What to Expect on the GMAT Verbal Section

Based on the title “Verbal section,” you might expect this portion of the exam to measure your oral commu-
nication skills or your ability to express yourself effectively in writing. But that is not quite what the Verbal
section is about. It is designed to measure three rather different groups of skills. The questions on the GMAT
Verbal section can be divided into the following categories:
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reading comprehension questions that test your ability to read and understand sophisticated written
texts
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critical reasoning questions that test your reasoning skills and ability to evaluate arguments
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sentence correction questions that test your knowledge of standard written English and the elements
of effective writing
The 41 multiple-choice questions in the Verbal section are divided evenly among these three types. Each
category contains approximately 13
—
14 questions, and you will have 75 minutes to complete this portion of
the test.
CHAPTER
What to Expect
on the GMAT
Verbal Section
The GMAT
®
Verbal section actually covers a rather varied and com-
plex set of knowledge and skills. In this chapter, you will learn all
about the Verbal section, including what types of questions it
includes and what kinds of skills it measures.
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Reading Comprehension Questions

You have probably taken many tests with reading comprehension questions in your academic career, and you
probably have a good idea what to expect from this portion of the Verbal section. You will be given between
three and five reading passages of 150 to 350 words each. You will then be asked a series of multiple-choice
questions about each passage. Each question will have five answer choices; you must choose the best answer.
Types of Passages
The reading comprehension passages on the GMAT exam are usually academic in nature. They may cover
any topic from the physical or life sciences, social sciences, humanities, or business, but you do not need to
be familiar with the topic to be able to answer the questions. The questions test what you understand and can
logically infer from the information in the text, not what you may already know about the topic.
The writing in these passages is serious and sophisticated. You can expect college-level material of the
sort you might see in graduate school. Most passages will contain between four and seven paragraphs and
are about 150 to 350 words long. You will typically be asked three to five questions about each passage.
The passages on the GMAT exam are either informative or argumentative. An informative passage
might, for example, explain Einstein’s theory of relativity, evaluate its impact on science and society, or dis-
cuss how current findings in physics are forcing a revision of Einstein’s theory. An argumentative passage, on
the other hand, might argue that Einstein’s theory of relativity is the most important scientific discovery of
the twentieth century; that the theory of relativity dramatically altered humans’ understanding of themselves,
their place in the universe, and their relationships to each other; or that a revision of the theory of relativity
will encourage more research in the existence of other dimensions. Some passages are both informative and
argumentative. For example, a passage may explain the theory of relativity in the first three paragraphs and
argue in the last three that it is the most important scientific discovery of the twentieth century.
Types of Questions
The GMAT Verbal section has essentially four types of reading comprehension questions:
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Basic comprehension questions test your ability to understand the words and ideas expressed in the
passage. You may be asked about the main idea of the text or the best way to paraphrase a definition or
key concept discussed in the passage. Questions 1 and 2 from the pretest are examples of basic compre-
hension questions.
■
Analysis questions test your ability to see the structure of a passage and the relationship between the

ideas in the passage. You may be asked to identify the main idea, to distinguish between main and sup-
porting ideas, to identify the strongest support, or to identify the organizational pattern of the text. You
may also be asked about the effect of the organization or other techniques or the relationship between
ideas discussed in the text. Question 3 from the pretest is an example of an analysis question.
■
Inference questions test your ability to draw logical conclusions based upon the facts and ideas
expressed in the passage. You may be asked how the author might feel about a related subject, for
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example, or why the author includes certain passages or uses certain techniques in the text. Questions 4
and 5 from the pretest are examples of inference questions.
■
Quantitative interpretation questions test your ability to understand quantitative concepts expressed
in textual (as opposed to graphic) form and interpret the numerical data to draw conclusions about the
text. For example, you may be asked which prediction about the subject is most logical based on the
quantitative information in the passage or to use that information to determine which aspect or feature
of the subject has a particular characteristic (e.g., “Which experiment resulted in the most dramatic
change for participants?”). Question 6 from the pretest is a quantitative interpretation question; it asks
how the idea expressed in the text might be represented in quantitative form.
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Critical Reasoning Questions
Although many standardized test questions indirectly test critical thinking skills, the kind of critical reason-
ing questions you will find on the GMAT exam may be new to you. As you saw on the pretest, each critical
reasoning question presents you with a short argument followed by a question stem and five multiple-choice
options. The exam contains approximately 13
—
14 critical reasoning questions. If the pretest was your first
experience with this type of question, do not worry. By the end of this section, critical reasoning questions

