Our free GRE Verbal Practice Tests are each a selection of 10 to 12 questions, which will give you a cross-section of topics from the Verbal section of the official GRE. You might think of them as little quizzes, which you can use to hone your skills. Whether you need GRE tutoring in Atlanta, GRE tutoring in Houston, or GRE tutoring in San Francisco, working one-on-one with an expert may be just the boost your studies need.

GRE Verbal Section

What is the format of the GRE Verbal section?

The GRE Verbal section is composed of two 30-minute sections of 20 questions each. The difficulty of the second section varies based on your performance on the first section; the initial section determines a score range, while the second section is used to refine your precise score. Varsity Tutors also offers resources like free GRE Verbal flashcards to help with your self-paced study, or you may want to consider a GRE Verbal tutor.

What types of questions are on the GRE Verbal section?

There are three question types on the GRE Verbal section: Reading Comprehension; Text Completion; and Sentence Equivalence. The questions are designed to test not only your understanding of vocabulary words, but also the way that those words function within the context of sentences or short prose passages.

Reading Comprehension questions ask you a variety questions about the data presented in a short passage of prose, and may ask you to make inferences based on that data.

Text Completion questions consist of a sentence that includes between one and three blanks. You are asked to select the word or words that best complete the sentence. Each answer choice provides a word for the blank: for one-blank questions, five potential answers are given, and for questions that involve sentences with two or three blanks, three potential answers are given per blank. No partial credit is given if for a two- or three-blank sentence question, you select only one or two of the correct answers.

Sentence Equivalence questions consist of a sentence that contains one blank and a list of six words as possible answer choices. You need to select two words that, when inserted into the blank, create sentences with equivalent meanings. No partial credit is given for selecting only one of the two correct answers.

How do the Verbal questions on the GRE Revised General Test differ from the ones on the previous GRE General Test, given before August 2011?

Every question in the new GRE Verbal section is presented within a contextualized format; analogies and antonyms are no longer on the test.

Another major difference is that the new format includes questions that have multiple correct answers that you need to identify (with no partial credit given). Text completion questions contain one to three blanks; single-blank problems are just like the former sentence completion problems; however, when there are multiple blanks, you will be asked to select words from different lists of three potential answers to create a text that makes sense (as opposed to the more familiar practice of selecting from pre-paired sets of words). Thus, in a three-blank text with three word options for each blank, there are 27 different answer choices (again, with no partial credit given). In Sentence Equivalence questions, you will be asked to select two words from a list of six, which can fill in the given blank in a sentence to create two equivalent versions of a sentence.

What is the score scale for the GRE Verbal section?

The new score scale for the GRE Verbal section ranges from 130-170 (versus the previous 200-800 scale). Whereas the old scale was divided into ten-point increments, the new scale is divided into one-point increments.

Should I guess on the GRE Verbal section?

There is no penalty for incorrect answers on the GRE, so guessing can only help your score.

Does the difficulty of a GRE Verbal section question vary based on my answer to the previous question?

No, it does not. This used to be the case in the old format of the GRE, given prior to August 2011, but it is not the case with the GRE Revised General Test. With the change, you are able to return to questions within a single section if you want to change your answer. There is still an adaptive element to the new GRE, though. On the new exam, your success on the first Verbal section determines the difficulty of your second Verbal section.

Can I cancel my score report for one section?

You cannot; however, you do get to see your scores before you have to decide whether to report them. If you decide to cancel your test scores, then all of your scores for that test date will be canceled. The scores that you do report will all be from the same test date.

How should I study for the GRE Verbal section?

Varsity Tutors offers free GRE Verbal Practice Tests for you to use in preparing for the GRE’s Verbal section. Our free GRE Verbal Practice Tests are written by teachers, professors, content specialists, and tutors. Explanations are given for each question, so if you miss a question, you can find out where you went wrong. There are also Full-Length GRE Verbal Practice Tests available for you to take. The extended format of the complete practice test can help you learn to regulate your test-taking pace so you can be confident you’ll have enough time to finish the whole section on exam day. The results pages for these longer, all-encompassing tests include extensive explanations of the correct answers and links to additional review opportunities. The free online Practice Tests can also help you personalize your GRE review plan, as the results reveal which of the concepts you’ve already got down pat, and which of the topics you’ll need to continue reviewing. Varsity Tutors also offers free GRE Verbal flashcards, free GRE Verbal Questions of the Day, and GRE Verbal tutoring. After you’ve used one or more of these Learning Tools to review, you can evaluate your progress by taking another Full-Length GRE Verbal Practice Test.