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GMAT (Subject) / Verbal - Sentence Correction (Lesson)
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- Hypothesis / Hypotheses Physics Hypothesis and physics are confusing words. They end with -s, which makes us think of them as a plural subject, but they are, in fact, singular (the plural form of hypothesis is hypotheses; physics has only one form).
- Native-American folklore portrays a reality in which recurring instances of animalistic shapeshifting are ascribed to shamans or medicine women; often, the ingestion of various herbs, known today to contain hallucinogenics, are the means to achieve this transformation. plural
- AWA Is it necessary to conserve energy? Energy conservation has become a hot topic in the United States as of late. There are those who debate climate change and those who affirm it, those who assert that humans are depleting the world's natural resources, including fossil fuels, and those who believe that humans are barely making a dent in consuming the resources the earth has to offer In the preceding statement, the author claims that (paraphrase of the author's argument) Though his claim may well have merit, the author presents a poorly reasoned argument, based on several questionable premises and assumptions, and based solely on the evidence the author offers, we cannot accept his argument as valid. The primary issue with the author's reasoning lies in his unsubstantiated premises. The author's premises, the basis for his argument, lack any legitimate evidentiary support and render his conclusion unacceptable. In addition, the author makes several assumptions that remain unproven. The author weakens his argument by making assumptions and failing to provide explication of the links between X and Y he assumes exists. While the author does have several key issues in his argument's premises and assumptions, that is not to say that the entire argument is without base. Though there are several issues with the author's reasoning at present, with research and clarification, he could improve his argument significantly. In sum, the author's illogical argument is based on unsupported premises and unsubstantiated assumptions that render his conclusion invalid. If the author truly hopes to change his readers' minds on the issue, he would have to largely restructure his argument, fix the flaws in his logic, clearly explicate his assumptions, and provide evidentiary support. Without these things, his poorly reasoned argument will likely convince few people.
- Advanced Work Order 1. Read the ENTIRE sentence and identify 0-2 mistakes in it with the help of Stop Signs. 2. Go over the 5 answer choices vertically, focusing only on the part(s) in which the original sentence is mistaken. Eliminate answer choices that repeat the original mistake(s). If you're left with one answer choice only - choose it. 3. GRAMMAR If you're left with more than one answer choice, eliminate all grammatically incorrect / illogical answer choices. If you're left with one answer choice only - choose it. 4. STYLE If you're left with more than one answer choice, eliminate all stylistically flawed answer choices (i.e., redundant and/or ambiguous ones). If you're left with one answer choice only - choose it. 5. MEAN If you're left with more than one answer choice, eliminate all answer choices that change the meaning of the original sentence. If you're left with one answer choice only - choose it. 6. FIT If you're left with more than one answer choice, eliminate all answer choices that do not fit into the rest of the sentence (i.e., the part of the original sentence which is not underlined). You may find it easier to remember the work order according to the acronym ROGer iS Mean and Fit (Read and eliminate --> the Original mistake --> Grammatical errors / illogical sentences --> Stylistic flaws --> change of Meaning --> answers that don't Fit.
- Which parts of speech are there? A. Noun A noun is a word used to name a person (e.g., John, Clinton, woman, president), animal (e.g., cat, lions), place (e.g., Rome, China, school, home), thing (e.g., chair, game) and abstract idea (e.g., dream, freedom, love). B. Adjective An Adjective describes a noun. In English, an adjective usually comes before the noun it describes. Examples of adjectives are big, red, beautiful, incredible and good. C. Verb A verb expresses actions, events, or states of being. Examples of verbs are loves, walked, to sleep, driven, will, be, have and talking. D. Adverb The main function of an adverb is to describe a verb. An adverb indicates the manner of or the degree to which an action was performed and answers questions such as how? and how much? Adverbs typically end with a ly suffix (examples: diligently, sufficiently, incredibly), but not always so: fast and slow can also be used as adverbs to describe verbs: he ran fast. E. Article An article (e.g., a, some, many) describes a noun, giving us mostly quantitative information about the noun. The other three parts of speech are Pronoun, Conjunction and Preposition. We will discuss them in detail separately throughout the course.
- Suffixes Noun Some suffixes help us identify the word which ends in them as a noun: -tion: relation, action, realization -sion: vision, comprehension, compassion -ance: importance, radiance, performance -ence: difference, sentence, violence -ity: reality, community, responsibility -ship: friendship, hardship, relationship -dom: freedom, kingdom, boredom -ment: commitment, apartment, movement -ness: correctness, effectiveness, blindness
- Suffixes Verb Typical verb endings: -ize: realize, energize, characterize -ify: simplify, purify, magnify -ed: wanted, opened, started -ing: wanting, opening, starting -s: wants, opens, starts
- Adjective identification through suffixes -ant: important, radiant, elegant-ent: different, evident, violent -able: reliable, admirable, capable -ible: terrible, responsible, horrible -ful: careful, wonderful, shameful -less: careless, shameless, homeless -ous: dangerous, obvious, famous -ive: active, passive, imaginative -al: national, physical, fictional -y: healthy, rainy, bossy
- STOP SIGN: Non-Count articles ! Some articles, such as the, can be used with all nouns: singular nouns (e.g., the cat) plural nouns (e.g., the cats) count nouns (again, the cat) non-count nouns (e.g., the air). Other articles can only be used with count nouns, and still others can only be used with non-count nouns. count noun (chairs, tables) non-count noun (milk, air) many mucha few a littlefew littlefewer less the number of the amount of
- The corporation has confirmed with its subsidiary that out of the entire volume of market study carried out in the parent-company's name, the foreign markets analysis remains confidential. the entire volume of market study
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- Main function of an adverb The main function of an adverb is to describe a verb. Example: John speaks clearly. An adverb usually comes AFTER the verb it describes, but can also appear BEFORE the verb. Example: John clearly meant no harm. An adverb has only one typical suffix: -ly. Often, adding -ly to an adjective turns it into an adverb. Examples:1. John is an extremely nice man.2. John speaks extremely clearly.
- Common adverbs without an -ly suffix fast, hard, very, well Examples:1. John drives fast.2. John works hard.3. John drives very carefully. 4. John speaks French well.
- Possession words. Tangible and Intangible Whereas expressing possession by using of is always allowed, expressing possession using 's is only allowed with concrete (that is, tangible, or not abstract) nouns. Incorrect: love's power Correct: the power of love
- Affect vs. Effect Affect is a verb, meaning to influence. Effect is a noun, close in meaning to result or consequence. Example: The trauma affected John. It had an enormous effect on him.