GMAT Syllabus: Verbal Ability (VA)

During the GMAT verbal ability section, candidates are allotted 65 minutes to answer all the questions
presented. The section consists of three different types of questions:

 Reading comprehension
 Critical reasoning
 Sentence correction

GMAT Reading Comprehension

In this section, you have to read unseen passages that are approximately 350 words and answer multiple-choice
questions based on the passages. while taking an unbiased decision. You do not need to know any extraneous,
intricate information regarding the topic. Rather, you should only be able to set your concepts right and
understand the relation between various entities involved.

GMAT Reading Comprehension: Categorizing RC questions

Categorizing RC questions will help you interpret the GMAT Verbal Ability section as a whole. This means
that you will be able to enhance your ability to comprehend the types of questions being asked on the GMAT
verbal section and how you can best answer them. Further, you will learn what it takes for a test-taker to
perform on-the-spot mental exercises. You will also be able to analyse the questions and identify key elements
in the passages while uncovering hidden repercussions in the excerpt.

 Main idea question: Main idea questions are one of the most common types of questions in the
GMAT reading comprehension section. You’ll find at least one main idea question in all the passages.
In these questions, you need to identify the answer choice that matches the scope of the entire passage.
The key here is to think of the big picture and not get distracted by the individual elements. Put all the
pieces together and try to figure out what is the essential purpose of the passage.
 Supporting detail/ substantial idea question: These questions are trickier than the main idea
questions. Supporting detail or substantial idea questions require a thorough reading on your part.
These questions may ask about facts or specific arguments that are explicitly cited in the passage.
Although these facts mostly support the main idea that the passage talks about.
 Assumption/inference: Assumption/inference type of questions are more advanced than the two
mentioned above and would require more of your critical thinking abilities. Unlike the supporting idea
questions which ask about plain facts, the inference-based problems talk about arguments and ideas
that are implied by the author but not mentioned explicitly in the passage. To answer these questions,
you need to think logically and make some calculated assumptions about the author’s intentions.
 Out of framework: Out of framework or out of context questions are, as their name suggests, not
related to the passage directly. These questions ask you to absorb the information present in the
passage and apply it in an out of context situation. These questions may ask you about the author’s
views regarding a matter that is completely unrelated to the passage.
In this instance, you need to take the similar approach as with the inference type question. However,
please note that you may have to take a much farther logical leap than before. These questions
primarily test your understanding of the main idea of the passage and your ability to apply it
elsewhere.
 Coherent logical structure: These kinds of questions talk about the overall structure of the passage.
You’ll be asked what the author is accomplishing by writing this passage this particular way. For
 example, the question might have the following wording, “Does the passage refute an idea?”, or “Is
the author contrasting two ideas?”.
Sometimes, there can also be a question that asks for a suitable title for the passage. Coherent logical
structure problems test your ability to understand the structural flow of the passage.

 Author's style and tenor: Finally, there are style and tone questions which test your ability to
identify the tone of the passage. You may be asked to identify the ideas in the passage and the tone
used by the passage to express those ideas. Generally, the most common type of question will ask you
to describe the style and tone of the passage using a single word or a phrase. For example, critical,
enthusiastic, optimistic, objective etc. are the frequent choices in those problems.

GMAT Reading Comprehension: Crucial Components of RC Passage

It may be easy to get carried away by the passage given. However, don’t lose focus of the topic or bring in
your own ideas. Do not bring any worldly knowledge into the passage. Doing so would mean that your content
is different from the actual content of the passage.

 Topic- what is the passage about?

 Scope-what aspect of the topic does the passage focus on?
 Purpose-why did the author write the passage?
 What notes would you jot down on your note board?

