The verbal section of the GMAT contributes to the 205-805 GMAT score. This section measures your English language skills such as your ability to:
Though this looks simple enough, the time constraints make the verbal section challenging for many students. The verbal section has 23 questions, which need to be answered in 45 minutes.
The verbal section is computer adaptive: this means that the difficulty level of each question changes based on your performance in the previous question. If a question is answered correctly, the difficulty level of the next question increases. On the other hand, if a question is answered incorrectly, the difficulty level decreases. You cannot skip any question, navigate to any other question, return to question or change an answer to any question in this section. You need to answer one question completely to move on to the next.
The two main question types in the GMAT verbal section are reading comprehension and critical reasoning. Prior knowledge of subjects or specialized knowledge is not required- all that is required to answer the questions is provided in the question itself.
There are usually 4 passages on the GMAT: 3 shorter passages and 1 longer passage. The passages vary in length between 200 to 350 words. The passages may be excerpts from books or academic journals and can be from a wide range of topics (such as humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences and business). Each passage has 3 to 4 questions, which test your understanding of the main idea of the passage, overall style, logical structure and supporting details. You can also be asked to draw inferences or apply ideas in the passage to a further context.
Critical Reasoning questions measure your ability to evaluate logical arguments. These questions have a short passage(usually fewer than 100 words) followed by a single question and 5 answer choices. Typical critical reasoning questions ask you to strengthen/ weaken/ evaluate the argument, identify assumptions of the argument, identify flaws in the argument or draw inferences.
GMAT Verbal Reasoning Scoring Pattern
For the verbal section, your final score depends on the number of questions you answer, the number of questions you get correct and the difficulty level of the questions you answer. You will not be told about the difficulty level of any question. Test takers start with a question of medium difficulty, but then the difficulty level of the questions changes in real time, based on your performance (computer adaptive). Though there are no negative marks (for incorrect answers) on the GMAT, the test taker is indirectly penalized by the change in the difficulty level. For reading comprehension questions, the difficulty level is adjusted after you have completed all the questions for a particular passage. If you run out of time and are unable to complete all the questions in the verbal section, there is a penalty for that on the GMAT.
The raw verbal scores are scaled to score in the range of 60 to 90. GMAT scores have a percentile ranking associated with them and the percentile rankings keep changing over time. The percentile rank refers to the percentage of people who have scored less than you. For example, if your score is in the 91st percentile – this means that you have scored more than 91% of the people taking the exam. A score of 37 in verbal has a percentile ranking of 82% while a score of 44 in quant has a percentile ranking of only 48%.
For the verbal section, your final score depends on the number of GMAT verbal questions you answer, the number of questions you get correct and the difficulty level of the questions you answer. You will not be told about the difficulty level of any question. Test takers start with a question of medium difficulty, but then the difficulty level of the questions changes in real time, based on your performance (computer adaptive). Though there are no negative marks (for incorrect answers) on the GMAT, the test taker is indirectly penalized by the change in the difficulty level. For reading comprehension questions, the difficulty level is adjusted after you have completed all the questions for a particular passage. If you run out of time and are unable to complete all the questions in the verbal section, there is a penalty for that on the GMAT.
The raw verbal scores are scaled to score in the range of 60 to 90. Though the actual scale ranges from 0 to 60, realistically the verbal scores each range from 6 to 51 only. The quant and verbal scores (out of 60) are then combined for a final scaled score ranging from 200 to 800.
GMAT scores have a percentile ranking associated with them and the percentile rankings keep changing over time. The percentile rank refers to the percentage of people who have scored less than you. For example, if your score is in the 91st percentile – this means that you have scored more than 91% of the people taking the exam. A score of 37 in verbal has a percentile ranking of 82% while a score of 44 in quant has a percentile ranking of only 48%.
