Are you struggling with the GMAT Verbal Section? Do you find pronouns confusing? Do not fret, we will walk you through the GMAT Verbal Sentence Correction Practice Questions – Pronouns.  

The GMAT Verbal Sentence Correction tests your command over and proficiency in the English language. This question type also tests your ability to phrase sentences that are grammatically correct, concise, and structured well. In addition, the Sentence Correction section tests if you are able to convey concepts or ideas with clarity of thought. 

The GMAT Verbal Sentence Correction questions also tests your knowledge of pronouns. A common question in the Sentence Correction is the pronoun mismatch. This refers to sentences constructed with inappropriate or confusing pronoun-noun relationships. The objective of this question is to identify if the candidate can rectify the sentence by fixing the pronoun-noun relation and by replacing the incorrect pronouns with the correct ones if necessary. Most pronoun-related questions in the GMAT Sentence Correction section belong to the pronoun mismatch category. A quick examination of the sentence would help you identify whether the noun and pronoun fit together and can help you tackle these questions. It is important to keep an eye out for any pronoun that appears in the sentence so that you can make sure that every pronoun-noun relationship is accounted for. Before we begin, let us take a quick look at the types of pronouns. 

Types of Pronouns 

Before you begin your preparation for the GMAT Verbal Sentence Correction, it is important to brush up on the fundamentals of grammar. Let us have a look at the various kinds of pronouns. 

We will begin by understanding — what does a pronoun refer to? The Oxford Dictionary definition refers to the pronoun as a word used in place of a noun, for example, he, she, they, them, etc. There are about eight types of pronouns, they are as follows: 

• Personal Pronouns: These pronouns are used to describe people or things, they can either be singular or plural. Some examples of personal pronouns include, I, me, we, and us.
• Possessive Pronouns: These pronouns are used to indicate ownership of something or an object. For example, mine, my, and ours. The pronoun appears right before the object or thing to indicate possession. For instance, “My car is right out front”.
• Relative pronoun: These pronouns refer to a clause or a group of words referring to the noun.  For example, “That is a pretty coat you have there”. Some examples of relative pronouns include which, who, and that.  
• Reflexive Pronouns: These pronouns refer to the action that the subject performed. The pronoun appears after the verb to indicate this action was performed by the said subject. For instance, “I hurt myself.” Some examples of reflexive pronouns include herself, himself, myself, and themselves.
• Interrogative Pronouns: These pronouns usually begin a question. For example, “Who is at the door?”. Some examples of interrogative pronouns include, who, whom, whose, which, and what. 
• Indefinite Pronouns: These pronouns, similar to the personal pronouns, are used to refer to a thing or person. But there is a slight difference, the person or thing being referred to is not one specific thing or person. For example, “ Some things are missing from my grocery list”. Examples of indefinite pronouns include anyone, everything, and some.
• Demonstrative Pronouns: These pronouns are used to indicate to a person or thing or to demonstrate an action performed by a person or thing. For example, “That is a nasty thing you did!”. Examples of demonstrative pronouns are that, this, these, and those. 
• Reciprocal Pronouns: These pronouns are used to indicate an action being performed by a group of people together. For instance, “They are reviewing each other’s projects”.  Examples of reciprocal pronouns are one another and each other.

Now that you are aware of the different kinds of pronouns, let us have a look at the grammar rules concerning pronouns. 

GMAT Pronoun Rules 

The GMAT Sentence Correction requires you to know how to use pronouns in the right manner thoroughly. There are certain grammar rules that you should make note of when using pronouns; these rules are as follows: 

• The pronoun must always be accompanied by an antecedent.

An antecedent refers to a noun phrase or a noun that the pronoun refers to. For instance, “A couple of friends are coming over today; they are taking the train”. Here the antecedent refers to “ friends” and “they” is the pronoun that corresponds to the antecedent. 

• The pronoun and antecedent should correspond in terms of quantities. 

If a noun being described is in the singular form, then the pronoun should also be in the singular form. Similarly, if the noun is in the plural form then the accompanying pronoun should also be in the plural form. For example, “The book was so good, Paula couldn’t stop reading it”. The book is in the singular form, hence, the pronoun is also “it”, referring to one singular thing, the book. 

Suppose the sentence was in plural, “There were too many cups and Anwar could not carry them all”.  Here the “cups ” refers to many cups, hence, the pronoun also takes the plural form, “them”. 

• Pronouns should not be ambiguous.

Using pronouns can be very tricky and can sometimes mislead the reader if it is not used correctly. A common mistake committed by most is constructing a sentence with multiple antecedents and one corresponding plural pronoun. This makes the sentence ambiguous.

For example, “The film directors were surprised to know that the actor and actress had revealed their political agenda”. This sentence is quite ambiguous, the pronoun “their” is misleading. It could be that the actor and actress are revealing their political agenda, but what if there is another way to look at the same sentence. You must be wondering who then the other “their” refers to then? A key point to note here is “their” is used to refer to a plural noun and there is another subject present in the sentence other than the actor and actress. The pronoun “their” can also refer to the film directors. 

Now let us rephrase this sentence, “The film directors were surprised to know that the actor and actress had revealed the directors’ political agenda”. Here the pronoun is replaced by the antecedent, hence, eliminating the ambiguity. In brief, the rule is that a plural pronoun can exist with only one plural antecedent. When a pronoun in plural form is accompanied by more than one antecedent in the plural form, the sentence becomes ambiguous and hard to comprehend.  

Let us now dive into the Sentence Correction practice questions, to get a glimpse of how to attempt this section. 

GMAT Sentence Correction Practice Questions: Pronouns  

The GMAT Sentence Correction Practice Questions for Pronouns are as follows: 

Q: Notwithstanding the real-time experience of visitors in places such as the ‘Louvre’ Museum in Paris, whereby the exhibits are protected within glass or operated manually, the Vincent Van Gogh art centre, has released a virtual version, encouraging visitors to “feel” each exhibit, which thereby activates the additional functions of the artwork.

A. exhibit, which thereby activates

B. exhibit, in turn an activation of

C. exhibit, and it will activate

D. exhibit and thereby activate

E. exhibit which, as a result, activates

Answer: D
We hope to have helped you comprehend the GMAT Verbal Sentence Correction section with much ease. In addition, we hoped to have helped you identify the errors in GMAT Sentence Correction practice questions for pronouns. So, begin your preparation and ace the GMAT Verbal section!