What's wrong with this sentence? Are you saying nothing? Probably true, in a colloquial everyday usage but would this sentence pass muster in a GMAT sentence correction section? Probably not. The Sentence correction questions in the GMAT verbal section aim to test you for your ability to identify grammatically correct English. Something we should all be able to do easily. But sometimes it becomes difficult to see the difference between what sounds alright because we use it every day and what is correctly. You need to know some basic rules to be able to tackle this section properly.

Understanding the Questions
The questions begin with sentences with parts of them underlined. Five different answer choices are provided presenting alternative ways of stating the underlined portion of the question. One of the options will be a repetition of the question i.e. assuming that there is nothing wrong with the sentences and the other four tend to be subtle variations of the underlined portion.

Characteristics of the Answers
The correct answer will have all the following characteristics

1. Its grammatically correct
2. Its sentence is structurally correct
3. There are no diction errors
4. Take care that he answer option does not change the original intended meaning of the sentence.
5. The correct answer is not necessarily the shortest one. Although they tend to be the most concise one, this is not the case always

Reading Choice A
As choice A always repeats the underlined portion of the question, do not waste time reading it. If you have read the question properly, you don't have to read it again. This does not mean that choice A is never the right answer, in fact it's the correct answer roughly 1/5th of the time. That said; watch out for the temptation to overanalyze the question or to assume that the rewritten options always have to be better than the underlined segment.

More than One Error
The sentence might have more than one error. Test takers tend to find on error and then quickly chose the answer which corrects that mistake without considering if there are any more errors in the question. Make sure you read the question carefully and read all the options before choosing the right one. The correct option will have to rectify all the errors of the question.

Elimination
One of the best ways to tackle the sentence correction questions is to follow the process of elimination. Simply eliminate the answer choices which are grammatically incorrect and those which change the intended meaning of the original sentence. If you are unsure of the answer and have succeeded in narrowing the answer choices down to two, chose the one which is most concise- only if it does not use the passive voice.

Spelling and Capitalization Errors
You do not have to look out for spelling or capitalization errors. These two errors are not tested for by the test.

When in Doubt
Look for subtle differences among the different answer choices they might provide a hint to what could be wrong in the underlined text. This tactic when practiced often will also counter the tendency to read so carefully for meaning that the grammatical mistakes are overlooked.

Before marking the answer
Before you finally mark the answer, read out the whole sentence inserting the option you have chosen. This is a very useful way of ensuring that you do not make a mistake carelessly or in haste.

Say it Out
By the time you give the test, you would have internalized a lot of grammar rules possibly a lot more than you are able to identify. If you get stuck, read out the choices to yourself and chose the option which sound right to you.

Finally, make sure you practice as much as you can by taking as many live GMAT tests as possible. This best possible option to internalize all the rules you have learned.

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