When students prepare for the GMAT, they often get nervous because of

the vast amount of information that they think will be on the test. However,
a thorough review of the material reveals that there are not as many topics
included in the GMAT as people believe.
Let's look at the Sentence Corrections, specifically the topic of tense:
Note that Official GMAT questions do NOT test all verb tenses. Rather, you
need to know the following:
 3 Present Tenses: Present Simple, Present Progressive, and Present
Perfect
 3 Past Tenses: Past Simple, Past Progressive, and Past Perfect
 1 Future tense: Future Simple
Note that the perfect progressive tenses are not tested.
Many GMAT students begin attacking sentence correction questions by
trying to identify incorrect uses of verbs. While that’s a logical way to start
on these questions, a common mistake by many of these test-takers is to
do so without a concrete understanding of how verbs are used. This can be
quickly remedied by reviewing the basics of verb tenses. This might seem
like a daunting task, especially given the seemingly endless number of
rules associated with verb tenses, so let’s go through all the forms.

Present simple verbs

This is one of the most important tenses tested. Present simple tense is,
well, simple. It describes an action that is generally true in the present, is
done repetitively/habitually, or describes an unchanging situation.
 "Bob walks to the store every morning."
 "The moon revolves around the earth."
 "Bob dances like no one's watching."
 Present progressive verbs
Present progressive verbs indicate an action at a particular point in time in
the present; an action that started in the past. Think of it as a snapshot of a
moment frozen in time right now. It is formed by adding the proper form of
"to be" to the present participle of the verb.
 "Juliet is standing on the balcony."
 "Romeo is declaring his love for Juliet."
 "The audience is giving the play a standing ovation."

Present perfect verbs

Present perfect verbs are indicative of a number of situations. They
describe one (or more, in some cases) of the following:
 An action that has happened and is continuing to happen.
 An action that is still relevant to what is currently happening.
 An action in the past that has no identifiable time frame.
Let’s take a look at the following example: “John has been a barista for the
past two years.” The word “has” clearly indicates that John is still a barista
after two years of experience on the job. Remember that the Present
Perfect is similar to the Past Perfect construction except that the verb to
have is in the present: have/has + Past Participle (V3).
Unlike a verb in past simple tense, there is no definitive beginning and/or
end to an action in the present perfect tense. If you’re having trouble
discerning between the two tenses on test day, look for words like
“recently,” “just,” “yet” and “since,” all of which are telling clues that the
sentence you’re looking may be or perhaps should be in the present perfect
tense.
 Past simple verbs
Now, we go to past tense which is often tested against the present perfect
and therefore has special importance too.. Obviously, past tense is used to
denote an action which has already taken place and concluded; it is a
finished action in the past, usually denoted by a time expression letting us
know when the action took place. Sometimes only context tells us this..
Everything from the Big Bang to five minutes ago is covered under the
various permutations of past tense.
Past simple tense, obviously, is simple.
 "Billy played the drums yesterday."
 "Jerry sang a song on her birthday."
 "Bobby woke up, got out of bed, and combed his hair."

Past progressive verbs

Much like the present progressive tense, the past progressive tense is
formed by adding "to be" to the participle form but this time the verb to be is
in the past tense. Also, this time, the action is a snapshot of something that
happened in the past- we do not care when it started or ended but it is as if
we took a picture of a particular moment in time in the past. It is also used
to show two parallel items taking place in the past or to show one long
action in the past being interrupted by a shorter action in the past (the
shorted action is in past simple form) Note that this tense is not tested
much at all and that only the first scenario shows up, if at all.
 "Velma was looking for her glasses at 8pm last night."
 "The twins were standing by the elevator when I walked down the hotel
hallway."
 "Cruella was waiting for her new coat while Mikey was eating his
sandwich."
 Past perfect verbs
Past perfect verbs use the past form of the phrase “to have” as a helping
verb. We will dive deeper into this rule in the following paragraph, but let’s
take a look at the example below.
John sold the car that he had bought.
He had waited for two hours before she arrived.
She had celebrated before the results of her exam.
These may look like simple examples, but there are a number of working
parts at play. To ensure the past form of “to have” is properly serving as a
helping verb, it must be followed immediately by the past participle of the
verb. If that isn’t resonating with you, just remember this formula: Past
Perfect = Had + Past Participle (The past participle is also called V3).
Note that the past perfect is explicitly or implicitly in relation to a later past
action and this is crucial! That is its purpose!

