GMAT Verbal Section

Verbal Section of the GMAT

The Verbal section of the GMAT evaluates the GMAT test taker's ability to understand and critically evaluate logical arguments, to efficiently read and understand written passages, and to evaluate and correct sentences to conform to the standard written English language.

Structure of the Verbal section of the GMAT

The GMAT test taker is presented with three types of questions in the Verbal section of the GMAT: Critical Reasoning questions, Reading Comprehension questions and Sentence Correction questions.

The Verbal Section of the GMAT has 41 total questions, consisting of intermingled Critical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and Sentence Correction questions, to be answered in a maximum of 75 minutes. All questions in the Verbal section of the GMAT are multiple choice questions and are selected individually throughout the section using the Computer Adaptive Test methodology.

Critical Reasoning questions

Critical Reasoning questions assess a GMAT test taker's ability to understand, analyze, evaluate and formulate ideas related to a logical argument. Critical Reasoning questions relate to varying subject matters; however, no specific knowledge of any subject matter is presumed or required to answer any Critical Reasoning question.

Reading Comprehension questions

Reading Comprehension questions require a GMAT test taker to efficiently read, understand, analyze and apply information and ideas presented in a related written passage. Reading Comprehension passages relate to varying subject matters including social science, physical and biological science and economic and business related topics; however, no specific knowledge of any subject matter is presumed or required to answer any Reading Comprehension question. The size of each Reading Compression passage ranges from only a short paragraph or two to up to 350 words. Each Reading Comprehension passage accompanies a set of multiple Reading Comprehension questions, all of which relate to and can be answered from information directly contained in or inferred from such passage.

Sentence Correction questions

Sentence Correction questions present a GMAT test taker with a written sentence. The GMAT test taker is required to evaluate the provided sentence and determine whether the sentence conforms to the grammatical rules and stylistic conventions of standard written English. In cases where the provided sentence is incorrect, the GMAT test taker is required to choose an alternative sentence which corrects any error and confirms to standard written English.