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At first glance, Sentence Equivalence GRE questions may appear to be a straight test of vocabulary knowledge. However, if you’ve studied GRE Verbal, you may have noticed there is more to Sentence Equivalence than meets the eye. The fact is, Sentence Equivalence questions test more than just your knowledge of what particular words mean. They also test your ability to interpret what words mean in particular contexts. Add the fact that you must always find 2 words that produce the same meaning in that context, and these questions can be surprisingly tricky.
So, in this article, I’ll give you my top 5 Sentence Equivalence GRE tips. These practical yet essential tips will help you improve both your accuracy and your efficiency in answering Sentence Equivalence questions.
Here are the topics we’ll cover:
- How Many Sentence Equivalence Questions Are in GRE Verbal?
- Does the GRE Have Sentence Correction?
- Tip 1: Pair Choices to Eliminate Wrong Answers
- Tip 2: Study Synonyms as You Learn New Words
- Tip 3: Stick to the Context
- Tip 4: Branch Out From the Blank
- Tip 5: Read the Sentence With Your Selections!
- How to Improve in Sentence Equivalence in GRE Verbal: Key Takeaways
- What’s Next?
To start, let’s discuss how many Sentence Equivalence questions you’ll see in the GRE Verbal section.
How Many Sentence Equivalence Questions Are in GRE Verbal?
About 20% of the questions you see in each GRE Verbal section will be Sentence Equivalence (SE). So, since the 2 Verbal sections of the exam contain a total of 27 questions, you’ll see about 3-4 SE questions per section, for a total of 7-8 SE questions on the GRE.
Another 30% of the Verbal questions you see will be Text Completion, which together with Sentence Equivalence comprise about half of the Verbal questions on the GRE. The other half of the Verbal questions will be Reading Comprehension, including a few Critical Reasoning questions.
Given that roughly 1/5 of the Verbal questions on the GRE are Sentence Equivalence questions, performing well on SE is an integral aspect of achieving a high GRE score in Verbal. So, the strategies we’ll discuss in this article will be key to your success in GRE Verbal!
KEY FACT:
On any given GRE, you’ll see a total of approximately 8 Sentence Equivalence questions.
Does the GRE Have Sentence Correction?
If you’re familiar with the GMAT, you may be wondering whether Sentence Correction questions — a major aspect of GMAT Verbal — appear on the GRE as well. I get this question a lot from students making the switch from the GMAT to the GRE and students trying to decide which of the two tests to take.
As it happens, the only crossovers between GRE and GMAT Verbal are Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning. (Note that Critical Reasoning questions are sometimes referred to as “Paragraph Argument” questions in the GRE world.)
So, Sentence Correction questions, which focus on grammar, appear only on the GMAT. Likewise, Sentence Equivalence and Text Completion questions, which focus on word meanings, appear only on the GRE.
Of course, each of these question types presents its own challenges. So, there is no “easy out” in taking one test or the other. Also, though these questions are quite different, there is some crossover in the types of skills needed to answer them. For instance, for all 3 question types, you must be able to recognize sentence versions that convey illogical meanings. Doing so on either exam could involve, for example, noticing an incorrect usage of a word or understanding how a sentence’s structure affects its meaning.
(Check out this handy guide if you want to learn more about GMAT Sentence Correction.)
KEY FACT:
The GRE does not feature Sentence Correction questions, which appear only on the GMAT.
Now that we have a better understanding of the GRE Verbal section and how Sentence Equivalence figures into it, let’s get into our tips!
Tip 1: Pair Choices to Eliminate Wrong Answers
One of the most valuable GRE Sentence Equivalence tips for any student is to create
synonym pairs as the first line of attack when evaluating answer choices.
Creating synonym pairs is the quickest way to narrow down answer choices. Why? Well, regardless of whether a word would make sense in the sentence, if it doesn’t pair with any other choice to produce an equivalent sentence meaning, it can’t possibly be correct.
So, if you start by eliminating any choices that don’t pair with another choice, then you reserve the more complex, time-consuming work of evaluating whether a choice fits the context of the sentence for a smaller number of choices.
Furthermore, the choices left can be evaluated in pairs, thus killing two birds with one stone. In other words, evaluating 2 remaining synonym pairs in context, for example, is quicker than evaluating 4 individual choices.
Thus, to shorten the amount of time you have to spend on each SE question, when you start evaluating answer choices, your first task should be to pair choices that mean essentially the same thing and eliminate any choices that don’t pair with another choice. In some cases, it may even be that after that initial step, you’re left with only 1 pair!
TTP PRO TIP:
Create synonym pairs as your first line of attack when evaluating answer choices in SE questions.
Of course, the faster you can recognize words with equivalent meanings, the faster you’ll be able to make synonym pairs. This point brings us to tip #2.
Tip 2: Study Synonyms as You Learn New Words
We know we can eliminate wrong answers most efficiently if we start evaluating answer choices by creating synonym pairs. However, if we’re not all that familiar with which words pair with each other, this “shortcut” will have limited efficacy.
