GRE Verbal Reasoning: Test Content, Structure, and Preparation Tips
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GRE Verbal Reasoning: Test Content, Structure, and Preparation Tips

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Shubhankar Das

Content Writer - Study Abroad | Updated On - Jun 20, 2024

GRE verbal reasoning of the general test evaluates your abilities to analyze relationships among parts of sentences. You will face several types of verbal GRE questions. Half of the verbal reasoning section asks you to read and answer questions from those passages. The other half of GRE verbal reasoning questions will ask you to read and complete sentences and paragraphs. The verbal GRE includes three types of questions: sentence equivalence, reading comprehension, and text completion types. You can effectively prepare with ETS official GRE verbal reasoning practice questions from the official website. The total GRE verbal reasoning score ranges on 130 to 170 level. Achieving a score above 155 help you to get admission in the top-ranked universities.

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How GRE Verbal Score is Calculated?

GRE verbal reasoning is section-level adaptive and the score of verbal contributes equally towards the final GRE score report. To calculate the GRE verbal score, the raw score is the score is first calculated. Raw points are based on the number of correct answers. This raw score is converted into a scaled score with the help of the ‘equating’ process where the total number of questions, number of correct answers, difficulty level, and accuracy levels are considered. Obtaining a good score in GRE verbal is necessary for admission to the best universities in the world. GRE Verbal Reasoning Section of GRE General test contributes to half of the total score. GRE Verbal score around 160 is equivalent to 90-95 percentile. You will need to solve GRE verbal practice questions every day to reach your goal. The following are a few GRE Verbal Reasoning techniques:

  • When weighing your options for answer follow the elimination process
  • Solve GRE verbal practice questions rigorously.
  • Increase your GRE vocabulary
  • In text completion, questions do not jump to conclusions just because the words match.
  • When answering GRE sentence equivalence questions, do not assume that synonyms are correct answers because the meaning needs to be the same.
  • When answering reading comprehension, multiple-choice questions, choose your options carefully. Paraphrasing will help you in this part.

GRE Verbal Topics

You must follow the online websites for GRE verbal topics 2023. You will get various GRE verbal reasoning practice questions available online. GRE verbal type of questions are usually on the following topics:

  • Modifiers and Parallelism

Sample Question:  

  1. The art studio is spacious, pleasantly cluttered, and has good lighting.
 
  1. and has good lighting
  1. and being well-lit
  1. and is lit well
  1. and well-lit
  1. and the lighting is good
  • Verbs and Tenses

Sample Question:  
Q. ​​Bill________ a new house.

  1. has just bought
  1. have just buy
  1. have just bought
  1. has just but

Correct answer is option 'A.’ Can you explain this answer?

  • Subject-Verb Agreement

Sample Question:  

Q1. A group of students __ stopped from entering the college.
Q2. Tina and Mary __ were playing in the mud right now.
Q3. Not only the manager but the employees too __ a holiday for New Year. 
Q4. My spectacles ___ broken.

  • Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions

Sample Question:  

  1. In the following questions, four alternatives are given for the idiom/phrase italicized and underlined in the sentence. Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of idiom/phrase. The project did not appear to hold out bright prospects.   
  1. highlight 
  2. show 
  3. offer 
  4. promise 

Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?

  • Nouns, Pronouns, and Adjectives

Sample Question: 

Replace the words in brackets by the correct personal pronouns. Note that Sue is the person speaking. The (*) means that you are asked a question. 

  1. My name is Sue. (Sue) ___________  am English. And this is my family. 

Correct answer is 'I'. Can you explain this answer?

  • Pronoun Agreement

Sample Question:  

Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English.

  1. What is unique about these category is their relation to these things that are taken on to add to a being’s natural capacities.

Possible Answers:

  1. What is unique about this category is its relation to those things that are taken on
  2. What is unique about this category is its relation to them things which are taken on
  3. What is unique about those category is it's relation to those things which are taken on
  4. What is unique about these category is their relation to these things that are taken on
  5. What is unique about this category is it's relation to those things that are taken on

GRE Verbal Reasoning Syllabus

GRE verbal has 40 questions to attempt in 60 minutes. There are three types of questions in the GRE verbal reasoning section: reading comprehension, sentence equivalence, and text completion. Proper GRE Verbal 10 days preparation plan can land you in scoring 150+ score. Each GRE verbal section contains 5-7 reading passages of different lengths with 10-13 related questions. Solve GRE Verbal Reasoning practice tests to get accustomed to the question patterns. In comparison with GRE quant, this section requires rigorous practice. GRE Verbal Reasoning syllabus involves three questions:

  • Reading Comprehension
  • Sentence Equivalence
  • Text Completion

GRE Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension of GRE verbal section contains mainly three types of questions:

