GMAT Verbal Guide for Nepali Students explains the current 23-question, 45-minute Verbal Reasoning section, its Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning formats, passage and argument skills, pacing, adaptive scoring, Question Review & Edit decisions and preparation for non-native English readers. The current section does not include Sentence Correction.
Information checked on 25 July 2026 against official mba.com Exam Content, Exam Structure, Verbal Reasoning Prep Strategies, Sample Questions and Scores pages. Use current official questions because retired materials can include removed formats.
Key facts at a glance
| Verbal factor | Current official position |
|---|---|
| Section time | 45 minutes |
| Questions | 23 |
| Formats | Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning |
| Reading skills | Main idea, detail, inference, application, structure and style |
| Argument skills | Analyse, evaluate and formulate plans |
| Sentence Correction | Not part of the current section |
| Section score | 60-90 |
Use the current Verbal format
Verbal Reasoning contains 23 questions in 45 minutes. It combines Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning.
Prepare the current edition rather than dividing time among three retired Verbal formats.
Remove Sentence Correction
The current official content page lists only Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning. Sentence Correction is not part of this section.
General English improvement can support reading, but grammar drills from old GMAT books are not current-format question practice.
Understand what Verbal measures
The section measures comprehension of written material, reasoning about arguments and evaluation of plans or claims.
It does not require specialist knowledge of a passage topic; answers must follow the supplied text.
Read for meaning
Track what each sentence contributes rather than translating every word. Focus on claims, evidence, contrast, cause and qualification.
An unfamiliar term can often be understood through its role and surrounding relationships.
Notice logical signals
Words such as however, therefore, although, because, some, most and only shape meaning. Record their function mentally.
A wrong answer often removes or exaggerates one of these limits.
Separate fact and claim
In an argument, identify accepted premises, the conclusion and any unstated bridge between them.
Do not judge whether a premise is true in real life unless the question asks about information given.
Identify the task
For Critical Reasoning, official strategy recommends reading the question first so the required task is clear.
Strengthen, weaken, inference, assumption and plan evaluation require different standards.
Find the conclusion
Ask what the author wants the reader to accept and which statements support it. Indicator words help but are not required.
Background and evidence can appear after the conclusion, so use role rather than position.
Find the reasoning gap
Compare evidence with conclusion and state what must connect them. Look for alternative causes, selection effects or missing constraints.
Evaluate choices by their effect on that gap, not by topic similarity.
Handle inference
Choose what must or most securely follows from the information, using conservative language.
Reject attractive statements that are plausible but need an extra assumption.
Evaluate plans
Identify the goal, proposed action and assumptions about implementation, incentives and side effects.
A useful choice changes the likelihood that the stated plan reaches its goal.
Read passages before RC questions
Official strategy recommends analysing the passage before the Reading Comprehension questions. Build a map of purpose and structure.
Do not memorise every detail; know where evidence lives so it can be verified.
Answer from the passage
Select the choice that fits the supplied information. Outside knowledge cannot repair a contradiction with the text.
For detail questions, return to the relevant lines and compare meaning rather than repeated words.
Control answer-choice scope
Check whether a choice is too broad, too narrow, too strong, reversed or outside the passage.
Quantifiers and comparison groups often separate a supported choice from a tempting distortion.
Manage pacing
Twenty-three questions in 45 minutes gives a little under two minutes per question on average, but passages create uneven timing.
Use section checkpoints and protect completion because unanswered questions receive a score penalty.
Do not rush comprehension
Official guidance says the section is about comprehension, not speed. A faster first read that requires repeated rereading may cost more.
Aim for accurate structure on the first pass and targeted returns for evidence.
Use Review and Edit
After answering all items, review as time permits and edit up to three answers. Bookmark for a specific evidence or logic concern.
Change only when a new textual or reasoning insight identifies the earlier error.
Understand adaptive scoring
Scoring considers characteristics of correct and incorrect questions plus unanswered items. It is not a simple accuracy percentage.
Do not infer question difficulty or score during the section.
Build vocabulary in context
Learn recurring academic connectors, stance words and precise meanings through reading. Record a word with the sentence and contrast that revealed it.
Rare-word memorisation is less useful than accurate relationships and scope.
Train non-native reading
Read concise science, business, social-science and history analysis regularly. Summarise purpose, paragraph role and evidence without translating line by line.
Accuracy must rise before deliberate speed.
Create a Verbal error log
Record question type, chosen trap, missed evidence, logic gap, confidence, time and a prevention rule.
Explain why four choices are wrong and why the correct choice meets the task.
Practise transfer
After review, solve a fresh question using the same decision in a different topic. Transfer proves the correction is reusable.
Repeatedly reading the same explanation can create recognition without skill.
Use official practice
Read the official Exam Content, Verbal strategies and current sample questions.
Use the free Official Starter Kit and Practice Exams 1 and 2 for mixed section evidence.
Measure readiness
Track accuracy, time, confidence, unanswered items and trap patterns across fresh mixed sets. Review performance by content, skill and timing.
One familiar passage set is not stable readiness evidence.
Follow a seven-step Verbal plan
Learn the format; diagnose RC and CR; map errors; repair reading and logic; practise transfer; build timed mixed sets; then verify in official simulations.
Allocate time from evidence rather than assuming every Verbal weakness is vocabulary.
Connect Verbal with applications
For programme research and overseas application planning, visit MKS Education. For structured GMAT Verbal preparation, explore MKS Prep.
Bring the diagnostic and error log to counselling so preparation follows evidence.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are in GMAT Verbal?
The current Verbal Reasoning section has 23 questions in 45 minutes.
What question types are in GMAT Verbal?
Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning are the two current formats.
Is Sentence Correction on the current GMAT?
No. It is not listed in the current Verbal Reasoning section.
Do I need specialist passage knowledge?
No. Official guidance says subject-matter familiarity is not required; answer from the supplied text.
What is the Verbal score range?
The current Verbal Reasoning section score ranges from 60 to 90.