GMAT

Grammar is, of course, an issue of concern on the Sentence Correction questions seen on the GMAT.  But good grammar is also generally helpful and is of special importance on the writing sample, which is your chance to show the admissions committee that you are adept at communicating in written English.  To improve your writing in general, sometimes it’s worthwhile to explore concepts in grammar that are only infrequently tested on the Verbal portion of the test.

One example of this kind of grammar issue is the possessive pronoun.  Possessive pronouns are similar to their non-possessive cousins, regular pronouns.  Both must have a clear antecedent, and both must agree with that antecedent in gender and in number.  There are a few tricky rules that come into play with possessive pronouns that you don’t see elsewhere, however.

1.  No apostrophes needed

When turning a regular singular noun into a possessive noun, one usually uses an apostrophe followed by an “s”.  An example would be “the librarian’s book.”  However, if we replace “the librarian’s” with a possessive pronoun, it would say “his book” or “her book,” no apostrophe needed.  People often become particularly confused by the possessive form of one specific pronoun: it.  The rule here is that “it” is followed by an apostrophe and an “s” only to indicate the contraction of “it is.”  The possessive form of the pronoun is “its.”

2.  Possessive pronouns typically function as adjectives

A possessive pronoun is used to describe a noun, as in the examples seen above.  The location of the adjective in the sentence can determine its form in some cases: one would speak of “her book,” but a descriptive sentence would say that “the book is hers.”  The same holds true for “their” and “theirs,” “your” and “yours,” and “our” and “ours.”  The possessive pronoun “my” changes form more dramatically; “my book” becomes “the book is mine.”

3.  Relative pronouns can also be possessive

Relative pronouns that we often use in the nominative case (who, whoever) or in the objective case (whom, whomever) also have a possessive case: “whose” and “whoever’s.”  “Whoever’s” is an exception to the “no apostrophes” rule, but you shouldn’t worry too much about it as it is rarely tested on the GMAT.

Example

A plan is being considered to cut costs by limiting the number of shrimp ingested by the flamingos at the zoo; one concern is that visitors may not be as interested in seeing the flamingos if their feathers aren’t as vividly pink.

A.  that visitors may not be as interested in seeing the flamingos if their feathers aren’t as vividly pink

B.  that visitors may not be as interested in seeing one once their feathers aren’t as vividly pink

C.  that visitors may not be as interested in seeing the flamingos if the birds’ feathers aren’t as vividly pink

D.  which visitors may not be as interested in seeing the flamingos if the birds’ feathers aren’t as vividly pink

E.  which visitors may not be as interested in seeing one once the birds’ feathers aren’t as vividly pink

In the original sentence, the possessive pronoun “their” is used; however, this pronoun has no clear antecedent, since there are two plural nouns in the sentence.  Although common sense tells us that “their” refers back to the flamingos, grammatically speaking, it could also refer to the visitors.  Therefore, the correct version of the sentence must clarify the possessors of the feathers.  That allows us to rule out both A and B.  “Which” versus “that” is another frequently tested issue, and here the correct choice is “that,” allowing us to rule out choices D and E.  “Which” in D and E would change the meaning of the sentence.  The remaining choice, C, correctly uses “that” and also replaces “their” with “the birds’,” which clarifies the sentence’s meaning.  While this choice is longer than some of the others, it is the only one to fix the possessive pronoun error without creating a new error.

Overall, possessive pronouns should be handled much the same way as the nominative and objective pronouns: check for agreement, and make sure that there is a clear antecedent in the sentence.  The less-common issues associated with possessive pronouns are rarely tested in sentence corrections, so a brief review of apostrophe placement and forms should be sufficient to help polish your writing sample.

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What’s the difference between these two sentences?

He spoke clearly, articulating the points of his plan.

The points of his plan were articulated in his clear speech.

The first sentence is written in the active voice, and the second is written in the passive voice.  In the first sentence above, the subject is “he,” and the verb is “spoke.”  In the second sentence, the subject is “the points of his plan” and the verb is “were articulated.”  When writing in the active voice, the subject of the sentence is performing the action; in the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is the object of an action. Distinguishing between passive and active voices can be tricky, but it’s worth some practice.  This is because sometimes, on GMAT Sentence Corrections, you will narrow the choices down to two correct answers.  Both are grammatically sound, and you end up guessing because you can’t think of any good reason to reject either of them.  That’s a frustrating situation, and often the difference between the two answer choices comes down to passive and active voices.

Passive and active voices are troubling for some test-takers, because their application seems to be random; sometimes, the credited answer to a Sentence Correction will be in the passive voice, but other times, a choice will be eliminated for being in the passive voice.  How can you tell when it matters and when it doesn’t?  Generally speaking, the GMAT favors the active voice.  Sentences written in the passive voice can still be correct, though, if every other choice has a grammatical flaw.  Passive voice should never be used to eliminate an answer in your first glance through the choices.  However, if you’ve narrowed the answers down to two grammatically correct options, and the ONLY difference is that one is active and the other is passive, then you can eliminate the passive choice.