  • Multiple choice questions with five options and only one correct answer. You need to find information from the passage.
  • Multiple choice questions with three options where you need to select all the correct answers. You will need to compare thoughts and ideas and draw conclusions.
  • Select the correct sentence within the passage which matches the given description
  • Find out the connection between the highlighted sentence and the given options.
  • Find out how the bolded and un-bolded parts of the passage are related.
GRE Reading sample question

Answer Key: Question 1- (E), Question 2- (A) and (C), and Question 3- (the last sentence of the passage)

GRE Text Completion

  • The reading passage of GRE text completion of the verbal section contains one to five sentences.
  • Single blanked questions contain 5 answer choices
  • Double blanked questions contain 3 answer choice
  • Triple blanked questions contain 3 answer choices
  • Only one answer is correct for each blank.
  • You may select the same answer for multiple blanks.
GRE Text sample question

Answer Key: Option A (i), Option E (ii), and Option I (iii).

GRE Sentence Equivalence

  • Sentence Equivalence of GRE Verbal Reasoning comprises only one sentence and one blank.
  • There are six answer options given and you need to select two.
  • If only one option is chosen, you are not given any marks.
GRE sentence equivalence sample question

Answer Key: Choice D and F

GRE Verbal Score

GRE verbal score is reported on a scale of 130-170 with 1 point increment. The average score in GRE verbal is 149.97. In terms of percentile, 80-90% or higher score in GRE verbal is helpful for admission in the renowned colleges in the world. In the following table check the GRE score and their equivalent percentiles:

Verbal Score Percentile
130
135 3
140 12
145 27
150 48
155 69
160 86
165 96
170 99

Above 160 GRE verbal scores happens to be the most acceptable scores for the world’s top B-Schools.

GRE Verbal Preparation 

Solving GRE verbal practice tests online helps you in preparation for GRE Verbal. you canconsider GRE verbal books for structured study and sample questions with answers. Here are a few GRE preparation tips:

  • Read English magazines, newspaper articles, and practice paraphrasing.
  • Learn new words and phrases and their meanings every day.
  • Manage your time well: Solve the easy and known questions first.
  • Do not skip any part of the reading passage.
  • If one or more answers are correct in a question, remember to mark all possible answers.
  • After solving official GRE verbal reasoning practice questions, review your mistakes and work on them.
  • Avoid making the same mistakes every time, and you will be good to go.

GRE verbal reasoning section consists of three types of questions; reading comprehension, text completion, and sentence equivalence. Candidates need regular practice with sample papers and previous year questions, and effective time management skills to improve their GRE verbal score. There are many official GRE verbal reasoning practice questions offers by ETS to improve candidates preparation.

FAQs

Ques: What are the Verbal Reasoning sections of the GRE?

Ans: GRE verbal reasoning section consists of three types of questions; reading comprehension, text completion, and sentence equivalence. Candidates need regular practice to achieve a good score in verbal reasoning.

Ques: What is a good GRE score for Verbal Reasoning?

Ans: A score of 157+ is consider as good score for verbal reasoning. The total verbal reasoning score is 170, if a candidate achieve an 160+ score, that increases chance in admission process.

Ques: What is the toughest part of the GRE verbal exam?

Ans: It is too subjective to say what is the toughest part of verbal reasoning. Verbal reasoning syllabus consists three types of questions; reading comprehension, text completion, and sentence equivalence.

Ques: How can I improve my GRE verbal score fast?

Ans: Candidates need regular practice with sample papers and previous year questions, and effective time management skills to improve their GRE verbal score faster.

Ques: How can I improve my GRE Verbal Reasoning score?

Ans: To improve GRE verbal reasoning score you need to develop Strong Reading Habits, expand Your Vocabulary, Pay Attention to Context, Analyze Sentence Structures, Master Critical Reasoning, Track Time, and Practice Regularly.

Ques: What is the minimum verbal score in GRE?

Ans: The minimum verbal score in GRE is 130, candidates need to achieve a score of 157+ to get admission in top universities masters programs.

Ques: Why is verbal reasoning so hard?

Ans: It is difficult to say whether verbal reasoning is hard or not, but with regular practice sample papers, reading updated study materials, and expert guidance candidates can easily achieve a good score in verbal reasoning.

Ques: How long is verbal reasoning?

Ans: Candidates will get 21 minutes to answer 44 questions to answer verbal reasoning sections. Candidates must practice effective time management to ace the exam.

Ques: What type of questions are asked in verbal reasoning?

Ans: There are three types of questions asked in verbal reasoning; Reading Comprehension, Text Completion, and Sentence Equivalence.

Ques: What is a pass score for verbal reasoning?

Ans: There are no selective passing score for GRE verbal reasoning, Candidates need to achieve a score of 157+ to get admission in the top universities worldwide.

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.

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