Tuesday 10 July 2012

Verbal Ability for CAT 2012: Know the common errors in the Grammar questions & the ways to tackle


Verbal Ability is one of the most important areas of the CAT 2012. You may apparently find it easy to tackle but if you have a closer look, you will know that it takes a little perseverance to excel in the field. It often happens that the aspirants have the basic knowledge but there are some common mistakes they commit which lead to negative marking and eventually end up in having a low percentile.

If you feel that your problem is the same, then you must work on it. If you tend to make careless errors then you must get to work on it and diminish them in order to save your scores from negative marking and improve them. In this article of MBAUniverse.com, we will share with you some of the common errors in the English Usage or grammar section.

According to S K Agarwal, Author & Verbal Ability Expert - MBAUniverse.com, the exam pattern of CAT is designed so as to test whether the CAT takers are well versed in the basic rules of the English so that he or she does not commit any grammatical or structural errors. Agarwal identified six question types where the errors are most common in.

1. Corrections of underlined clauses which may or may not be grammatically incorrect: Four options are given to replace the underlined clause. It can be a part of sentence, a phrase, an idiom with incorrect syntax, tense, verb or other grammatical error. One of the options ( Mostly option A) is same as in the question-which may or may not be correct. Wrong options will either change the message and context of the sentence or are written in more than required words-changing the necessary structure of the sentence. If you find that the underlined part of the sentence is incorrect in one or other way, you may not waste time on reading the option A, as in most of the cases, it is the same as given in the question. Try to read carefully and concentrate on the shortest, aptly written option having no grammatical error, as this may be the correct choice.

2. Re-writing of entire sentence: There is no underlined part of sentence. It may contain one error, multiple errors or no error. If you think that the sentence is not correct-either grammatically or syntax-wise, you may not waste time on reading option A. Careful reading of Option A is required in case, you find no error or unable to find any error in the question. Since the question and the option A are same in most of the cases-reading either of the two will suffice. In this case all the options are required to be closely read before marking the correct answer.   

3. Marking the correct sentences: It consists of four sentences; out of them one or more sentences may be correct.  The options are given accordingly and you are supposed to mark the correct option. The correct sentences can be picked out, if you have clarity of rules of English Grammar and tenses along with the syntax pattern for short and long sentences, as it creates confusion. So a good deal of practice is required.

4. Marking the incorrect sentences-It is opposite to earlier one. Here also, you are given four sentences. The difference is that you have to mark the incorrect sentences, which may be one or more. Correct options can be exercised by following the rules of grammar, syntax and verbosity.

5. Marking the correct use of words in sentences: This  type of questions tests your usage expertise of vocabulary in different contexts. A key word is given which is used in four different contexts, you have to find out the correct use from the given options and mark the answer accordingly.

6. Marking the correct choice of similar sounding/confusing word, used in same sentence- It also tests the vocabulary usage in specific context. Out of the two to three words, used in a sentence, correct choice of the word, supposed to be used is to be marked from the given options.  

These are some of the common patterns of the questions which confuse the students most of the time. To know more about Verbal Ability preparation, click on the following link:

Verbal Ability for CAT 2012: Past years trends & preparation techniques


Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more on CAT 2012.


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