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The GRE Verbal Reasoning section makes up half of your total GRE score. That’s right — half of your score comes from the 130–170 point range of the verbal section.
Nonetheless, many students tend to underestimate the verbal section’s difficulty, thinking that “knowing how to read” and memorizing a few hundred vocabulary words is enough preparation. But, because GRE Verbal can be challenging and accounts for half of your score, you want to make sure you treat it very seriously.
Underestimating the section’s difficulty is just one thing students tend to get wrong. Learn more about the pervasive myths about the GRE verbal section that might hold you back without you realizing it.
If you’re wondering about the format and structure of the GRE verbal section, why it can be so challenging, how to best prepare for it, and much more, this post will give you practical guidance.
Here are the topics we’ll cover:
- GRE Verbal Reasoning Format and Structure
- GRE Verbal Practice and Preparation Tips
- Question-Specific Strategies
- Learning Vocabulary for GRE Verbal
- Advanced Tips for High Scores on the Verbal Section
- Common Challenges in GRE Verbal Reasoning
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Conclusion
- What’s Next
GRE Verbal Reasoning Format and Structure
The GRE Verbal Reasoning section has 3 official question types:
- Text Completion
- Reading Comprehension
- Sentence Equivalence
What about Critical Reasoning? While some GRE Verbal Reading Comprehension questions test reasoning and argument analysis skills (much like GMAT Critical Reasoning), they’re officially classified under Reading Comprehension on the GRE.
TTP PRO TIP:
Some GRE Verbal Reading Comprehension questions test reasoning and argument analysis skills, much like GMAT Critical Reasoning questions.
“Vocabulary-Based Questions”
It’s useful to think of Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence questions as “vocabulary-based questions.” The main differences between them are:
- Sentence Equivalence questions always have exactly 2 correct answer choices out of 6. Partial credit is not given. You must get both correct answers.
- Text Completion questions have between 1 and 3 blanks. You must choose exactly 1 correct answer for each blank. These questions can range from a single sentence to a passage of around 100 words.
Length of GRE Verbal Section
The first verbal section consists of 12 questions and runs 18 minutes. The second section is a little longer, consisting of 15 questions that must be answered within 23 minutes. This works out to 1.5 minutes per question.
| GRE Verbal | # of Questions | Time Limit |
|---|---|---|
| First Section | 12 | 18 minutes |
| Second Section | 15 | 23 minutes |
However, there’s a critical distinction with the second section: it’s not the same for everyone. In other words, how you do on the first section determines the difficulty level you’ll see on the second section. This means the GRE is a “section-adaptive” test.
Order of Questions
It is important to note that the ordering of the question types in the GRE Verbal section is random. For example, in the first section, the first of the 12 questions can be any of the question types. The section can begin with a Sentence Equivalence, Text Completion, or Reading Comprehension question. Question types are interspersed throughout the section. Learn more about the different GRE verbal question types.
KEY FACT:
There is no fixed order for GRE Verbal question types.
GRE Verbal Practice and Preparation Tips
Many wrongly assume that the GRE verbal section is nothing more than a big vocabulary test — memorize a finite set of definitions, and you’re set. If that were the case, almost everyone would score extremely well on the GRE!
The truth is that the GRE verbal section is far more than a test of your vocabulary. It tests your ability to make sense of complex text, draw logical conclusions from context, and apply analytical rigor to distinguish between an almost right answer choice and an ironclad one.
With this in mind, here are several mindset shifts that can help you quickly excel on the GRE verbal section and break through pesky plateaus.
1. Always Find Contextual Support
Every correct answer in the GRE verbal section must be supported by specific words or context. If you reason that an answer could sometimes be true but there isn’t much textual evidence in the passage, that answer is almost certainly incorrect.
However, this way of thinking can be difficult to wrap your head around, especially if you’re used to drawing connections between the text and some broader issue outside of the text.
On the GRE, everything is literal. The correct answer often rephrases information in the text. It won’t be an inferential leap that is only kind of supported by the text. As soon as you begin thinking in this way, your verbal score will jump up. Learn the common patterns of wrong answer choices.
TTP PRO TIP:
Answers that can’t be supported by textual evidence in the passage are almost certainly incorrect.
2. Learn How Vocabulary Works in Context
In the previous section, I stressed the importance of context to support answer choices. Context is also critical when it comes to vocabulary on the GRE. That’s because the GRE doesn’t necessarily test the explicit definition of words with questions such as “What does ‘belie’ mean?” Rather, the GRE tests you on how well you understand the way words are used in context.
