Fact: the suffix “-al” is one of the standard adjectival ending in English. A host of complex and interesting adjectives end in “-al”, including adjectival, mercurial, floral, diurnal, banal, nominal, cardinal, terrestrial, vestigial, perennial, and epiphenomenal. Incidentally, those would all be good words with which to have at least passing familiarity on the GMAT. Fact: [...]
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Formal Logic and GMAT Critical Reasoning
I’ll begin with a typical GMAT Critical Reasoning question. As a case study, consider this question from the OG13e, CR #115 (OG12e, CR #114): Guidebook writer: I have visited hotels throughout the country and have noticed that in those built before 1930 the quality of the original carpentry work is generally superior to that in [...]
GMAT Grammar and Logic: Spoken English vs. Written English
Don’t reproduce spoken-English mistakes in GMAT Sentence Correction It’s logical, but … Consider the following sentences. 1) Unlike the full gram of potassium found in a baked potato, a banana has only about 600 milligrams. 2) So upset with the low wages set in the new contract, management had to hear a long litany [...]
GMAT Grammar: Vital Noun Modifiers
Learn about the importance of this elite category of modifiers. Not all modifiers are created equal! All noun modifiers, by definition, give additional information about the noun they modify. BUT, the importance of that additional information can vary significantly. Consider the following two sentences, both with modifiers underlined. 1) Last year, I visited the [...]
That vs. Which on the GMAT
Learn the important distinction between “that” vs. “which” on GMAT Sentence Correction. That vs. which? Restrictive vs. Non-restrictive A restrictive modifier limits the conceivable scope of a general noun to a relevant subset. For example, consider the difference in the following two sentences: 1) I avoid dogs that appear too excited. 2) I avoid [...]
Save Time on GMAT Critical Reasoning Questions
Learn to handle these questions with swift precision! Know Your Job Step one of the general strategy for GMAT Critical Reasoning is: read the question before reading the argument. Know which type of question you are going to have to answer, and read the argument with that question in mind. The eight broad categories of [...]
How to Weaken an Argument in GMAT Critical Reasoning
More Than One Way Often the strongest ways to attack an argument is to undermine one of its pivotal assumptions: that’s something I discussed in this post: http://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/arguments-and-assumptions-on-the-gmat/. Other ways of attacking an argument include: a) questioning the evidence cited, and/or questioning the starting point b) showing argument leads to an illogical or absurd further [...]
GMAT Idiom Quiz: Do You Know Your Prepositions?
You know your idioms, right? You’ve studied a list—indeed you’ve veritably pored over it (not pored through it!)—so you can distinguish, with the unerring eye of a seasoned grammarian, the nuances of (or was that in?) idiom usage. Then, in the midst of a question and a flurry of words, you blank out. It is [...]
GMAT Grammar: Adjectival Phrases and Clauses
Deepen your comprehension of these complex grammatical forms so you use them effectively on GMAT Sentence Correction What is an adjectival phrase? What is an adjectival clause? What’s the difference between them? Points of Grammar: An adjective is a word that modifies a noun. They are the colorful emotional words that spice up the [...]
GMAT CR: Paradox Questions
Master this fiendishly tricky variety of Critical Reasoning question on the GMAT The philosopher Zeno of Elia (490-430 BCE) was famous for his mind-bending paradoxes. One of them went like this: Suppose there were a race between Achilles (famed as the fastest runner in ancient Greece) and a tortoise, and the tortoise was given a [...]