Basically, the use of the passive voice isn’t considered an error in GMAT Sentence Corrections.  It’s more of a style issue.  The GMAT favors concise writing: statements are ideally made as succinctly as possible.  The use of the passive voice tends to clutter sentences up, making them lengthier and more complicated than necessary.  But if every other choice has definite error—incorrect pronoun usage, subject-verb disagreement, or a misplaced modifier, for instance—a choice using the passive voice can be correct.  Let’s look at an example:

According to the manager, his plan could be successfully implemented by all of the company’s branch offices before the end of the fiscal year.

A.  his plan could be successfully implemented by all of the company’s branch offices before the end of the fiscal year.

B.  his plan being the subject of successful implementation by all of the company’s branch offices before the end of the fiscal year.

C.  his plan could be successfully implemented by all of their branch offices before the end of the fiscal year.

D.  the company’s branch offices successfully implementing his plan before the end of the fiscal year.

E.  the company’s branch offices could be successfully implemented to his plan before the end of the fiscal year.

In this Sentence Correction, the sentence as written displays the passive voice, although it is otherwise correct.  Each of the other choices has a distinct error: choice B uses “being,” which is virtually never correct on the GMAT; choice C replaces “the company’s” with “their,” a possessive pronoun with no clear antecedent in the sentence; choice D’s use of the gerund creates a sentence fragment; choice E uses an incorrect idiom.  Therefore, the passive construction is correct.  However, an active construction would be the preferred style, and that would look like this:

According to the manager, all of the company’s branch offices could successfully implement his plan before the end of the fiscal year.

When it comes to dealing with passive and active voices on the GMAT, think of this style issue as your second line of defense.  Real grammatical errors should be the first thing that you address when you’re going through the answers and eliminating them, but in the event of a tie, the use of passive voice can be a tie-breaker.  This should help you recognize when the use of passive voice matters to you in choosing an answer, and when it doesn’t.

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A common point of confusion among those studying for the GMAT—as well as the general writing public—is the difference between “that” and “which.”  Knowing which of these words to use in a given situation can often allow you to eliminate a couple of answer choices, speeding up your verbal test-taking and ultimately helping to improve your score.

The simplest way to remember the difference is by noting that “which” introduces information that isn’t crucial to the meaning of the sentence, known as a non-restrictive or non-essential clause, while “that” introduces a restrictive clause.  For example,

I am going to wear the sweater that is blue.

I am going to wear the sweater, which is blue.

In the former sentence, “that is blue” functions to restrict the meaning; the implication is that there is more than one sweater, but only one blue one, and the blue one is the one I’m going to wear.  In the latter sentence, the phrase “which is blue” merely provides more information about the sweater.  The sentence’s meaning wouldn’t change dramatically without the “which is blue,” because the information is non-essential.

An example of this kind of sentence on GMAT Sentence Corrections might look like this:

Thanks to medical research, many diseases which might have been fatal at one time are now easily prevented by childhood vaccines.

A.  which might have been fatal at one time are now easily prevented by childhood vaccines

B.  that might have been fatal at one time are now easily prevented for childhood vaccines

C.  which might at one time have been fatal without childhood vaccines

D.  that might have been fatal at one time are now easily prevented by childhood vaccines

E.  which might, without the current prevention by childhood vaccines, have been fatal

In this sentence, the meaning should be restricted; the diseases to which the sentence refers are specifically those that might have been fatal at one time.  Therefore, the correct answer choice will use “that” instead of “which.”  Choice A can therefore be eliminated, as can C and E.  In addition, the structures of both C and E are sentence fragments; everything following “which” in those choices functions to describe “diseases,” leaving the sentence without a central verb.  Choices B and D both use “that,” but choice B uses the wrong idiom: it says “prevented for” instead of “prevented by,” which changes the meaning of the sentence.

A second example might look like this:

Global warming that has attracted a great deal of media coverage recently will be a central issue in the upcoming campaign, since both candidates champion environmental causes.

A.  Global warming that has attracted a great deal of media coverage recently will be

B.  Global warming that will be attracting a great deal of media coverage recently will be

C.  Global warming, which will be attracting a great deal of media coverage recently, will be

D.  Global warming, which recently is being the subject of a great deal of media coverage will be

E.  Global warming, which has attracted a great deal of media coverage recently, will be

Here, the adjective clause “has attracted a great deal of media coverage recently” should be non-restrictive.  There is no indication that a specific kind of global warming will be a central issue.  Instead, the sentence implies that global warming will be a central issue in the upcoming campaign, and “global warming” is further described as having “attracted a great deal of media coverage recently”.  The meaning of the sentence would not be substantially changed by removing the information about media coverage.  Therefore, “which” is appropriate in this sentence.  A and B can be eliminated for this reason; in addition, B can be eliminated because the future tense “will be attracting” is inconsistent with “recently.”  Choice C has the same verb tense issue as choice B, and can therefore be eliminated.  Choice D uses “being,” which is almost never correct on the GMAT, and also neglects to put the necessary comma after “coverage” at the end of the adjective clause.  The final choice, E, does everything right: the verb tenses are appropriate, punctuation is correct, and “which” is properly used.

FINAL THOUGHT: Separating restrictive and non-restrictive or non-essential clauses allows you to correctly choose whether to use “that” or “which” in GMAT Sentence Corrections, and like most grammar issues, it becomes much easier with practice on Grockit!