GRE Verbal Section – 8 Tips

Tips for GRE Verbal Section

Verbal Section has a lot of importance in gaining excellent GRE scores. The Verbal score can just put you apart from the crowd if you pay enough attention to it. The verbal section in GRE comprises 3 parts: reading comprehension, text completion, and Sentence Equivalence.

Reading Comprehension (RC):

Of all the sections, Reading Comprehension constitutes more than half of all the questions in the verbal section, which makes it the best scoring part. The questions in this section are designed to test your ability to understand, analyze, and reflect on different passages. The passages will be one to several paragraphs long and are based on day to day topics. Most of these questions are standard multiple-choice, but there will also be a few multiple-choice with more than one correct answer and some questions that ask you to select a specific sentence in the passage that meets a particular description.

Text Completion:

The second most challenging part of the Verbal Section is Text Completion (TC) which confuses most of the students in GRE. Good command of vocabulary and grammar will help you with scores in Text completion. There would be 6 Text Completion questions in the Verbal section.

Sentence Equivalence:

Sentence Equivalence forms the third part of the Verbal section with 8 questions with 6 choices for each question. Each question has 2 correct choices, which students select from the given 6 choices. Although this seems easy, it’s the most confusing and challenging part of the Verbal Section.

Strategies for Verbal Section:

Mnemonics:

Mnemonics is a way to practice new vocabulary, which involves a Pattern of Letters, Ideas and Associations to remember vocabulary. It is a fantastic way to learn the meanings of new words is with the help of mnemonics. Many successful people, especially GRE test-takers, use mnemonics effectively and remember thousands of foreign words. If you don’t know the meaning of a word, you can easily substitute the word for something you can easily remember later on. So, you can split the word and give your meaning, and try to see if the meaning sounds sane enough to remember even after several days. Always create your mnemonics because they will then be easy to remember.

Be only in English:

GRE Verbal Section needs a lot of practice to get a good score. There are many ways to practice, like making many non-native friends, which pushes us to speak only in English, Write anything Online in English, Watch only movies, documentaries in English, hear many podcasts, documentaries, etc. In short, whatever you do, do it in English, and this constant bombardment of the language will get you acquainted with speaking in English without hesitation. It will be very resourceful to your GRE prep as well.

Grasp at least 10 words per day:

As learning a new language and vocabulary takes a lot of time, it is essential to do dedicated practice with patience. Aim to learn at least 10 or 20 words perfectly every day. While this may seem too little for some of you, realize that if you can do this properly and follow a strict deadline, you can quickly learn more than 500 words per month. Maintain a journal of what you have learned and read it before bed.

Read Books and Play Word Puzzles:

Reading actively to score high on a competitive test like the GRE is essential. You need to actively extract information when you are reading to learn something new, like vocabulary, instead of passively absorbing it. Focus on the main points. Be strategic. Get used to reading only certain parts of a passage carefully, like the opening paragraph the conclusion. Playing Word Puzzles like word search games, whether online or offline, will help you build your vocabulary while having fun.

Utilize all the tools on the Internet:

There are several tools available on the internet, such as YouTube channels, smartphone apps, and other websites dedicated to teaching the English language. For example, Rosetta Stone is the world-famous app that teaches you several languages, including English; you can try using some language fluency tools like Lang 8, Quizlet, Forvo, Word Reference and Fluentu, you can learn words and idioms from Memrise, or you can browse through YouTube for a ton of dedicated channels on learning the English language. Apart from these, several apps are available on Android and iOS that help you learn new words every day.

Read the Comprehension Carefully:

The Reading Comprehension (RC) part is usually the most challenging section to answer in the GRE. However, learning a few right strategies can quickly help you score the RC section. Practice is a crucial factor to crack the RC section. The GRE asks passages of different types – long, short, argumentative and descriptive and you need to adopt a different strategy for each of these types. Engage in active reading – extract essential information from the passage, capture new words, and focus on the passage’s main points, such as the opening or the conclusion. Mapping the passage is a powerful technique to answer all the questions correctly.

Mock Tests are the key:

Mock tests help you to achieve your dream scores in GRE Verbal section. While attempting the mocks, do as if they are the final GRE tests. Also, evaluate your mistakes and note them in a journal to check them later. The mocks also familiarize you with the test pattern, types of questions in each section, time management and help you analyze your performance. So take as many Mock Tests as possible for achieving the best scores.

Stay Cool:

Achieving the best score in GRE is not easy. But your anxiety doesn’t help to get them. Only dedicated study and a calm mind can attain the best score. So stay calm, stay healthy and practice for GRE.