Certainly, knowing the definitions of words is fundamental to our ability to recognize words that mean essentially the same thing. However, if we also have seen those equivalent words together time and time again in our studies, we’ll be able to recognize even more quickly that they pair.
For this reason, it’s a smart strategy to study synonyms in conjunction with your study of the definitions of GRE words. Thus, I recommend using a GRE vocab resource that provides both the definitions and synonyms of words. The TTP GRE Vocab List, for example, does just that, as well as providing example sentences. Including that information saves our students significant time both in their GRE vocab study and when they’re solving SE questions.
TTP PRO TIP:
Use a GRE vocab resource that provides both the definitions and synonyms of words.
Tip 3: Stick to the Context
Another key to eliminating wrong answers and finding correct answers to Sentence Equivalence questions is sticking to the sentence context.
Incorrect answer choices in SE questions often seem plausible because they exploit “realistic” or common scenarios, word associations, or stereotypes. We see a concept or story we recognize from real life, and we naturally gravitate toward it as “true.” A scientist is called “cerebral” (intellectual), a teenage boy is labeled as “aloof” (standoffish) — these characterizations seem perfectly in line with reality, right?
Of course, our concern in SE questions is the reality of the sentence in front of us and nothing else. And the reality of an SE sentence often contradicts what we might assume or expect. Maybe the scientist is “superficial” (shallow) and the teenage boy is “loquacious” (very talkative). Only the sentence can tell us.
So, to correctly complete the sentence, we must evaluate the evidence presented in the sentence. In other words, we must leave our pre-existing ideas and assumptions at the door. Choosing answers based on what makes sense in the real world rather than what makes sense in the context of the sentence is a recipe for selecting trap choices.
TTP PRO TIP:
Evaluate what the sentence actually says rather than look for answer choices that fit with common scenarios or seem true to real life.
Tip 4: Branch Out From the Blank
One of the most common mistakes that GRE students make when trying to fill the blank in an SE sentence is that they hover around the parts of the sentence closest to the blank. Essentially, they put on blinders and focus all their attention on the words immediately before and after the blank.
This tendency is unsurprising. After all, the blank is the part of the sentence we need to “solve.” So, we’re naturally going to want to focus on that part.
The thing is, when we evaluate the part of the sentence that contains the blank, we’re working with incomplete information. So, if we focus all our attention on that part of the sentence and don’t pay much attention to the part that is already “filled in” for us, we’re working at a disadvantage.
Sure, there may be words near the blank that provide further insight or clues that help us fill the blank. However, by and large, the most telling evidence in an SE sentence will be the statement that is complete, not the statement that is missing information.
So, don’t make the mistake of focusing all your attention on the words immediately surrounding the blank. Instead, make sure that you pay close attention to any parts of the sentence where information is complete.
TTP PRO TIP:
Pay close attention to the parts of the sentence that contain completed statements, rather than hover around the blank, where the information is incomplete.
Tip #5: Read the Sentence With Your Selections!
An important final step in answering Sentence Equivalence questions that test-takers often don’t take is to read the sentence, in full, with each of their answer choices actually in the blank. In other words, you must read the sentence after you fill the blank, not just before.
Test-takers are often tempted to skip this step in order to “save time.” The truth is, if you never actually read the sentence in full, with the blank filled, you can easily miss an error in logic that wasn’t noticeable when looking at the sentence piecemeal or when reading the sentence without the blank filled. (Incidentally, your first step in any SE question should always be to read the full sentence as presented — before you start evaluating answer choices.)
So, to be sure that your answer selections make sense in the sentence, read them in the sentence! And don’t just read the part of the sentence containing the blank; read the entire sentence with the blank filled!
Trust me, the extra 5-10 seconds it takes to read your choices in context will be well worth it.
TTP PRO TIP:
To be sure that your answers make sense in the sentence, read them in the sentence!
How to Improve in Sentence Equivalence in GRE Verbal: Key Takeaways
Remember the following when preparing for and practicing with Sentence Equivalence questions:
- Create synonym pairs as your first line of attack when evaluating answer choices.
- Use a GRE vocab resource that provides both the definitions and synonyms of words, so you can study both simultaneously.
- Evaluate what the sentence actually says rather than look for answer choices that fit with common scenarios or seem true to real life. Choosing answers based on what makes sense in the real world rather than what makes sense in the context of the sentence is a recipe for selecting trap choices.
- Pay close attention to the parts of the sentence that contain completed statements, rather than focus all your attention on the words surrounding the blank, where the information is incomplete.
- To be sure that your answer selections make sense in the sentence, read them in the sentence. Read the entire sentence with the blank filled in for each choice.
With these GRE Sentence Equivalence tricks in your arsenal, you should start to see improvements in both your accuracy and speed when answering these sometimes tricky Verbal questions.
What’s Next?
Try your hand at these GRE Sentence Equivalence practice questions.
Then, check out these 5 essential Text Completion tips and these 7 key tips for mastering Reading Comprehension.
Looking to take your GRE score in Verbal to the next level? TTP takes the guesswork out of preparing for both Verbal and Quant, providing ample practice with every GRE question type. See for yourself with a 5-day trial of the TTP online GRE course for just $1!
