Rules

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Hope to / hope for: one can hope to do something / one can hope for something to happen or for a thing Exchange for is correct Idiom not exchange with Afflicted with Is likely to be is more idiomatic than will likely be or should likely be asked that is an idiomatic expression when comparing to different aspects, other is used to refer to second on not another Among should be used in discussion about three or more people or groups. Where there are two then between … and should be used. Although is a very good tool to set up a contrast. It introduces subordinate clauses – ie. With subjects as well as verbs Participial beginning of the sentence in case of modifiers should modify the subject in the main clause. Participial beginning mean start of sentence by a verb participial such as delighted, highlighted etc. gerunds another participial form can also function as noun thus necessary to check it out first. Such as nearly always means example in GMAT if past perfect has been used in a sentence then there should also be a clause that uses past in the sentence, if not then past perfect should be converted to past. The rule is broken only in case of IF THEN construction as detailed below – past perfect is mostly commonly used tense in GMAT. Have/has had or had had are correct grammatical constructions. These sentence modify the very to have. In case of former, first has/ have signals the tense and latter is the to have past perfect tense of to have verb. Similarly for the latter one. If then clause If clause Then clause Present Will + base verb Past Would/could + Base verb Past perfect Would/could + have + past participle Conditional clauses would / could should not appear in IF clause Subjective moods which express hopes, desires and requests followed by that OR formed by IF clause – where IF clause expresses a condition contrary to reality were is used even if the subject is singular If I were rich, I would Subjunctive mood uses the "be + verb" form : subjunctive mood - Required when a subordinate clause beginning with "THAT" follows a verb such as: request, require, ask, mandate, or condition etc.  Subjunctive uses the base form of the verb (be):  Be balanced (subjunctive)  To be balanced (infinitive)  Will be balanced (future indicative) In case of possessive, it can be referred back by possessive pronouns but not by subjective or objective pronouns Modifying phrases cannot modify possessive nouns like joe’s house unless it intends to modify the house. Ie if here the modifier was for Joe then it will be wrong. Who is used to modify people, which introduces modifiers that modify things, when modifies time, where modifies location. That can be used to modify people as well as things. That introduces a clause that is necessary to clearly identify the noun that is being modified. But which introduces the modifier that can be removed from the sentence. In case of adverbial clauses that are acting as modifiers i.e. the modifiers that modify the verb in the sentence are not necessary to be placed near to the verb but incase there are more than two verbs in the sentence then it should be placed near the verb that it is modifying. Pronouns such as those, who, that and which etc. signal parallel construction. These words when used by one of the constituents should also be used with other. Idioms that require parallelism o More x than y o The more x the greater y o No less was X than was Y o As X to Y o Not only X but also Y o Not X but rather Y o X instead of Y o The same to X as to Y o Range from X to Y

o Both x and Y o Either X or Y o Neither X nor Y o Mistake X for Y o Prefer X to Y o X regarded as Y o To think of X as Y o Believe X to be Y In all the above cases construction of X, in terms of adverb – adjective – verb – participial – and others should be same as for Y Only the things that are logically parallel should be parallel structurally Following are two list of the ‘to be’ verbs. The rule is that both side of the to be verb should be parallel and logically correct List one – to be = is, am, are, was, were, been, being List two – being or condition = appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste and turn • The words that signal comparison – like, unlike, likening, more than, less than, greater than, shorter than, different from, as, as as, as many as, as few as, as much as, as little as, as high as, as short as Both the things that are on either side of these comparisons should be logically comparable. Like vs as – like should be used to compare things and people i.e. nouns only. Whereas as is used to compare only clauses. Such as is used for give examples not like • And is the only additive that converts the subject into plural. Apart from that there are other additives also such as along with, in addition to, as well as, accompanied by, together with, including. But these keep the subject singular • In case of disjunctives – OR, Either OR, Neither NOR – the verb agrees with the noun that is nearest to it. • Indefinite pronouns – the ones that end with – one, - body, or – thing are always singular as are any nouns preceded by ‘each’ and ‘every’. But in case ‘each’ or ‘every’ are preceded by a noun then the verb is determined by that noun. The question of singular / plural in case of SANAM pronouns (Some, any, none, all, most) is determined by the noun that follows ‘of’. • ‘The number’ is always singular and ‘a number’ is always plural ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------• Being, to be – are considered as passive • Hopefully is almost always wrong