Preparation Strategy for Reading Comprehension for GMAT

Your GMAT Verbal Ability score largely depends on Reading Comprehension. Here are some foolproof ways
to structure and time your preparation for GMAT Reading Comprehension:
 Skim the passage [1 minute]: Skimming the passage refers to a quick reading of the passage being
given. It is slightly different from scanning, where you are looking for a fact or a piece of information
that is explicitly mentioned.
Whereas skimming requires a quick reading of the entire passage to get the general idea being portrayed.
Here, the goal is not to look for details but to get the overall tone and idea of the passage.
 Read the questions [1 minute]: After skimming, you should give a quick glance to the problems that
are related to the passage. Read the questions carefully and identify what type of questions they are. The
various types of questions are mentioned above for your reference. Mark each of the questions according
to their type and take a specific approach to each of them as required.
 Read the Passage in detail [2 minutes]: After going through the questions, revert back to the passage
and read it thoroughly. Unlike skimming, where you skip over minute details, here you need to be
focused and look for tiny intricacies and specific facts that are mentioned.
However, given that the GMAT is a timed exam, you shouldn’t spend too much time on this step. It is
advisable to be conscious of the time you’re taking with the section. Look for the information that is
specifically asked for in the questions and ignore other irrelevant information.
 Answer questions [1 minute]: After the thorough reading, it is finally time to answer the questions. You
should begin with the main idea questions at first, as they require relatively less mental effort. Then, you
should build on that by answering the supporting idea questions after looking up the explicit facts
mentioned. Ideally, you should proceed in the order mentioned above to be most effective. However,
after answering these two types of questions in the beginning, you can move in any order of your
preference.
 Identify the outliers [0.25 minutes]: Outliers are those answer choices that are not explicitly mentioned
in the passage but resonate with the question. You need to have a sharp eye for these answer choices, and
 your understanding of the main idea of the passage should be strong. With your solid reasoning, you’ll
be able to identify these outliers and use them to your advantage.

GMAT Critical Reasoning

In this section, a candidate has to perform an analysis, based on the given argument and mark the right answer.
You will be required to extract the relevant data that would either back or oppose the given argument and
select the best possible option.

How to Prepare for GMAT Critical Reasoning

Here is how you can effectively prepare for Critical Reasoning on the GMAT:

 Follow the "map that leads to you": You need to get familiar with the topic of critical reasoning. The
GMAT critical reasoning questions have been deliberately built analytically and confusingly, where the
usage of jargon is encouraged and sentences appear to be in harmony with themselves rather than being
helpful to the student. A candidate should deviate from spending time on incessant reading, and instead
work out how best to decode controversial theories to find evidentiary clues that help in solving the
question.
 Believe that slow and steady wins the race: Being ambitious means being slow and steady towards your
ambition. Speed reading can only help you get so far. For every noteworthy entrance examination in the
world, speed reading will only exhibit your reading ability. You need to interpret what's going on in the
question. This will help you understand the information provided from the data that needs to be assumed.
 Breaking the question down sentence wise will help you mindfully assess the situation presented in the
question. As much as this question is subjective to an individual candidate’s own prepping strategy, this
is also a quandary that states that you need to be smart, rather than being hard on yourself.
 Get a "reason" to start over new: It is not advisable for you to be wishy-washy with a critical reasoning
question. You should align the question around your own analytical reasoning capabilities and then draw
necessary conclusions. Identify the dominant and the weak parts of the sentence and practice the
technique of gathering information with respect to the contextual meaning of the question.
 Learning reasoning helps you to examine the dense usage of what’s written in the paragraph, while also
helping you connect to what the historical, geographical and social themes of the question are. This in
turn can help you assume or predict the solution for a given question.
 Steer ahead of the conventional reading practices: Don’t just read, understand, summarize and formulate
a derived context with related comments. It is all about throwing yourself open to challenges and
successfully testing your power to extract the correct meaning from complex written information. This is
also the "main idea" behind the birth of the critical reasoning (CR) questions.
Critical reasoning is one of the most confusing topics on the GMAT verbal and makes you lose
considerable marks. To avoid such a situation at hand, register for this free webinar on GMAT critical
reasoning where CL experts teach you how to break the argument and pick the right answer in half a
minute!

GMAT Sentence Correction

In this set of questions, you will basically be provided with a sentence where a partially highlighted part needs
to be assessed. As there will be multiple options provided for the right answer, which you can mark as the right
answer, you need to make sure that the construction of the sentence is appropriate and that the original
meaning has not been rubbed off or lost while correcting it. Also, you need to consider your writing skills and
acknowledge the rules of English grammar.

How to Prepare for GMAT Sentence Correction

Here is how you can tackle the sentence correction questions:

 Read the entire statement carefully.

