GRE Test Vocabulary

Top 10 GRE Vocabulary Tips

The knowledge of English words is often considered to be a yardstick to measure a person’s grasp over the language. An essential part of the GRE is to test your knowledge of the English language. Nearly fifty percent of the examination consists of questions that will test your various abilities, with respect to the language. For example the reading comprehension section is a test of how well you can analyze and understand the given passages. Similarly, the writing section analyzes your knowledge of words. The following section of the article discusses exactly how it does so.A GRE Test Section that Tests Your VocabularyThe writing section will examine your capacity to express yourself in a coherent manner in English. Thus, knowledge of English words or having a strong vocabulary is essential if you want to ace the examination. However, developing agood vocabulary for GRE is different from the language requirements of other similar examinations. Therefore, in order to help you develop a strong vocabulary for GRE some tips and strategies have been discussed in the following section of the article.Develop a Strong VocabularyThe development of a strong vocabulary takes time. As we read, our minds remember certain words and these words become a part of our vocabulary. However, these are words that we commonly use or read about. Thus, unusual words rarely form a part of our vocabulary, and it is these unusual words that need to become a part of your vocabulary. In order to help you develop a good vocabulary, some tips are as follows:

  1. Reading voraciously always helps develop vocabulary. So read as many books as you can. However, you should not read only a particular type of book. Reading books, magazines, newspapers all help in increasing your vocabulary.
  2. Memorizing words can be difficult. However, if you do not have sufficient time then memorizing is a good option. Make a List Of Words that you think will help you increase your vocabulary and memorize them.
  3. Make flash cards with words on one side and their synonyms on the other. Try to memorize these flash cards. As you memorize words and synonyms, at the same time, automatically your vocabulary will increase.
  4. Try to use better words in your day-to-day conversations. In other words, instead of using the common words try and use their synonyms. This will not only increase your vocabulary, but also help you understand the different uses of the same word.
  5. Make a list of the words you commonly forget. Sometimes, it so happens that you tend to forget some words, even if you have memorized them. In such a case, you should make a separate list for these words and keep studying them, so that you can remember them during the examination.
  6. Understand the usage of different words. Remembering words becomes easier, if you can understand their application. So, instead of trying to learn the words and their meanings try and understand how they are applied.
  7. An easy way of developing your vocabulary is by practicing. Take as many mock GREs as you can. This will not only familiarize you with the examination, but also help you understand the type of words that you will have to know for the examination.
  8. Practice writing as many essays as you can. This will help you with learning different usages of the same word. This ability will be especially useful when you will solve the sentence equivalence questions in the GRE.
  9. While writing avoid using common words and use their lesser known synonyms. This will help you develop not only your vocabulary, but also with the sentence equivalence questions of the GRE. In the sentence equivalence questions, you will have to choose two words instead of one, in order to fill the blanks (or blank) in a particular question. Thus, knowledge of synonyms will make choosing the correct words easier, as the two words that you select should have the same meaning, and both should make the statement meaningful.
  10. Try to make the process of developing your vocabulary fun. This will ensure that your enthusiasm does not decrease and you can continue developing your vocabulary.

The above-mentioned list outlines certain strategies that will help in developing your vocabulary.Links to Help You Develop Your VocabularyIf you require more help then links to some vocabulary websites are as follows:

However, it is essential that you start doing it long time before the test date. It is important, because you cannot develop a vocabulary overnight! You need to work diligently for it. After all hard work has no replacement and is also the lone ingredient for success.