Articles and Pronouns (Executive Assessment – Sentence Corrections – Addressing Common Issues)

Question Logistics
- Assume 3-5 Sentence Corrections in 14 Question Verbal Section
- Assume 1-3 Sentence Corrections in Each Seven Question Half
- Least Amount to Read for Any Verbal Section Question Format

Strategic Best Practices
- Assume 1:30 per Question Average
- Maximum 2:00 for Any Question
- Minimize to a Single Reread Before Eliminating and Guessing to Save Time
- Beware of “Listening” for Errors
- Look for Differences Indicating Possible Common Sentence Correction Issues

Seeking Article and Pronoun Errors
- Look for Subtle Single Word Changes
- Carefully Track Referents for Any Article or Pronoun
- Note Changes in Number for Person or Noun

Strategic Implications
- Deliberately Read Sentence as Written to Catch Minor Differences Indicating Certain Article or Pronoun Errors
- Categorically Interrogate Every Article and Pronoun in Every Choice as Soon as One Proves Erroneous
- Don’t Assume Errors Can’t be Fixed in Choices
- Great Way to Efficiently Evaluate Longer Underlines
- Avoid Wasting Time Categorically Definining Pronouns
- Read Your Choice Back into Sentence to Confirm

How should proper articles be selected?
- Indefinite – “A” or “An” – Used to refer to a non-specific item
- Definite – “The” – Used to refer to a specific item
- I want a beagle vs I want the beagle

How do narrative perspectives change?
- First-Person – Narrator is the actor; Rare in GMAT Sentence Corrections
- Second-Person – Reader is the actor and spoken directly to by narrator
- Third-Person – Narrator is not part of story;Most common perspective used by GMAT Sentence Corrections

Articles and Pronouns Evaluation Checklist

Step 1
- Immediately Evaluate Articles and Pronouns as Encountered in the Original Sentence as Written by Tracking Clear and Proper Referent

Step 2
- Use Non-Underlined Portion to Confirm Each Article or Pronoun is Properly Used by Matching to Referent in Number and Meaning

Step 3
- Read Your Selection Back Into Sentence to Ensure it Captures the Intended Meaning of the Original without Any Ambiguities

0:00 Introduction
0:15 Sentence Corrections
8:15 First-Person Pronouns
9:41 Second-Person Pronouns
11:06 Third-Person Pronouns
13:12 Other Pronouns
18:24 Articles and Pronouns Evaluation Checklist