Why is the GRE Verbal so difficult? | blog TTP GRE (2023)

It's a very common refrain among students studying for the GRE, "Why is the Verbal GRE so hard?" For many candidates, preparing for the verbal portion of the GRE is one of the most challenging aspects of their test preparation. Even many students who consider verbal skills their strong suit find that the verbal questions on the GRE are more difficult to master than expected. And often they're not sure why.

In this article, we discuss the top 5 challenges to mastering the GRE Verbal, both during GRE preparation and on test day. We'll also answer some common questions about GRE Verbal, even if it's "too hard" for non-native speakers.

These are the topics we will cover:

• Challenge #1: Learn a lot of vocabulary
  • Learning vocabulary is different from other GRE tasks
• Challenge #2: Developing a Strong Thesaurus Set
• Challenge #3: Understanding the logic of "vocabulary-based" questions
• Challenge #4: Efficiently unzip reading passages
• Challenge #5: For questions with multiple answers, get all the answers
• Is the GRE language too difficult for non-native speakers?
• How hard is it to get a 160 on the GRE verbal section?
• The central theses
• What's next?

In the first (and possibly the biggest) GRE verbal challenge: learning a large number of GRE vocabulary words.

Challenge #1: Learn a lot of vocabulary

Memorizing the GRE vocabulary words is an essential aspect of adequate preparation to deal with GRE verbal questions of all kinds. Your vocabulary will mainly come into play when it comes to word completion and sentence equivalence problems. However, the fact is that you can also find difficult vocabulary in reading comprehension.

So,A key part of achieving a high GRE score in Verbal is increasing your knowledge of GRE words.

And there are a lot of them! Now,a serious GRE vocabulary listshows the words that are most likely to appear on the test. But the list of "common" GRE words is also long. Essentially, there are many different words for it.I couldthey appear on the GRE, but there is no way to predict exactly which ones.willingappear on your GRE.

As a result, students often learn hundreds of vocabulary words in the course of preparing for the GRE. Even students who start out with a relatively high vocabulary level often have to spend a lot of study time going over familiar words and learning unfamiliar ones.

Therefore, the sheer number of GRE words that most students need to learn presents an obvious challenge. Also, learning vocabulary can be challenging as it is mostly a memorization task. let's discuss

Learning vocabulary is different from other GRE tasks

For much of your GRE vocabulary study, you won't engage or apply logical thinking concepts or skills like you would when learning reading comprehension, for example. You will memorize definitions.

However, there is only so much new information we can store at one time before our brains become overloaded. The problem is that students often look at the long list of GRE words they need to learn and get nervous or overenthusiastic. Every bone in their body tells them to pack as many words as possible as quickly as possible. You want to spend hours every day learning vocabulary or learning 200 new GRE words a week.

It takes these students a few weeks to realize that the words they are learning do not stick. They often forget or confuse the definitions of words. Or they never stop to review the words they learned earlier. Or they neglect other areas of their verbal preparation because they are too focused on vocabulary. Your investment in vocabulary time will not produce an equivalent return.

It's hard to look at a huge list of words you need to learn and methodically work through them, piece by piece, every day. However, this process is exactly what is needed for students to effectively retain new words and ultimately apply their vocabulary knowledge in the different contexts that the GRE presents.

gladly,If we learn the vocabulary correctly, we can significantly expand our vocabulary.If you are looking for tips on how to manage your GRE vocabulary learning, check hereItems to memorize vocabularyHe has great strategies.

Challenge #2: Developing a Strong Thesaurus Set

Your general vocabulary knowledge will come into play with all sorts of verbal questions on the GRE. However, you also need a strong set of synonyms, especially for sentence equivalency questions.

Strong thesaurus play requires making connections between different GRE words so that you can efficiently recognize when words produce the same sentence meaning in a given context.

Being familiar with not only word definitions but also word synonyms adds another layer to your GRE vocabulary study.And since about 20% of the questions you'll see in each verbal section of the GRE will be sentence equivalence, you'll want your thesaurus game on point.

A good way to ensure that you learn GRE-relevant synonym pairs is to use a vocabulary resource that includes word definitions and synonyms. For example, the TTP GRE vocabulary list provides definitions and relevant synonyms for GRE words. Including this information saves our students a lot of time. After all, you don't have to search for suitable synonyms for every word.

Challenge #3: Understanding the logic of "vocabulary-based" questions

Text completion and sentence equivalency questions are generally considered "vocabulary-based" verbal GRE questions. And it is true that these types of questions are largely focused on testing vocabulary.

However, a very common and pernicious misconception about text completion and sentence equivalency is that candidates can master them with vocabulary alone. Actually, TC and SE also test your logical thinking skills and your ability to understand how sentence structure affects the meaning of a sentence.

In fact,There are certain logical patterns in the ending of texts and the equivalence of sentences. that you can recognize with time and proper study.And if you're familiar with the types of "tricks" that often appear in these questions—hints on punctuation used, transition words, and more—you can quickly understand the logic of TC and SE sentences.

If you understand the logic of the sentence, you can interpret the logical meaning of the sentence faster. So you can choose the right words to complete the sentence faster and more accurately.

Also, if youNoIf you understand the logic of the sentence, it is very likely that even knowing all the definitions of the words in the answer choices will not be enough to arrive at the correct answers.

Part of the challenge of mastering TC and SE, which together make up about half of the verbal GRE questions you'll see on test day, is that you have to do more than master vocabulary. You needlearn the logic of TC and SE sentencesand apply their knowledge of vocabulary within that logical framework.

Challenge #4: Efficiently unzip reading passages

A big challenge to doing well on GRE test day is reading a passage and efficiently answering the associated reading comprehension questions.

