LGR Verbal
LGR Verbal
LGR Verbal
a critic of
complain about
find out
necessary to
absent from
composed of
finished with
need for
according to
comprise (no
fond of
notion that
fondness for
object to
accustomed to
preposition)
responsibility for
[something]
responsibility to
[person]
acquainted with
concept of
grasp of
obtain from
responsible for
advocate (no
concern for
great deal of
opposed to
result in
concerned about
grow up
opposition to
reversal of
afflicted with
conform to
guilty of
originate in
satisfied with
afraid of
confusion about
happy about
originating in
scene of
agreed to
connected to
hatred of
participate in
see as
apologize for
conscious of
height of
particular about
separate from
approval of
consist of
hint at
partake of [adj.]
similar to
argue with
consistent with
hope for
pay for
sorry for
arise from
contest (no
impressed with
plan to
stare at
in a world where
planning to
stop from
preposition)
ask about
preposition)
ask for
contrast with
in connection with
popular with
study for
attributed to
contribution to
in search of
preoccupied with
succeed in
aware of
conviction that
incompatible with
prepare for
success in
awareness of
debate(n.) over
inconsistent with
proclaimed as
suffer from
basis of
debate(v.) about
indebted to
prohibit from
superior to
belief in
dedicated to
indifference to
protest (no
surprising that
believe in
define as
insight into
belong to
depict as
insist on/upon
protest against
tamper with
blame for
desire for
interested in
provide for
thank for
blame on
difference between
involved in
qualify for
think about
bring up
different from
irritating to
react to
think of
buy from
distinguish from
jealous of
reason for
threat of
divergent from
lead to
recover from
tired of
capable of
emphasis on
limited to
regarded as
transition from
care for
encourage by
look for
related to
trust in
careless about
endeavor to
look up
require to be
understanding of
cater to
escape from
love of
required to
upset with
center on
estimated to be
made of
rescue from
vote for/against
characteristic of
evolved from
make up
resort to
went about
committed to
far from
named (no
respect for
work for
compare to
fascination with
respond to
worried about
preposition)
preposition)
sympathize with
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Wrong
Correct
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
e. Wrong: Perhaps the most extraordinary feature of the African elephant is their amazingly versatile trunk.
f. Correct: Perhaps the most extraordinary feature of the African elephant is its amazingly versatile trunk.
Confusing pronounWhen there are two or more people of the same sex, be cautious when using a pronoun.
a. Wrong: The mother cares about her daughters safety very much when she has to walk through that street.
b. Correct: The mother cares about her daughters safety very much when the daughter has to walk through that street.
Lack of agreement between subject and verb
(1) Single out the subject in a long sentence to find out whether it is plural or singular.
a. Wrong: Professor Chandras pioneering work on rainwater harvesting and recharging of groundwater in drought prone
areas have been drawing media attention.
b. Correct: Professor Chandras pioneering work on rainwater harvesting and recharging of groundwater in drought prone
areas has been drawing media attention.
(2) The modifier must be close to the modified. Therefore, the modifier always modifies the closest modified.
c. Wrong: He is one of the survivors who was rescued by the crew.
d. Correct: He is one of the survivors who were rescued by the crew.
(3) None, Neither and Either are all singular when used alone.
e. Wrong: Neither of the sons are academically gifted.
f. Correct: Neither of the sons is academically gifted.
g. Wrong: Either of them work.
h. Correct: Either of them works.
i.
Wrong: None of my brothers are good at that.
j.
Correct: None of my brothers is good at that.
(4) When you have a Neither nor or Either or structure, whether the following verb is singular or plural depends on the noun
closest to the verb.
k. Wrong: Neither Nathan nor his friends likes the movie.
l.
Correct: Neither Nathan nor his friends like the movie.
m. Wrong: Either Sheila or her parents was present.
n. Correct: Either Sheila or her parents were present.
(4) When inverted order is used, the verb must follow the subject that is yet to come.
o. Wrong: Here is the answers to Sundays crossword.
p. Correct: Here are the answers to Sundays crossword.
q. Wrong: Among the many reasons for his defeat in the election was his arrogant assumption that his constituents were
incapable of understanding economic conditions and his unwarranted attack on his chief opponent.
r. Correct: Among the many reasons for his defeat in the election were his arrogant assumption that his constituents were
incapable of understanding economic conditions and his unwarranted attack on his chief opponent.
Comparing apple to orangeWatch out not to leave the counterpart out when making a comparison.
a. Wrong: The five richest men in the nation have assets worth more than the 80 percent of the people in the nation.
b. Correct: The five richest men in the nation have assets worth more than the combined assets of the 80 percent of the
people in the nation.
c. Wrong: The quality of FDRs presidency was on a par with or better than Wilson but not Lincolns.
d. Correct: The quality of FDRs presidency was on a par with or better than that of Wilsons but not of Lincolns.
Misuse of whom, who, which and that
(1) When a noun indicating that a person serves as the subject in a subordinate clause, who leads that subordinate clause.
a. Wrong: I have heard that Denzel Washington, whom is my favorite actor, will appear in a new movie.
b. Correct: I have heard that Denzel Washington, who is my favorite actor, will appear in a new movie.