For instance, the definition of “belie” is “to falsely represent.” But knowing that definition doesn’t mean you’ll be able to identify whether “belie” is the correct word to fill a blank in a long, convoluted GRE sentence.
To learn words in context, read publications such as The New Yorker and The Economist. There, words appear in context, giving you a much deeper appreciation than would a flashcard. Discover other high-quality publications with a trove of GRE words.
TTP PRO TIP:
Read publications such as The New Yorker and The Economist to become familiar with seeing GRE words in context.
3. Fanatically Review Your Wrong Answer Choices
It’s one thing to be able to recite common patterns, but it’s another to be able to identify them in GRE verbal questions — especially in the questions you miss! When you miss a question, treat it as a golden opportunity to understand areas where you still need to improve.
To that end, think of yourself as a detective trying to understand why you missed a question, which pattern you missed, and which wrong answer category you fell into. Only by fanatically doing this will you be able to avoid making mistakes on GRE Verbal in the future.
TTP PRO TIP:
Examine your wrong answer choices to understand where you can improve and to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
4. Consistent Practice Is Everything
You can apply all of the above to a tee, but if you only do so sporadically, your results will be mixed at best. See, thinking in the “GRE way” takes practice. Without it, in stressful, timed conditions (like on test day), you could relapse into pre-GRE prep habits and fall for traps.
The more consistently you practice GRE Verbal, the less likely you are to fall back into previous ways of thinking. Much like muscle memory, consistent practice using the proper approach will make applying what you’ve learned second nature.
First, you’ll need to build up these skills, so don’t rush into timing yourself. Eventually, you will need to become faster without sacrificing accuracy. When you’re ready to speed up, you’ll learn how to become faster on GRE Verbal without compromising on accuracy.
TTP PRO TIP:
The GRE verbal section tests much more than your ability to define words — you’ll need to know how advanced vocabulary functions in densely worded passages.
Question-Specific Strategies
Now that we’ve touched on what will make you successful at a section level, let’s discuss GRE Verbal strategies for each question type.
Reading Comprehension Strategies
Reading Comprehension questions make up 13 of the 27 questions on the GRE verbal section — roughly 50%. So, knowing how to tackle these questions is essential for your success.
Before we dive into Reading Comprehension tips, it’s important to note that no tip or technique is a substitute for comprehension. In other words, you have to understand at least most of what you’re reading in the passage to have a good chance of answering the question correctly.
Tackling passages isn’t always easy. The subject matter can be dense and esoteric. Learn strategies to help GRE reading comprehension, combat boredom, and focus on the passage.
With that out of the way, here are some key tips for the reading passage:
- Learn how to spot common wrong-answer traps.
- Adopt a strategy for each of the 7 types of RC questions.
- Always refer back to the passage for textual support (as mentioned in the previous section of this article).
- Remember, you’re looking for the best answer, not one that only “kind of” works.
Here is a comprehensive breakdown of 7 GRE reading comprehension tips and more.
Finally, don’t forget the Critical Reasoning-type questions. While not an official GRE Verbal question type, they are a distinctly different subset of RC questions. To see exactly how they differ, check out this diverse array of Critical Reasoning sample questions.
Because Critical Reasoning questions differ from RC questions, you’ll need to develop your own approach to these questions. Learn essential tips for tackling the Critical Reasoning section.
TTP PRO TIP:
No tip or technique is a substitute for solid reading comprehension skills.
Text Completion Strategies
Text Completion questions are what many think of when they refer to the GRE as a “vocabulary test.”
To do well on this section, you must remember to rely on the text. After all, they’re called “Text Completions” for a reason! That said, this is far easier said than done. Often, you’ll be tempted to jump directly to the answer choices after skimming to the first blank. Doing this is not recommended — you end up letting the answer choices do the thinking for you.
Instead, look for keywords in the sentence that clue you into which word works best in the blank. Interestingly, these keywords aren’t always near the blank, so don’t spend your time hovering around the blank.
Second, you don’t have to solve the blanks in order. In fact, some 3-blank Text Completions are engineered in such a way that working backward from the last blank is the best way to solve the question. Read this post for more specific tricks that apply to multi-blank Text Completions.
When you’re ready, check out these Text Completion practice questions.
Finally, get more tips and in-depth strategies to approach multi-blank Text Completions.