and the skills you will need to answer these questions correctly should be very familiar to you.
Types of Passages
Critical reasoning questions, like reading comprehension questions, are based upon reading passages about
a wide range of topics, but they have a few important differences. For one thing, the critical-reasoning pas-
sages are much shorter
—
only one or two paragraphs
—
and each passage only has one question. More impor-
tantly, each passage presents an argument (or at least part of an argument). Some of these arguments will be
logical and well reasoned; others will be built upon faulty logic or invalid assumptions. As with the reading
comprehension passages, you do not need to know anything about the topic discussed in the passage in order
to answer the question correctly. In fact, sometimes your knowledge of the topic can interfere with making
the correct choice. It may lead you to choose an answer that is not supported by the information in the
passage.
Types of Questions
To measure your critical thinking skills, the GMAT exam presents you with three types of critical reasoning
questions:
■
Structure questions test your ability to recognize basic argument structure. For example, you may be
asked to identify the conclusion, premises, or underlying assumptions of an argument. Questions 9 and
11 from the pretest are structure questions.
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Common Question Stems
Because critical reasoning questions may be new to you, their format might take some getting used to. The fol-
lowing is a sampling of the kind of stems you might see on critical reasoning questions:
• All of the following are valid objections to the argument EXCEPT

• The statements, if true, best support which of the following assertions?
• If the information in the statement is true, which of the following must also be true?
• If the information in the statement is true, all of the following statements must also be true EXCEPT
• The argument is based upon all of the following assumptions EXCEPT
• All of the following conclusions can reasonably be drawn from the argument EXCEPT
• Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the argument?
• Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument?
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Evaluation questions test your ability to measure the effectiveness of an argument and recognize com-
mon errors in reasoning. You might be asked to identify factors that would strengthen or weaken the
argument, for example, or which aspect of the argument rests on faulty logic. Questions 7, 10, 12, and
13 from the pretest are evaluation questions. The majority of critical reasoning questions on the GMAT
exam will probably fall into this category.
■
Extension questions test your ability to determine effective and appropriate plans of action. You may
be asked to evaluate the effectiveness and appropriateness of a proposed plan of action or to identify
what assumptions underlie a particular proposal. Question 8 from the pretest is an extension question.
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Sentence Correction Questions
Sentence correction questions should return you to more familiar ground, as you are likely to have seen ques-
tions of this sort on previous standardized tests. This last group of 13
—
14 questions presents you with
sentences that sound like they have been excerpted from newspaper or magazine articles, academic journals,
or nonfiction books or textbooks. In other words, the sentences will likely be serious and complex. Once again,
the passages can be about any topic, but you do not need to know anything about the topic to answer the ques-
tion correctly.
For each question, part or all of the sentence is underlined. You must determine which of the five
multiple-choice answers is the most correct and effective way to express the idea in the underlined portion

of the sentence.
Types of Questions
Sentence-correction questions are designed to measure two related but distinct aspects of effective writing:
grammar and style. These questions test your ability to identify and correct errors in standard written Eng-
lish and your understanding of what makes effective writing on the sentence level only. In contrast, the AWA
tests your ability to write effectively on three levels: the essay level, the paragraph level, and the sentence level.
Although the AWA requires you to actually write your own essay, in this section, you do not have to write your
own sentences. You do not need to identify errors in mechanics, including spelling, capitalization, or punc-
tuation, except as punctuation affects sentence boundaries and clarity. For example, you will not find sentences
with misspelled words, improper capitalization, or misused hyphens or apostrophes, but you will find sen-
tences that use a comma when a period should be used or sentences that misuse semicolons
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punctuation
issues that deal with establishing the right relationship between clauses and answers.
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Grammar questions test your knowledge of the rules and conventions of standard written English,
including correct sentence structure, idioms, and parallel structure. You will need to determine whether
sentences have errors such as run-ons or fragments, inconsistent verb tense, or unparallel structure.
You will not need to identify errors in mechanics, including punctuation, spelling, or capitalization.
These skills are not tested on the GMAT exam.
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Style questions test your ability to identify sentences that are clear, precise, and concise. You will see
many versions of sentences that are wordy, redundant, vague, awkward, and/or ambiguous. You will
need to determine which version expresses the idea with the most clarity, precision, and concision.
These three types of questions will be presented in random order throughout the exam. Thus, your
GMAT exam may begin with three or four questions based on a reading comprehension passage, then a sen-
tence correction question, then two critical reasoning questions followed by another sentence correction ques-
tion and reading comprehension passage.
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