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The combination of preposition + noun + participle is always wrong. All options with such combinations should ignored. The noun could be a long one with adverb – adjective – noun. Eg with childcare facilities included Adverb twice cannot be object of preposition ‘by’ When consider is use as ‘regarded as’ then as is not used along with it “one of the” + plural noun will take plural verb Parallelism means same in all respects – if one sentence starts with verb other should also start with verb or preposition or noun etc as the case may be. It should be in the same tense. Verb should also be in the same form. ‘compared to’ <Similarities> whereas ‘compared with’ In choice between ‘because’ and ‘in that’ – ‘in that’ should be preferred ‘Agree with’ – is used when agreeing with another person whereas ‘agree to’ – used when a person agrees with something inanimate When the comparison is made with itself only ‘Usual’ is used whereas when the comparison is made with a sub group to which belongs If introduces a condition – hypothetical mostly, whether gives a choice Can is used for – general ability, opportunity, request, and possibility whereas could is used for – possibility, suggestion, polite request. Because is preferred over ‘on account of’ Each – two times. Every more than two times. List of verbs normally followed by Infinitives – afford, agree, appear, arrange, ask, attempt, care, choose, claim, come, consent, dare, decide, demand, deserve, determine, elect, endeavor, expect, fail, get, guarantee, hate, help, hesitate, hope, hurry, incline, intend, learn, long, manage, mean, need, offer, plan, prepare, pretend, promise, refuse, resolve, say, seem, tend, threaten, want, wish List of verbs that can only have gerunds after them – acknowledge, admit, adore, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, celebrate, confess, contemplate, delay, deny, describe, detest, discuss, dislike, dread, endure, enjoy, fancy, finish, imagine, involve, keep, justify, mention, mind, miss, omit, postpone, practice, quit, recall, recommend, regret, report, resent, resume, risk, suggest, tolerate, understand

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Not/but is a conjunction not a comparative whereas rather than is a comparative

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Due to is used for ‘caused by’ NOT because

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As such = nominal equivalent to the foregoing clause. - Clause1 and as such, Clause2 = clause1, and as clause1, clause2

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Noun + be verb + noun / adjective

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There should always be a noun after preposition

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(Less preferred) being < since < because

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Instead of that that – we should use that which

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During + time period is wrong – a adverb should be placed before time period to clearly identify the time period being talked about

First Person: Second Person: Third Person: Relative Pronouns:

Subjective Case I, we you he, she, it, they, one who, that, which

Objective Case me, us you him, her, it, them, it, one whom, that which

When to Use Subjective Case Pronouns 1. Use the subjective case for the subject of a sentence. She is falling asleep. 2. Use the subjective case after is. It is I. 3. Use the subjective case in comparisons between the subjects of understood verbs. Gary is taller than I (am). When to Use Objective Case Pronouns 1. Use the objective case for the object of a verb. I called him. 2. Use the objective case for the object of a preposition. I laughed at her. 3. Use the objective case after infinitives and gerunds. Asking him to go was a big mistake. 4. Use the objective case in comparisons between objects of understood verbs. She calls you more than (she calls) me.

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Subordinating conjunctions include - although, if, though, where, so, after, since, unless, while, therefore, because, than, until, thereby, before and also the relative pronouns such as that, who, which – create subordinating clauses hence cannot be used where independent clauses are required Look at it very carefully, it can have only noun referent . which in the modifier refers to a noun (mostly the immediately preceding one) not to an idea that has been expressed in the previous sentence Phenomena is plural, data is plural Prepositions can introduce a phrase not a clause The Gerund – gerund has been used as noun Prohibit and forbid – signal idiom – X prohibits from doing Y and X forbids Y to do Z Lower – adjective / less noun So much as is considered idiomatic if it is preceded by a negative, as in "She left not so much as a trace." Mistook for – not mistook as Choices with ‘ing’ should be the last one of Idioms To exchange X for Y (exchange X with Y or any other form is incorrect) Different from one another (Different one from the other is wrong) X is unknown, nor it is known – is a correct idiom (Neither is not required) It is not that nor would always be preceded by a neither To ratify (At ratifying is incorrect) An attempt to ratify is the correct use

