GMAT Sentence Correction Questions

Written by Kelly Granson. Posted in GMAT Study Guide

GMAT Sentence Correction Questions

The main purpose of GMAT Sentence Correction questions is to test your ability to compose grammatically correct and well-structured sentences. In other words, you will have to deal with the grammar rules and standards of written English.

Note that spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are NOT tested on the GMAT.

Each Sentence Correction question has the same structure:

  • A sentence, part of which is underlined. (Sometimes, you will see the whole sentence underlined.) Your task is to determine whether this part is correct and to improve it if it's not.
  • Five answer options for the underlined portion of the sentence. Answer choice A always repeats the original sentence.


The most common errors in GMAT Sentence Correction questions deal with modifiers, subject-verb agreement and pronouns. Of course, these are not the only things tested, but if you master these three topics perfectly, at least to the extent they are tested on the GMAT, your Sentence Correction performance will improve significantly.

Your Approach to GMAT Sentence Correction Questions

  1. Read the whole sentence; try to spot mistakes while you are reading. Make sure you understand the entire sentence, its structure and meaning. In Sentence Correction questions, even a grammatically correct answer choice may be wrong, if it twists the intended meaning.
  2. Look through the answer choices. Usually, they can give you an idea of what is tested. Don't read (A) since it repeats the original sentence. Eliminate answer choices that contain any mistakes.
  3. When you spot an error, eliminate all answer choices that have the same error. It is common for GMAT Sentence Correction questions to include the same error(s), in several answer choices.
  4. If you read the original sentence and don't find any grammatical mistakes, it is quite possible that it is correct, but still read the answer choices. The sentence must be both grammatically correct and well structured; perhaps one of the answer choices conveys the same idea more clearly. But still note that in Sentence Correction questions choice A is just as likely to be the correct answer choice as is any other choice.
  5. If you have eliminated all but two answer choices, look at the differences between the two remaining ones. The error is there somewhere. Check the parts that are differently worded or that are present in one choice, but not in the other.
  6. Read the entire sentence with the best answer choice. Does it sound well? Does it communicate the meaning? If yes, choose this answer and move on.
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