Even short, a paragraphGRE passes can be thorny. Passages may be long, dry, rich in detail, and/or written in a style that is difficult to interpret. Additionally, you'll see a variety of passage types and reading comprehension question types for each specific GRE. Therefore, you should be able to tackle any challenges that GRE reading comprehension may throw at you without seriously changing your pacing strategy.

Therefore, you must have strong reading strategies to deal with them.anyRC pass type and specific pass analysis strategies for each RC question type.Your ability to efficiently read, interpret, and analyze RC passages is key to maintaining proper tempo.through the verbal sections of the GRE on test day, and thus answer as many (hopefully all) of the verbal questions as possible.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that you can approach GRE reading comprehension passages in the same way that you would read other types of material. After all, we are not used to setting a timer while reading the main news of the day or flipping through a magazine.

Test takers must develop specific GRE muscles to handle the heavy lifting that may require efficient decompression of RC passes. And many GRE students are surprised to learn that these muscles have much more to do withAbsentthey read passages at the speed with which they read.

The fact is that if we havesmart reading strategieson the spot, of course we are faster.

Challenge #5: For questions with multiple answers, get all the answers

Some oral questions on the GRE are multiple choice questions. Multiple-choice questions always or sometimes may have more than one correct answer.

For example,Sentence Equivalence Questionsalways has 2 correct answers (because you have to choose 2 words that have the same meaning of the sentence).

equally inQuestions to complete textcontains 2 or 3 gaps, you must find a word to fill each gap. So a question with 2 spaces always has 2 correct answers and a question with 3 spaces always has 3 correct answers.

In Reading Comprehension, some questions ask you to "select all that apply." These questions can have one correct answer or multiple correct answers. It may even be that all the answers given are correct.

We already see an obvious challenge. Having to find more than one answer to a question can be more time consuming than a "one and done" situation. However, there is an additional detail: questions with multiple answers.NoAllow partial credit.

For example, if you fill in 1 of 3 blanks incorrectly on a CT question, but fill in the other 2 correctly, youNoTake all the credit for this question. Or if you choose 1 answer for a multiple choice RC question where 2 are correct, you will not receive any points even if your first choice is correct. And so on for each question with multiple answers.

Many students find this aspect of the GRE Verbal one of the biggest challenges of the test format. Of course, if you are preparing for the GREa resource that provides a lot of practice, multiple-choice questions shouldn't be much more difficult than single-choice questions on test day.

Now let's answer some commonly asked GRE verbal questions.

Is the GRE language too difficult for non-native speakers?

Many non-native English speakers consider the verbal part to be the hardest part of the GRE. However, I have worked with MANY non-native English speakers who have achieved impressive scores on the GRE Verbal.

So I think it's a mistake to assume that the verbal part will be more difficult for you as a non-native speaker than for any native English speaker. (Trust me, many native English speakers struggle with GRE verbal questions.)

I also wouldn't say that the verbal part of the GRE is "too hard" for non-native speakers. As I mentioned earlier, I know of many non-native English speakers who scored at the highest level on the GRE Verbal. If they can do it, you can too!

Probably the biggest challenge for some non-native English speakers will be building their vocabulary enough for the test. As we have already discussed, most students, including native English speakers, learn hundreds of GRE words in the course of their preparation. Some non-native English speakers may need to spend a little more time on vocabulary each day.

Of course, each person's basic vocabulary fluency varies. Therefore, there are no hard and fast rules about who needs more time to learn the GRE vocabulary. But if English isn't your first language and you're particularly concerned about the challenges that the GRE Verbal can pose, one area where you'll want to make sure you're giving yourself adequate time to prepare is in vocabulary learning.

Remember,Whether you're a native English speaker or not, as long as you take the time to learn the material, you can crush the GRE Verbal!

How hard is it to get a 160 on the GRE verbal section?

The answer to the question "How hard is it to get a 160 on the GRE Verbal?" - or achieve a higher GRE score - is different for each candidate and mainly depends on 3 things:

• your starting level
• the time you can spend preparing for the GRE
• the resources used for its preparation.

But if we want to have an overview of how difficult it can be for candidates to get 160 in Verbal, we can see thiscurrent GRE score percentiles. According to the ETS (the creator of the GRE test), a verbal score of 160 is associated with the 85th percentile of GRE test scores.

However, many candidates retake the GRE and score higher on their retakes. Therefore, by combining this recurrence information with the percentile information, we can estimate thatabout 20% of GRE test takers score 160 or higher on Verbal.

As a result, the vast majority of applicants do not achieve this GRE Verbal score. A score of 160 is therefore not to be scoffed at. However, about 20% of those examinedAgainScore of 160 or higher. So the result is not exactly weird.

It's the only way to get a better idea of ​​how difficult it can be for you.Ofreaching the 160 mark means takinga complete ETS practice test. Your verbal score on this test indicates how much work you need to do to earn 160 points. And hey, you should be there by now!

If you are interested in knowing some tips on how to reach 160, here are the strategiesGuide to obtain a verbal score of 170it will be useful for you too.

The central theses

Knowing the challenges you face in the GRE Verbal section will help you better prepare to overcome them! As you prepare for test day, remember to address these top 5 challenges:

1. learn a lot of vocabulary
2. Developing a strong set of synonyms
3. Understand the logic of "vocabulary-based" questions
4. Efficiently decompress reading passages
5. get all answers in multiple choice questions

What's next?

Now that you know what makes the GRE Verbal so hard, you might be interested in learning more about them.Common GRE Verbal MistakesIt is thisMyths about verbal dissection.

Ready to practice some sample GRE verbal questions? try thisPractical questions of TC, SE and RC.

And for strategies to get it right in the verbal section, check this out.Guide to Acing GRE Verbal.