SENTENCE COMPLETION

Sentence Completion Tips & Tricks

One needs to know more than the dictionary meaning of the words involved.

1. ​ Read through the sentence and think of a word that makes logical sense in the context. If that word is not found in the options, look for the synonym of that word from the answer choices.

2. Look for structural clues such as 'and', 'or', 'but', 'unless', 'rather', 'yet', 'while', 'in spite of, 'despite', 'whereas', etc.

3. Sometimes the meaning of the given words in the sentences helps us to identify the word to complete the sentence. So focus on what's directly implied.

4. If there is an unfamiliar word, you may break the word into its parts – prefixes, suffixes, roots – or Change that word from one part of the speech to another to find a clue to its meaning.

   You can break down an unfamiliar word into its parts to find clues to its meaning. This is called morphological analysis. Here is an example:

   The word "misunderstand" can be broken down into the following parts: mis - : a prefix that means "wrong" or "bad"

   understand : a verb that means "to grasp the meaning of something"

Putting these parts together, we can see that "misunderstand" means "to grasp the meaning of something wrong."

The word "predict" can be broken down into the following parts:

• pre-: a prefix that means "before."

• dict : a root word that means "to say"

• -ate : a suffix that means "to make"

Putting these parts together, we can see that "predict" means "to make a statement about something before it happens."

You can also change an unfamiliar word from one part of speech to another to find clues to its meaning. This is called functional shift. Here are some examples:

• The noun "beauty" can be changed to the verb "to beautify," which means "to make beautiful."

• The adjective "quick" can be changed to the adverb "quickly," which means "in a quick manner."

• The verb "to learn" can be changed to the noun "learning," which means "the process of acquiring knowledge."
  

By breaking down unfamiliar words into their parts or changing them from one part of speech to another, you can often find clues to their meaning. This can help you to better understand the text that you are reading.

5. In a sentence with double blanks, try out the first word of each answer pair in the first blank. After eliminating the misfits, consider the second blank. A wrong answer choice often includes one correct and one incorrect answer. The right answer must correctly fill in both blanks.

6. Finally, Remember that only one of the choices could be the answer. So apply the possible answers in the answer choice to identify the correct option.