How to study for verbal reasoning section in revised GRE?

This article covers all the details, tricks, tips and various question types regarding the verbal reasoning section of the revised GRE. It will help you study for this section thoroughly. It inlcudes the Reading comprehension questions, text completion questions and sentence equivalence questions in depth.



There are 2 sections of Verbal Reasoning each having 20 questions and 30 minutes to complete them.

Question Types in revised GRE:

Caution: In the official guide to GRE revised general test, there are 25 questions in the practice test. Also, in the Powerprep II software, there are 25 questions. But in the actual exam, only 20 questions are asked in both sections.

Tricks and Tips for verbal reasoning in revised GRE:
  1. Text completion and Sentence Equivalence are completely based on vocabulary.  To build your vocabulary click here. Although Barron’s wordlist of 3500 words is not needed, one must be thorough with the 1500 high frequency words.
  2. Revised GRE tests your ability to use the words and not your knowledge of words. So as soon as you find a new word, use it in at least 2-3 sentences of your own to know how it is used. You might end up completing only 500 words, but that will be more useful than just mugging the Barron’s wordlist of 3500 words.
  3. Reading Comprehensions in revised GRE constitute half of the questions. So start practicing various reading comprehensions from day1. Practice at least 4-5 passages daily.
  4. Use various methods to build your vocabulary. Flash cards, audio files, crosswords, root words and any technique you find useful. But make sure you revise the new words every week. Revision is most important.
  5. Try to build vocabulary in all the tasks throughout your day – reading newspapers, conversing with your family, online chats, commuting from office, conversations with your peers, English films, English music. Find and use new words in all these activities.
  6. Do not practice text completion and sentence equivalence until you are familiar with most of the high frequency words. Concentrate on building your vocabulary first.
  7. Use reading comprehensions’ practice time to build your vocabulary. Most of the passages will have words which are not generally used in our day to day lives. Follow the same techniques to remember these words as well.
  8. Spend at least 80% of your total time for Verbal Reasoning. Remember that your Verbal score will determine your final GRE score.