(2) When a noun indicating that a person serves as the object in a subordinate clause, whom leads that subordinate clause.
c. Wrong: Edgar Snow, after who Dr. Edgar Huang was named, was highly respected by the Chinese communists.
d. Correct: Edgar Snow, after whom Dr. Edgar Huang was named, was highly respected by the Chinese communists.
(3) That is used to refer to non-human beings while who and whom are used to refer to a human being or human beings and an
animal with a name.
e. Wrong: The cat who was stuck up the tree is still there.
f. Correct: The cat that was stuck up the tree is still there.
g. Wrong: Shelley, which has been stuck up the tree for three days, is Mollys cat.
h. Correct: Shelley, who has been stuck up the tree for three days, is Mollys cat.
(4) That is used to lead a restrictive clause while which is used to lead a non-restrictive clause.
i.
Wrong: The Eiffel Tower that symbolizes France has had a long history.
j.
Correct: The Eiffel Tower, which symbolizes France, has had a long history.
(5) A restrictive clause uses no comma while a comma always precedes a non-restrictive clause.
k. Wrong: Do you happen to know Adams father who owns a Leica?
l.
Correct: Do you happen to know Adams father, who owns a Leica camera?
Which clause does not refer to anything in particular A which clause can only modify a noun, not a sentence, ahead of it.
a. Wrong: Mark scored poorly on the test, which is not surprising since he did not prepare adequately.
b. Correct: Mark scored poorly on the test. The fact is not surprising since he did not prepare adequately.
c. Wrong: The temperature dropped suddenly last night, which will mean that the shoots emerging from the soil will be
killed by the frost.
d.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Correct: The temperature dropped suddenly last night, and the resulting frost will kill the shoots that are emerging
from the soil.
e. Wrong: The people in Tunisia protested against the corrupt regime, which inspired the people in Egypt.
f. Correct: The people in Tunisia protested against the corrupt regime; the protest inspired the people in Egypt.
Lack of parallelismWhen repeated items are used, make sure they use the same grammatical structure.
a. Wrong: He was not merely expected to contribute funds to the project, but to work as hard as the other patrons.
b. Correct: He was expected not merely to contribute funds to the project, but to work as hard as the other patrons.
c. Wrong: Katz claimed that reading classic novels is more illuminating than to read autobiographies.
d. Correct: Katz claimed that reading classic novels is more illuminating than reading autobiographies.
e. Wrong: Suzanne recounted her improbable tale with enthusiasm and in a convincing manner.
f. Correct: Suzanne recounted her improbable tale with enthusiasm and conviction. or Suzanne recounted her
improbable tale enthusiastically and convincingly.
Awkward or wordy sentencesSuch mistakes usually occur in Sentence Correction or Editing in Context sub-sections.
a. Wrong: Anthony, coming alongside Cleopatra's ship, climbed aboard without seeing or being seen by her.
b. Correct: Anthony, coming alongside Cleopatra's ship, climbed aboard without seeing Cleopatra or being seen by her.
Less/few problem
(1) Less is for uncountable nouns while few/fewer is for countable nouns.
a. Wrong: Less people, less books
b. Correct: Few people, few books
c. Wrong: fewer money, fewer time
d. Correct: less money, less time
(2) When referring to time or money, less is normally used even with numbers.
e. Wrong: I have fewer than twenty dollars.
f. Correct: I have less than twenty dollars.
g. Wrong: I have only fewer than 20 hours to finish this article.
h. Correct: I have only less than 20 hours to finish this article.
(3) When not referring to specific amount of time or money, fewer is used.
i.
Wrong: He worked less hours than I did.
j.
Correct: He worked fewer hours than I did.
Any should be used while any other is used. Similarly, anyone should be used while anyone else is meant to be used.Be
sensitive to such low-level mistakes.
a. Wrong: Sherry prefers Jessica to any hairdressers.
b. Correct: Sherry prefers Jessica to any other hairdressers.
c. Wrong: The teacher likes Larry more than anyone in class.
d. Correct: The teacher likes Larry more than anyone else in class.
RedundantIn SAT, any redundancy in a sentence is regarded as wrong.
a. Wrong: The crane lowered the cat down from the second floor to the ground.
b. Correct: The crane lowered the cat from the second floor to the ground.
c. Wrong: a population of 5,000 people
d. Correct: a population of 5,000 or 5,000 people
e. Wrong: very unique
f. Correct: unique
g. Wrong: equally as good as
h. Correct: as good as
i.
Wrong: The reason you failed was because you didnt work hard.
j.
Correct: The reason you failed was you didnt work hard.
Missing prepositionWhen there are two parallel items and each is supposed to carry a preposition, make sure both
prepositions are present.
a. Wrong: The unfortunate accident that caused the explosion was extensively reported in all the local newspapers and
national television.
b. Correct: The unfortunate accident that caused the explosion was extensively reported in all the local newspapers and
on national television.
c. Wrong: I have no interest or time for such an endeavor.
d. Correct: I have no interest in or time for such an endeavor.
e. Wrong: If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than the garden, he might get a better display of
flowers.
f. Correct: If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than in the garden, he might get a better
display of flowers.
Misusing past perfect tensePast perfect tense can only be used when there is a point of reference from the past.
a. Wrong: Jonathan had run for five hours.
b. Correct: Jonathan had run for five hours before the sun set.