog#instructor/336">here</a>.</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/the-top-three-gmat-sentence-correction-errors-that-sound-totally-normal/">The Top Three GMAT Sentence Correction Errors That Sound Totally Normal</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>A “Good Ear” isn’t Good Enough on GMAT Sentence Correction</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/a-good-ear-isnt-good-enough-on-gmat-sentence-correction/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Céilidh Erickson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 03 Mar 2016 16:47:17 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[For Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GMAT Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Sentence Correction]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gmat sentence correction]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Logical Comparisons]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Modifiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[parallelism]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Pronoun Agreement]]></category> <category><![CDATA[subject verb agreement]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Using Your Ear]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verb Tenses]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/?p=11100</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here. If you’re anything like me, you read books and articles avidly (although maybe less often than you did in college), and you’ve been told that […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/a-good-ear-isnt-good-enough-on-gmat-sentence-correction/">A “Good Ear” isn’t Good Enough on GMAT Sentence Correction</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-11101" src="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2016/03/blog-ear.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GMAT Blog - A Good Ear Isn't Good Enough on GMAT Sentence Correction " width="676" height="264" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2016/03/blog-ear.png 676w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2016/03/blog-ear-300x117.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px" /></p> <p><strong><em>Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=GMAT%20Complete%20Courses%20Plug&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog">Check out our upcoming courses here</a>.</em></strong></p> <hr /> <p>If you’re anything like me, you read books and articles avidly (although maybe less often than you did in college), and you’ve been told that you’re a good writer (although you <em>definitely </em>write less than you did in college). The Sentence Correction portion of GMAT Verbal seems like it should be easy for you: fix anything that sounds like bad writing, and you’ll do well here.</p> <p>Unfortunately, that assumption is wrong.<span id="more-11100"></span></p> <p>You might think that if your Verbal percentage is high on your first practice test, you don’t need to learn a lot of grammar rules. Your time would be better spent memorizing geometry or practicing exponents. For one thing, focusing on your <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/2016/02/11/heres-why-you-may-be-misinterpreting-your-gmat-score/" target="_blank">percentile rather than your raw score is a fallacy</a>. For another, neglecting grammar rules means leaving “getable” points on the table.</p> <p>The GMAT has clever ways of messing with students who don’t bother to learn grammar, and who just rely on their ears…</p> <p><strong>Things that “sound fine” may be wrong.</strong></p> <p>The GMAT knows which grammatical errors the average ear won’t pick up. Take a look at this sentence from a GMATPrep® problem, and ask yourself how it sounds:</p> <p><em>Both weakened by concern about the government’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund and by growing fears of a rise in inflation, the country’s currency continued its slide to a record low against the dollar, which forced the central bank to intervene for the fourth time in a week. </em></p> <p>You might think, “it sounds wordy, and the ‘slide to a record low’ sounded a bit weird, but the rest sounded fine.” If so, you were distracted by non-issues, and you missed two of the GMAT’s favorite traps!</p> <ol> <li>In a parallel structure with <em>both X and Y</em>, the X and Y portions must be in <em>exactly</em> the same format. If the meaning is clear enough, your ear will not hear the mixups in the structure. Look at what comes directly after <em>both</em> and what comes directly after <em>and</em>:</li> </ol> <p><em>Both <strong>weakened </strong>by concern about the government’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund and <strong>by </strong>growing fears of a rise in inflation, the country’s currency continued its slide to a record low against the dollar, which forced the central bank to intervene for the fourth time in a week.</em></p> <p>This structure is not parallel. A right answer would have said “<em>Weakened both by… and by…”</em> or “<em>Both weakened by… and weakened by…”</em></p> <p>You need to know <em>exact</em> rules of parallelism!</p> <ol start="2"> <li>The modifier starting with “<em>which</em>” is not correct here. This is one that your ear is unlikely to catch, because we’re almost all guilty of using “which” incorrectly in colloquial English: “I’m a good reader, which means I should do well on SC.” That’s incorrect grammar <em>and</em> incorrect logic!