| Sentence Correction | Question GMAT MCQ-1 |
| Critical Reasoning | Question GMAT MCQ-2 |
| Reading Comprehension | Question GMAT MCQ-3 |
- Harshit Singh
- Harshit Singh
Through this testimonial, I would like to provide an insight into my GMAT prep and how important a role the Princeton Review played in enabling me to score a 740 on my GMAT and that too in my first attempt. I got to know about the Manya Princeton Review through a friend. Although initially, I had my reservations as Princeton Review is not as heavily advertised as some of the other MBA training institutes, especially in India, all my doubts came to rest once I visited the website and got to know about the whole structure of the program. I started my online classes with the Manya Princeton Review around mid-Jan 2022. I was almost awestruck by the online portal where you could have access to unlimited study material in the form of e-books, topic-wise practice drills, practice tests, etc. But the most important feature that helped me personally was the unlimited access to the recorded classes which enabled me to revise anything which I missed or was not able to fully understand during the live classes. These class recordings also served as a great revision tool, especially for the verbal section, and helped me to get my basics firmly in place. The teaching techniques used by the Princeton faculty were also really incredible and easy to comprehend. In particular, the strategies taught by Princeton’s faculty enabled me to start thinking out of the box and somewhat predict as to what the test takers are actually trying to test through particular questions in both Verbal & Quant sections. Additionally, I would also like to give a special mention to my Booster trainers (Raji Ma’am & Seenu sir). After completing my 1.5 months of classes and fulfilling some other criteria I was able to qualify for the Booster sessions or classes which the Princeton Review provides absolutely free of cost. The personalised booster sessions proved absolutely critical for my GMAT prep enabling me to identify and improve on my weaknesses. To be honest, it was these booster sessions that fine-tuned my performance and raised my level from a 650-680 (scores which I was getting in my mocks) to a 730+ score which was my goal when I started my GMAT prep. Finally, I would like to thank the entire Manya Princeton Review team(teaching faculty, IT dept., Admissions team, etc.) for their highly valued guidance and co-operation. I would forever be indebted for the role Princeton Review played in my GMAT prep and my entire career as a whole.
- Keshav Maheshwari
- Keshav Maheshwari
Manya - Princeton Review provided me with the knowledge necessary to achieve my target score & I am grateful that I chose it. The teachers were extremely approachable throughout my preparation period. They frequently inquired about my progress & which helped me stay motivated. Besides that, they were always available on call or text, ready to clear any doubts I had.
- Sachet Garg
- Sachet Garg
My experience with GMAT preparation at Manya - The Princeton Review was great. The teachers are very experienced, the online portal contains 10 practice tests & a lot of topic-wise drills for practice, which makes it easy to customize our preparation according to our preferences. The classes taught us a lot of techniques & the booster sessions were especially helpful as they helped with difficult questions. Overall, it really helped me improve my score to 740 & I would recommend preparation from Manya - The Princeton Review to everyone.
- Shivreet Majitha
- Shivreet Majitha
Manya - The Princeton Review has helped me reach my goal. It was in Dec 2020 that I decided to join Manya – The Princeton Review & realised that there were so many tips & tricks that I had no idea about & I got 740. The online 1:1 classes & the additional booster sessions helped me strengthen my basics. Additionally, the mock-up review helped me understand my weak areas and work on them. I would like to thank the teachers who ensured that I understood the concepts & were deeply involved in my progress.
- Rudra Mishra
- Rudra Mishra
My journey started with knowing little to nothing about the GMAT but ended with me scoring a 760 in the first attempt. During this time, the staff at Manya – The Princeton Review helped me understand what the GMAT actually was, how it was different from other standardized tests & the approach one needed to take to score well. Like everyone, I too wanted to have an idea of where I stood before I gave the actual test. I used the practice tests from the GMAT website as well as those offered by Manya to get that idea. The study resources, performance analysis and timely motivation and advice provided by Manya – The Princeton Review helped me achieve a good score.
With focused preparation, one can definitely crack the GMAT. GMAT is a standardized test: this means that we can analyze it and understand the type of questions that would appear on the GMAT. To do well in the GMAT verbal section, we must prepare using material that reflects the actual GMAT. GMAT Verbal section has questions that are not hard, but tricky. Learning how to handle these tricky questions, makes the test easier to crack.
The verbal score on the Verbal section of the GMAT contributes to the 200-800 GMAT score. This makes it extremely important.
● Be aware of how GMAT tests verbal reasoning. For prep, use proper material that reflects the questions on GMAT.
● If English is not your strength, work on basic verbal skills and reading comprehension in addition to your GMAT prep.
● Practice well and often.
● Make a note of the time taken for questions and work to reduce the time taken.
The verbal section has 36 questions, which need to be answered in 65 minutes. You cannot skip any question, navigate to any other question, return to question or change an answer to any question in this section. You need to answer one question completely to move on to the next.
The three question types in the GMAT verbal section are reading comprehension, sentence correction and critical reasoning.
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If you're looking for the best Institute for GRE or GMAT , this is the place you have to reach out. Friendly Faculty, Easily Understandable Methods. Boosted my Confidence Level to Clear my GMAT. This review is my way of Thanking them.
If you’re looking for the best Institute for GRE or GMAT , this is the place you have to reach out. Friendly Faculty, Easily Understandable Methods. Boosted my Confidence Level to Clear my GMAT. This review is my way of Thanking them.
It is good. Faculty are nice and the tips and tricks required specifically for GMAT are taught.
It is good. Faculty are nice and the tips and tricks required specifically for GMAT are taught.
It's best in all prospectives although I tried the GMAT demo and it was super
It’s best in all prospectives although I tried the GMAT demo and it was super
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