 Review grammatical build, punctuation build and spelling build of the sentence.
 Be attentive to the non-highlighted part of the sentence, as it may contain clues to the right answer.
 Eliminate distortions and long answer options. Remember, distortions exist to break the fluidity of your
performance.
 Scrutinize the modifiers and their location in the question. Many times, the modifiers in the question are
jumbled to confuse the candidate. Choose the answer option that relates all the events occurring in the
sentence in the most sensible way and eliminates redundancy from the question.
 Look out for wrong synonyms used in the sentence that are not congruous with the overall meaning of
the sentence. Also establish the correct relation between various juxtapositions or comparisons occurring
in the sentence.
 Establish the correct subject-verb agreement and eliminate options that do not adhere to the same.
 Identify the correct subject for the correct predicate. Make sure the sentence does not lose its meaning
midway.
 Do not worry about the disposition of certain words. As long as the number agreement, tenses, modifiers
and auxiliary verbs are in line with the subject, you are good to go!

GMAT Verbal / Grammar Syllabus

Following are some of the topics you can expect in the GMAT verbal section. They generally revolve around
basic grammar rules.

 Basic Sentence structure: Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives

 Verb Tense
 Idioms & Idiomatic Expressions
 Pronoun Agreement
 Subject-Verb Agreement
 Modifiers
 Parallelism
 Phrases and Clauses
 Articles
 Parts of speech
 Direct and Indirect
 Active to Passive
You can also refer the following articles in order to widen your horizon for GMAT Verbal:

 Grammar mistakes you shouldn't make

 Sentence correction for GMAT
  10 ways to develop reading habit
 Expand your vocabulary toolbox

GMAT Syllabus: Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA):

The analytical writing section consists of topics based on which a candidate will have to write, along with
passages that might be given for a candidate to read and answer questions. The GMAT AWA section analyses
your critical reasoning skills, communication skills and your grammatical skills. Candidates should be attentive
towards proper usage of vocabulary and try their best to avoid any grammatical errors.
The duration of this section is 30 minutes, and the score ranges from o-6, in half-point increments. The essay
will have a topic, which could be from any domain. The test is mainly designed to assess your writing skills,
let alone your opinions and judgements. So, it is safe to stick to a neutral opinion while framing your answer.
There can be two types of essay questions in the AWA section.

 Argument essay: In this section, the reasoning in the given argument must be analysed by the candidate
and all the underlying assumptions are to be considered. Following this, the conclusion of whether the
argument is logically sound or not has to be made. Another thing that must be kept in mind is that no
baseless assumptions are to be made by the candidate. The candidate must look at the statement and
argument in isolation and dispassionately dissect them without prior biases. In addition, it is necessary
for a candidate to respond in alignment with the evidence, based on the argument. Importance has to be
given to introduce proper diction, syntax and academy grammar to support or stand against the critique
presented in the question.
 Issue essay - In this section, you would have to present a dissertation on the issue given to you. The
word limit is around 600. The opinions you put forward can be supportive of the given issue or you can
structure the article based on your own stance. But you need to formulate a biased approach and either
stand by or against the presented issue. You can also brainstorm examples clued up from various
prompts or entities presented in the main issue itself. Present unique content and style of writing while
dealing with this type of question in the AWA section.

GMAT Syllabus: Integrated Reasoning (IR)

Integrated Reasoning is a 30-minute, no-breather section that has been recently introduced in the GMAT. It is a
single section consisting of data interpretation questions. The Integrated Reasoning Questions in the GMAT
Syllabus consist of the data present in the form of graphs, passages, tables or a combination of the three. Based
on the data provided, four types of questions are asked:

 Table Analysis: These questions are relatively straightforward and basically require analysis of data
given in the form of a table. Ratios, Statistics, Probabilities, etc. are generally used in these types of
questions.
 Two-Part Analysis: These are the most flexible types of questions as they can be numerical, verbal or a
combination of the two. It expects the candidates to analyse complex relationships between objects and
can be used to evaluate questions on trade-offs, simultaneous equations, and other types of questions.
 Multi-source Reasoning: These types of questions contain data in the form of tables, graphics or charts
and the candidate is expected to collate the data and interpret it. Based on this data, questions will be
asked of the candidate regarding the given data in an MCQ format.
 Graphics Interpretation:It measures a candidate's ability to interpret the information through pictorial
representation or graphs (scatter plot, line plot, Area under curve, box plot, Probability Frequency
 Distribution Cumulative Frequency Distribution, confidence level graph, x/y graph, bar chart, pie chart,
or statistical curve distribution) and fill in the statements to draw inferences and describe correlations.