TTP PRO TIP:
You don’t need to solve Text Completion blanks in order — sometimes working backward is best.
Sentence Equivalence
The final question type in the GRE verbal section is Sentence Equivalence. These account for about 5 or 6 of the 27 questions. While they can certainly be tricky, they often tend to be less time-consuming, so it’s a good idea to do these questions first.
On the surface, Sentence Equivalence questions might appear similar to Text Completion questions. After all, they contain a sentence with a blank (always 1 blank, though) and vocabulary words corresponding to the blank. They are, however, a unique question type with their own set of rules and techniques.
Sentence Equivalence questions require you to choose 2 out of 6 words that, when placed in the blank, create equivalent sentences. That’s right, you must find both correct answer choices — there is no partial credit for 1 correct answer!
Here are some helpful tips for approaching this question type:
- Pair synonyms together. The 2 possible answers must be synonyms.
- Always rely on contextual clues and keywords. This strategy should mirror the strategy you use in Text Completions.
- Eliminate choices without a synonym. Remember that no matter how perfectly an answer choice fits in the blank, it cannot be the answer unless there is a similar synonym to pair with it.
Get more in-depth explanations of strategies and techniques to master Sentence Equivalence questions here.
Of course, nothing beats applying these tips to the questions themselves. Sharpen your skills with Sentence Equivalence practice questions.
KEY FACT:
There is no partial credit awarded for Sentence Equivalence questions — you must find both correct answers.
Learning Vocabulary for GRE Verbal
While it’s true that knowing every word in the dictionary doesn’t ensure a perfect score, vocabulary is nonetheless essential to the exam. After all, if you’re unfamiliar with most of the words you encounter, there’s only so much logical reasoning you can do.
Therefore, learning vocabulary quickly and effectively is essential for the GRE. But, doing so might not be as straightforward as you think. Simply put, certain common study techniques are highly ineffective. Read more about effective ways to learn GRE vocabulary here.
Interestingly, not all vocabulary words are created equal in the eyes of the GRE. Consider pairs such as indolent and insolent, complaisant and complacent, and prescribe and proscribe. Nothing about these words is necessarily relevant to what you’ll do in graduate school. What they have in common (as you might have noticed) is that they look very similar and might be easily confused. Discover the most commonly confused GRE words on the test.
The verbal section is also more likely to consist of words that look like they mean one thing but actually mean something else. Equivocal and prevaricate are classic examples. Get the lowdown on more of these challenging GRE words.
For some, but not all, vocabulary words, learning the word’s root can help you master the definitions. Check out this post on GRE word roots.
Finally, you’ll want to focus on words that are likely to show up on the exam. Master this list of the top 1,200 words on the GRE. Just make sure to turn them into flashcards, apply mnemonics, and practice using them every day in real-life situations.
TTP PRO TIP:
The GRE tends to test commonly confused vocabulary. Make sure to learn these words!
Advanced Tips for High Scores on the Verbal Section
Getting a very high GRE Verbal score — let alone a perfect score — requires a mix of skill and determination. But if the program you are applying to is highly competitive and/or the rest of your transcript has some deficiencies, a perfect or close-to-perfect score can make you stand out.
Here are some GRE Verbal Reasoning tips to help you shoot for this lofty but attainable score goal:
- Master most of the vocabulary that is likely to show up on the GRE. You don’t have to know every single word, but knowing 98% of what you see on test day is good.
- Adopt a growth mindset. Knowing you can do better makes it far more likely you will.
- Take practice tests in slightly uncomfortable conditions so you can be ready on test day.
- Rigorously evaluate the thought processes that led you to an incorrect answer. Learn to undo those thought processes and realign them with the logic of the correct answer.
If you happen to have limited time and believe that a high score simply isn’t possible, despair not! There are still ways to improve your score in a short time. Learn how to improve your GRE verbal score in a week.
TTP PRO TIP:
Practicing in slightly uncomfortable conditions can prepare you for the test-day environment.
Common Challenges in GRE Verbal Reasoning
It’s Not Just the Vocabulary
Many believe the GRE verbal section is difficult because of the vocabulary. But let’s say we armed each test taker with a dictionary. Even then, many would flounder. Why? Because the true challenge lies in the density and structure of the passages themselves.
For instance, compare these sentences to see which is challenging because of vocabulary and which is challenging because of textual complexity:
She was overcome by ______ and quickly nodded off on the couch.
