GRE Sentence Equivalence: How to Find the Matching Pair

Sentence Equivalence gives you one sentence with a single blank and six answer choices. You must select the two choices that both complete the sentence and produce sentences that are alike in meaning. Both must be right, and they must agree.

Because the two correct answers create equivalent sentences, they are almost always near-synonyms in the context. That structure is the key to the whole question type.

Use the same discipline as Text Completion: find the logical clue, note whether the sentence continues or contrasts, and predict a simple word for the blank before reading the choices.

With a prediction in hand, scan the six options for words that match your idea. You are looking for a pair that points the same direction, so a lone perfect word with no partner cannot be the answer.

A reliable tactic is to look for two choices that mean roughly the same thing, then check that they fit the sentence. Often the six choices contain one or two synonym pairs by design, and only one pair fits the meaning.

Be careful: sometimes a pair are synonyms but do not fit the sentence, planted to tempt you. The correct pair must both fit the logic and match each other.

The most common mistake is choosing one word that fits beautifully and a second that also fits but changes the meaning. If your two words would produce sentences with different shades of meaning, at least one is wrong.

Another trap is a word with no synonymous partner among the choices. However well it fits, if nothing else matches it in meaning, it cannot be part of a valid pair.

Read for the logical clue and pivot. Predict a simple word. Find the two choices that match your prediction and each other. Confirm both produce sentences with the same meaning. Discard well-fitting words that lack a synonymous partner.