Tips to Prepare for the IR Section of GMAT

To master the IR section of GMAT, you need to be cautious in the following ways:

 Establish familiarity with set-based reasoning questions, mostly related to maxima and minima values.
 Practice questions related to networking and logical connectives
 Bolster the concepts of Vedic Maths at an optimum level. Most of Integrated Reasoning is sheer
calculations.
 Do not kill your time by frantically moving from one set to another. Choose an easy set first and solve it
by taking a concept test. As you regain familiarity, build up on your knowledge by stepping to difficult
questions.
 Read all the answer choices thoroughly and adapt the “process of elimination strategy” to accurate your
solution from all ends.
 Develop your analytical ability to find out variance to the sub questions present.
This is one of the most unique parts of the GMAT Syllabus and covers a vast range of topics. It is somewhat
like DILR in the CAT exam but also includes the Critical Reasoning type of questions. One additional
difficulty in these types of questions is that there may be more than one answer. Therefore, unless the
candidate can identify all the correct options, it will be counted as an incorrect response.
Also Explore: GMAT vs CAT - Which is better?

GMAT Syllabus: Quantitative Aptitude (QA)

 Data Sufficiency: These types of questions consist of a problem statement followed by two factual
statements. The candidate must decide whether the statements given would be sufficient to answer the
question in the problem statement.
o Statement 1 individually is sufficient, but Statement 2 individually is not sufficient.
o Statement 2 individually is sufficient, but Statement 1 individually is not sufficient.
o Both Statements combined are sufficient but not individually.
o Each Statement individually is sufficient.
o Both Statements combined are not sufficient
 Problem solving: Problem solving comprises of roughly 50% of the total questions in the GMAT
Quantitative section. Reviewing conceptual math problems and solving them on an everyday note can
help you perfect your GMAT canvas, especially when it comes to problem solving. GMAT problem
solving basically consists of statement-based math problems that delve into fundamental mathematical
concepts.
The two major topics are further split into the following question types:
 Arithmetic
 Algebra
 Geometry
 Mensuration
 Word problems
  Statistics
FAQ's: 5 Commonly Asked Questions in the GMAT Syllabus
Question 1: Does the GMAT syllabus change every year?
There are usually no major changes in the exam syllabus each year. However, minor changes can be seen for
which it is important for any test aspirant to be updated with recent official announcements and GMAT news.
Question 2: What is the section order of the GMAT and the total duration of the test?

The candidate taking up the GMAT exam has the option to choose from the
following orders with an 8-minute optional break,
 Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, Break, Quantitative, Break, Verbal
 Verbal, Break, Quantitative, Break, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment
 Quantitative, Break, Verbal, Break, Integrated Reasoning, Analytical Writing Assessment

Question 3: Can I take the GMAT exam online?

Yes, the GMAT exam can be taken online. An announcement by the Graduate Management Admissions
Council (GMAC) states that GMAT online exam will exist along with GMAT exam taken in the exam
centres.

Question 4: Can I skip any section in the GMAT exam?

No, you cannot skip any section, or question. GMAT scoring is adaptive based on your performance, meaning
the next question you get depends on how you answered the previous one. This makes it impossible to skip any
question or section.
Question 5: Is GMAT negative marking?
No, the GMAT does not operate with negative marking within any of the sections.
X Expected Topics in GMAT Quantitative Aptitude section

Arithmetic Algebra Geometry Mensuration Word problems Statistics

Real numbers Linear equations Coordinate Area Simple & compound Descriptive
geometry interest

Decimals Absolute value Angles Volume Data interpretation Inferential

Fractions Exponents & Circles Chords Measurement Inductive

Functions problem

Square root Special equations Polygons Cylinders Profit & loss Applied

Percentages Linear Triangles Discounts

programming
Factors & Multiples Quadratic Cuboid Clocks & calendars
equation

Avg. discrete Binomial theorem Sphere Pipes & cisterns

probability

Progression Surds & Indices Pentagons

Harmonic progression Cross

decimals sections