- happiness
- lassitude
According to both anecdotal evidence as well as clinically reviewed studies, the profusion of ultra-processed foods in the modern diet can lead not only to long-term deleterious effects but also to a more ephemeral sense of _______.
- tiredness
- uncertainty
My guess is that for the first sentence, as soon as you know that “lassitude” means fatigue/tiredness, the question becomes a toss-away. Whereas for the second sentence, even if you understand every word (including the GRE usual suspects “deleterious” and “ephemeral”), you still have to sift through the many clauses to get to the right answer. Now, imagine that scenario playing out for an entire section, question after question. Talk about lassitude!
How can you improve at navigating all this text?
- Take plenty of practice tests.
- Read challenging material from outside sources like The Economist, The New York Times, and The Atlantic, and remember to look up and store unfamiliar words.
Dive into more reasons why the GRE verbal section is hard.
KEY FACT:
The GRE verbal section is difficult not only because of the vocabulary, but also because of the densely worded questions.
It’s Also the Answer Choices
For most verbal GRE questions, you might have noticed that among the 5 answer choices, the correct answer isn’t always obviously correct. Relatedly, you might have noticed that the 4 incorrect answers aren’t always obviously wrong. The truth is that the incorrect answers — also known as “distractors” — are intentionally misleading. They are meant to prey on our cognitive biases.
We’re looking for the best answer, but sometimes we encounter answer choices that seem “kind of right.” We might create a story or justification for these trap answer choices. The result is that, even though we know the vocabulary and understand the passage, we can still get the question wrong.
To do well on the GRE verbal section, you’ll need to learn to work backwards from your mistakes, unraveling your thought processes. This will allow you to avoid similar mistakes in the future. And because the GRE is a standardized test, you can bet there’ll be another question that uses a very similar trap.
Learn more about just how difficult the GRE verbal section can be.
TTP PRO TIP:
Vocabulary is key to doing well on GRE Verbal, but don’t discount the importance of successfully navigating craftily constructed “distractors.”
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is GRE Verbal easier than GMAT?
The answer depends on your strengths. If your reasoning and reading skills are strong but your vocabulary is weak, the GMAT might be easier. Conversely, if your vocabulary is strong but evaluating logical arguments is not your strength, the GRE might be easier. Read more about GRE vs. GMAT verbal in this post.
Is GRE Verbal important for engineering programs?
While not as important as the Quantitative section, the GRE verbal section is still part of your total GRE score. All programs, even engineering programs, look at your total score. Delve deeper into this question: How important is GRE Verbal for engineering?
How can I improve my GRE Verbal score?
Learning high-frequency GRE words and how they work in context is a great start. You’ll also want to take a practice test to see exactly where in the section you struggle the most. Once you do, focus on trying to understand why the answers you chose were wrong and the logic behind why the correct answers were right.
How many questions are on the GRE Verbal?
There are a total of 27 questions on the verbal section of the shortened GRE test, broken into 2 sections. The first section has 12 questions and the second has 15.
How can I ace the GRE Verbal?
To ace the GRE verbal section, you’ll need to have a very strong grasp of advanced vocabulary. You’ll need to understand how the GRE verbal section lays out traps and how to avoid them. Finally, you’ll need to be able to confidently parse complex text under timed conditions.
How can I get 160 on GRE Verbal?
To get a 160 on GRE Verbal, you’ll need to have a strong grasp of high-frequency vocabulary words and know how to navigate the many traps the GRE sets.
Conclusion
The GRE verbal section can be difficult for many test takers. Understanding its unique format and mastering the question types is a good start. And while vocabulary is important, it only serves as a foundation. Unless you can navigate the twists and turns of dense passages — an important skill you’ll need to develop — a strong vocabulary will only get you so far.
With consistent and focused effort, you can improve on the GRE verbal section.
What’s Next
Need support with your GRE prep? A great way to set yourself up for success and quickly learn how to master the different question types is to check out the Target Test Prep GRE Course.
Want videos about the GRE? Visit the Target Test Prep YouTube channel to access tons of great videos — from GRE Word of the Day videos to GRE Reading Comprehension Tips & Tricks, and more.
Need GRE vocab words? Download the free Target Test Prep vocabulary PDF. Here, you’ll get access to the top 1,200 most common GRE words.
Want more free GRE Verbal Reasoning practice questions? Check out these free GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions with Answers.