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

Allergy to (Allergy of, allergy for are incorrect) To try to fix is the right idiom (to try and fix is incorrect) Just as… So too X is different from Y (different than Y is incorrect) Same as to X as to Y From X to Y (Grow from 2 million to 3 billion) (From X up to Y is wrong) Estimated to be (Estimated at is incorrect) Believe X to be Y Acclaimed as is the correct idiom (Acclaimed to be is wrong) In an attempt to (gain control) Worried about (When talking about someone’s condition) Attempt to ‘do something’ (Attempt at doing is incorrect). Both X and Y (Both X as well as Y is incorrect) Both at X and at Y is correct. Both on X or on Y is correct. Both should always have parallel forms associated to it. Similarly, ‘Neither… nor’ should have parallel forms associated to it. So X as to be Y (So unreal as to be true) As much as (Republicans are involved as much as Democrats). X prohibits Y from; prohibits from X forbids Y to do ; forbids to Credit X with discovering Y (Credit with doing something) Credit X Rupees to Y’s account (When money is involved) Given credit for being ones…who

25. Refuse for (not refused in favor of) 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39.

Believed to have Regarded as having Regarded as ones who have Concerned for – worried; concerned with – related/affliated No sooner…than X expected to Y Not X; but rather Y Persuaded X to do Y So X that Y (So poor that they steal) Require that X be Y (Not require that X is Y) As a result of At least as strong as…(At least as great as) Modeled after Intent on

40. a Native of when the subject itself is native 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66.

Native to – talking about the decendents Compensate for Adapted for Plead guilty for … failing Descendent of (Descendent for is incorrect) X is to… what…Y is to potential for causing Aid in (Aid for is incorrect) Consider X…to be Y (a little controversial) Regard as is the correct idiom When ‘rates’ means ‘prices charged’ it should be followed with ‘for’ Distinguish between X and Y (2 very different items, distinguished, say red and green colors) Some color blind people cannot distinguish between red and green Distinguish X from Y (Two pretty similar items, say original paintings from fake ones) Attribute X (An effect) to Y(A cause) Not in a flash…but in a… May be (This is a word) is idiomatic, maybe (This means perhaps) is not idiomatic That X is called for is indicated both by Y and by Z. Not so much to X…as to Y Associate X with Y Business ethics – Is a singular word To worry about someone’s condition (To keep worrying over an action) Combined X with Y OR Combined X and Y (Both are correct) e.g. Combined skill with determination Combined reactant X and reactant Y way to provide (Way for providing is incorrect) No less an authority than… Acclaimed as … is the correct idiom… allocated to

67. 68. 69. 70. 71.

X is more than Y Determined by (not determined from) Apprenticeship as once is better version of one time. Perhaps is more formal that May be

72. Should is compulsive whereas will is predictive. Every nine years  is an approximation whereas one in every nine years  precise 73. “Only” limits the meaning of the word / phrase that follows it 74. Preposition ‘in’ cannot follow the word unlike

75. Although / yet are the words that show comparison. Both cannot be used together in one sentence. 76. Whether or not, Numbers of is a wrong phrase – do not choose any sentence that contains the phrase numbers of 77. no word should be inserted between To and the verb in case of infinitive form 78. Passive voice is needed in two conditions  When the writer intends to de – emphasize the person who is performing the action

 The non underlined portion of the sentence contains the person or agent performing the action is preceded by the word by 79. Since used when you have a point in time. I mean...lets say 'i have been living in UK since 15th August 1947' 80. Rate can never be fast/slow/prevalent...it is always greater or lesser...I call these "measurement" words, and they come up from time to time in ETS grammar. Density is another one those measurement words. 81. So (adjective) as to (verb) - I would suggest any time the general meaning is so (adjective) that it will (verb). (In that example it may be he, she, there etc

82. Personal pronouns after except. Just like but, except in the sense of “with the exclusion of” or “other than” is generally viewed as a preposition, not a conjunction. Therefore, a personal pronoun that follows except should be in the objective case: No one except me knew it. Every member of the original cast was signed except her.