</li> </ol> <p>A dependent clause starting with “which” should refer to the NOUN that comes directly before it. In our example sentence, the structure “… <em>against the dollar, which forced the central bank to intervene</em>…” implies that the <em>dollar</em> forced the bank to intervene. If we want to express that the ACTION of the currency sliding is what’s causing the bank to intervene, we can’t use “<em>which</em>.”</p> <p>The grammatically correct way to express this is to use an ADVERBIAL modifier, such as a present participle: “… <em>against the dollar<strong>, forcing</strong> the central bank to intervene</em>…”</p> <p>You need to know the grammatical difference between noun modifiers and adverbial modifiers.</p> <p><strong>Things that “sound bad” may be right.</strong></p> <p>On the flip side, the GMAT also knows that most students have a hard time distinguishing between sentences that are grammatically incorrect and those that are correct but awkward in style. You will see archaic or convoluted structures, and be tempted to cross them out. Make sure you’re only eliminating sentences that violate real grammar rules, or that have illogical meaning!</p> <p>Consider this GMATPrep® sentence:</p> <p><em><u>The bones of </u></em><u><em>Majunatholusatopus, a meat-eating dinosaur that is a distant relative of Tyrannosaurus rex</em> <em>and closely resembles South American predatory dinosaurs, have been discovered in Madagascar.</em></u></p> <p>“Nope! That sounds terrible,” you might think. You’re not wrong – it does sounds terrible! Any decent high school English teacher would have made you edit and rearrange this sentence if you had written it in a paper.</p> <p>I have frustrating news for you, though… this was the <em>correct</em> answer on this problem. There is nothing grammatically wrong with this sentence! The “have” sounds awkward because it’s so far removed from its subject, but the subject is “bones,” so “have” is perfectly correct.</p> <p>Your task is not to ask yourself “what’s the best possible version of this sentence? How would I have written it?” That ideal sentence may not be there in the answer choices.</p> <p>Instead, ask yourself: does this sentence violate any grammar rules that I know? Or is it illogical in meaning? If the answer to those questions is “no,” then don’t eliminate that answer choice.</p> <p><strong>Studying grammar isn’t as bad as you think</strong>.</p> <p>Most of us hated studying grammar in high school, because it seemed nit-picky, and the list of rules seemed endless. The good news about the GMAT, though, is that there is a much shorter list of rules tested, and most of these rules involved logical meaning as well as structure.</p> <p>These are the most commonly tested rules:</p> <ul> <li><strong>parallelism</strong> of lists: <em>either X or Y</em></li> <li><strong>logical comparisons</strong>: <em>X more than Y</em></li> <li><strong>modifier</strong> <strong>usage</strong>: are we modifying the correct thing in a logical way?</li> <li><strong>subject/verb agreement</strong>: singular noun + singular verb, plural noun + plural verb</li> <li><strong>pronoun agreement</strong>: a pronoun should agree with (and make sense with) the noun that it replaces</li> <li><strong>verb tenses</strong>: it should be clear when an action is taking place</li> </ul> <p>If you master the fine points of these rules and when to recognize them, you’ll gain far more points on SC than you would if you just relied on your ear!</p> <p>* GMATPrep® questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.</p> <hr /> <p><strong>Want full access to Céilidh’s trove of GMAT knowledge? Try the first class of one of <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Ceilidh%20Erickson%20InstruCeilidh%20Erickson%20Upcoming%20GMAT%20Courses%20Plug&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog#instructor/276">her upcoming GMAT courses</a> absolutely free, no strings attached. </strong></p> <hr /> <p><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/ceilidh-erickson/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Ceilidh%20Erickson%20Instructor%20Bio&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog" target="_blank"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft wp-image-10992 size-thumbnail" title="Ceilidh Erickson Manhattan Prep GMAT Instructor" src="//d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gmat/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2016/02/ceilidh-erickson-150x150.png" alt="ceilidh-erickson-Manhattan-Prep-GMAT-Instructor" width="150" height="150" /></a><em><strong><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/ceilidh-erickson/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Ceilidh%20Erickson%20Instructor%20Bio&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog" target="_blank">Céilidh Erickson</a> is a Manhattan Prep instructor based on New York City.</strong> When she tells people that her name is pronounced “kay-lee,” she often gets puzzled looks. Céilidh is a graduate of Princeton University, where she majored in comparative literature. After graduation, tutoring was always the job that bought her the greatest joy and challenge, so she decided to make it her full-time job. Check out <a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/classes/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgmat%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=Ceilidh%20Erickson%20InstruCeilidh%20Erickson%20Upcoming%20GMAT%20Courses%20Plug&utm_campaign=GMAT%20Blog#instructor/276" target="_blank">Céilidh’s upcoming GMAT courses</a> (she scored a 760, so you’re in great hands).</em></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/blog/a-good-ear-isnt-good-enough-on-gmat-sentence-correction/">A “Good Ear” isn’t Good Enough on GMAT Sentence Correction</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat">GMAT</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>