General tips for sentence correction

Last updated: 13 Oct 2008

You should follow these methods in all the sentence correction questions you do.

1. The key strategy: Ch-ch-changes

   Yes, as David Bowie used to sing, changes. Look for the changes between the five answer choices.

   This will help you identify what the problem is, which is half the battle.

   For example if the changes in the answer choices are:

   A) ........is..........
   B) ........is..........
   C) ........was..........
   D) ........was..........
   E) ........was.........
   

   Then I know that part of the problem has to be "is" or "was", i.e. the tense of the verb.

   If I determine that the tense of the verb should remain in the present, then I can eliminate C, D, and E automatically. That has made my job much easier.

   By determining how the sentence changes, we can quickly identify the type of problem and then correct the grammar.

   Remember, and we cannot stress this enough, look to see how the sentence changes between A, B, C, D, and E. Those differences are not there by accident. In fact, they will lead you to the right answer.

2. Find all the grammatical problems

   Usually a sentence suffers from at least 2 grammatical problems.

   If you determine the nature one of these problems, then eliminate the obvious wrong answer choices, and are still left with 2 or 3 possibilities, look for another change or difference among the answer choices.

   Invariably, there will be something else that is wrong with 1 or 2 of them that you can eventually identify. Eliminate down to the right answer.

3. Do not eliminate answer choice A immediately

   Many people do this, because they believe they must correct every sentence. That is not true. Consider A as a possible right answer.

4. Short sentences are good

   When in doubt, choose the sentence that is shortest and most concise.

   Good English is brief and to the point. You might be surprised how often the most concise sentence is also the correct one.

Next page: Main types of sentence correction problem