If you lately haven’t spent much time bolstering your vocabulary by learning new words, the prospect of taking the Middle Level ISEE’s Verbal section may leave you feeling particularly nervous; however, by committing some words, roots, prefixes, and suffixes to memory, and by learning the details of the way in which this section is given, you can feel ready for the Middle Level ISEE’s Verbal section in no time. Your energy is better spent preparing for the Middle Level ISEE’s Verbal section than worrying about it, so after reading the following tips, this guide will tell you how you can get started studying for all of the sections of the Middle Level ISEE right now.

Only two types of questions are featured on the Middle Level ISEE: Synonyms and Sentence Completions. Each of these question types makes up about half of the 35 questions in the Middle Level ISEE’s Verbal section, so it is important to be familiar with each one, so that you can make the most of the 17.5 minutes you are given to complete the section.

About the first seventeen questions or so on every Middle Level ISEE Verbal section are Synonym questions. Synonym questions present a word in capital letters and ask that you select from four choices the word closest in meaning to the indicated word. The best way to improve your ability to answer synonym questions correctly is to learn new words, as well as the meanings of word roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Knowing the meanings attached to these parts of words can help you if a problem presents you with an unfamiliar word, because you can then reverse engineer the word’s probable meaning from the elements from which it is composed.

The latter seventeen or eighteen questions of every Middle Level ISEE Verbal section are Sentence Completions. These questions present a sentence that is missing a word or phrase in a blank or multiple words or phrases in two blanks. (Since the two-blank Sentence Completions are typically more difficult than the one-blank Sentence Completions, fewer are presented on the Middle Level ISEE. You can expect about eight of the seventeen or eighteen Sentence Completion problems to have two blanks.) No matter how many blanks a Sentence Completion problem has, its premise is the same: these questions ask you to pick out the word or phrase from amongst the four given answer choices that best completes the sentence—that is, the correct answer creates a sentence that is logically, grammatically, and stylistically correct and consistent. Picking up on context clues and sticking to the information presented in the sentence, without reading more than is inferred by it, are both crucial skills needed when answering this type of question, and a robust vocabulary is definitely an asset in this part of the Middle Level ISEE as well.

So, now that you’re well-informed about the details of the ISEE Verbal section, you might be thinking to yourself, “I need to learn new words, stat!” and wondering where you can do so. Varsity Tutors has created a great resource in its free Learning Tools website, which features free resources for all of the sections of the Middle Level ISEE, including the Verbal section. By taking Varsity Tutors’ free Middle Level Verbal ISEE Practice Tests, you can learn new words and word components as well as learn to pay attention to context clues. If you want to work either on Synonym questions, one-blank Sentence Completions, or two-blank Sentence Completions, you can do so. Also, a detailed explanation is provided for each Middle Level Verbal ISEE question. These explanations often delve into definitions, not only of correct and incorrect answer choices, but also of word roots, prefixes, and suffixes, saving you the trouble of looking up words after you miss a problem.

One way to spice up your study sessions is by taking a free Full-Length Middle Level ISEE Verbal Reasoning Practice Test. These free online tests ask you to draw upon all of the skills you may be asked to demonstrate on the real exam. The extended format enables you to test your endurance and practice your skills under pressure. As on the results pages for the concept-specific practice tests, each results page for the longer, all-inclusive practice tests provides feedback including links to relevant concepts and extensive explanations of each answer. These online ISEE practice tests can also help you build a custom study guide by showing you the topics that require more review. The wide variety of resources available through Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools can help you stick to your new study plan, too. Whenever you’re ready, you can gauge your progress by taking another free Full-Length Middle Level ISEE Verbal Reasoning Practice Test. By taking advantage of all of these great free resources, you can study effectively for the Middle Level ISEE’s Verbal section and be ready for test day in no time!