The Future Tense

This tense has an easy construction: will + V1 (base form of the verb)
The future is used to predict/discuss something that will occur in the future.
The prediction is done from the present. If you wish to show something
predicted from the past into the present then the following would be used:
Would + V1
For Example:
 Tomorrow, I will go to the store.
 Half a century ago, scientists predicted that humans would fly.
Let’s take a closer look by considering the following Sentence Correction
problem:
Since the website’s ranking dropped last month, the site developershave
been determined to update the content daily, and they are.
A. have been determined to update the content daily, and they are
B. are determined to update the content daily, and have been
C. were determined to update the content daily, and they were
D. have been determined to update the content daily, and they do
E. had been determined to update the content daily, and they have
The play between present and past forms makes this question tricky.
Notice the variations in the answer choices at the beginning of the
underlined section: ‘have been determined’, ‘are determined’, ‘were
determined, and ‘had been determined.’ Notice also the variations at the
end of the underlined section ‘are,’ ‘have been,’ ‘were,’ ‘do’ and ‘have.’
Since we need to check the correctness of the two clauses in this
sentence, a good time-saving technique is to examine only the first clause
and eliminate answers containing incorrect forms with regards only to this
first clause.
The initial, non-underlined part of the sentence contains the time reference
for the underlined part. Stating “since the website’s ranking dropped last
month,” clearly indicates that the action described in the next part of the
sentence will refer to a period of time which started last month when the
website’s ranking dropped and continues until now. This calls for the use of
present perfect tense. So we may exclude all answers which propose a
different form – we reject B, C and E.
We are left with A and D. Now let’s examine the second part of the
underlined fragment.
In answer A, since the website’s ranking dropped last month, the site
developers have been determined to update the content daily, and they
are. Notice that the they are construction cannot work here. But the second
verb must be correctly conjugated with the implicit to update. It is
grammatically incorrect to say they are update. They are can only be
completed correctly with updating/updated.
However, answer A does not propose such a form and is therefore
incorrect.
We are left with answer D.
1. While the stock market was bouncing back from its 2002 low,
U.S. families are still reeling from the recent recession;
between2001 to 2004, typical household savings plummeted
nearly 25% and the median household debt rose by a third.

(A) was bouncing back from its 2002 low, U.S. families are still
reeling from the recent recession; between

(B) bounced back from its 2002 low, U.S. families are still
reeling from the recent recession, from

(C) has bounced back from its 2002 low, U.S. families are still
reeling from the recent recession; between

(D) has bounced back from its 2002 low, U.S. families are still
reeling from the recent recession; from

(E) bounced back from its 2002 low, U.S. families are still
reeling from the recent recession; from

2. If the new department store would open by Thanksgiving, it

will be attracting many holiday shoppers.

A) would open by Thanksgiving, it will be attracting

B) would be opened by Thanksgiving, it would be able to
attract
C) was opening by Thanksgiving, it would be able to attract
D) was to open by Thanksgiving, it also will attract
E) opens before Thanksgiving, it will attract
3. The recent global boom in the market price for scrap steel and
aluminum leads to a sudden rise in the theft of everyday metal
objects like manhole covers, guard rails, and empty beer kegs.

A. leads to a sudden rise in the theft of everyday metal objects

like manhole covers, guard rails, and empty beer kegs

B. have led to a sudden rise in the theft of everyday objects

such as manhole covers, guard rails, and empty beer kegs

C. has led to a sudden increase in the number of thieves for

everyday metal objects like manhole covers, guard rails, and
empty beer kegs

D. has led to a sudden rise in the theft of everyday metal

objects such as manhole covers, guard rails, and empty beer
kegs

E. is leading the suddenly rising theft of everyday metal

objects: manhole covers, guard rails, and empty beer kegs

4. With government funding for the arts dwindling, even major

orchestras would feel the pressure of trying to meet their
payroll and travel costs over the past several years.

(A) would feel

(B) will feel
(C) have felt
 (D) feel
(E) are feeling

5. Rust can deteriorate a steel pipe to such an extent that it will

snap easily, as though it was a twig.

(A) will snap easily, as though it was a twig

(B) will snap easily, like a twig does

(C) will snap easily, as though it is a twig

(D) might snap easily, as though it was a twig

(E) will snap easily, as though it were a twig

6. Until Antoine Lavoisier proved otherwise in the eighteenth

century, many scientists had believed that combustion released
phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not
fully understood.

(A) many scientists had believed that combustion released

phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were not
fully understood

(B) many scientists believed that phlogiston was an imaginary

 substance released by combustion and its properties were not
fully understood

(C) phlogiston was an imaginary substance whose properties

were not fully understood and which many scientists had
believed was released by combustion

(D) phlogiston, an imaginary substance whose properties were

not fully understood, was believed by scientists to be released
by combustion

(E) many scientists had believed that phlogiston was released

by combustion and was an imaginary substance whose
properties were not fully understood

7. Many analysts have recently predicted that democratic

institutions will develop in China, as the growth of
democracy has generally followed industrial development in
other countries throughout the 20th century.

A) has generally followed industrial development

B) generally followed industrial development

C) had generally followed industrial development

D) generally follows industrial development

E) followed general industrial development

8. The health commissioner said that the government had
implemented strict measures to eradicate the contaminated
food and, despite the recent illnesses, it will try to prevent the
outbreak from recurring in the future.

(A) it will try

(B) that it tried

(C) it had tried

(D) it would have tried

(E) that it would try

9. In 1860, the Philological Society launched its effort to create a

dictionary more comprehensive than the world had ever seen;
although the project would take more than 60 years to
complete, the Oxford English Dictionary had been born.

(A) would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford

English Dictionary had been

(B) took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English

Dictionary was
(C) would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford
English Dictionary was being

(D) would take more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford

English Dictionary was

(E) took more than 60 years to complete, the Oxford English

Dictionary was about to be