GRE Verbal Reasoning Sections

Verbal Reasoning Sections (2 per test)
Length 30 minutes per section
Format Multiple Choice and Select Text
# Questions Approximately 20 per section
Question Types

Reading Comprehension (3 subtypes)
Sentence Equivalence
Text Completion
Topics Tested

Vocabulary
Verbal and Logical Reasoning
Reading and Critical Thinking

 

The GRE Verbal Reasoning sections contain approximately 20 questions each and are 30 minutes long. There are three main types of questions with different formats.

  • Reading Comprehension questions require you to understand the topic, scope, purpose, and structure of academic passages drawn from the arts and sciences as well as to understand the components of arguments and how ideas are related within a passage. 
  • Text Completion questions omit crucial segments of text from a passage that requires the reader to use context clues in order to complete the passage by choosing the best words or short phrases to fill in those blanks.
  • Sentence Equivalence questions consist of a single sentence with one black and six answer choices where you will have to select two responses that both logically complete the sentence and result in the same meaning.

The GRE Verbal Reasoning section is very much a vocabulary test. Two of the three GRE Verbal Reasoning question types—Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence—either directly or indirectly test your English vocabulary skills. In order to do well on the GRE Verbal Reasoning section, a good vocabulary is absolutely essential.

Every inlingua GRE course is designed to sharpen the skills you need to correctly answer each of the three GRE Verbal Reasoning question types.