# GRE Verbal Reasoning: Format, Question Types | topin GRE guidesGRE Verbal ![](/mountains/verbal.webp) GRE General Test # GRE Verbal Reasoning: format, question types and strategy GRE Verbal Reasoning tests how well you read dense academic prose and use precise vocabulary in context. You answer 27 questions across two timed sections, and the second section gets harder or easier depending on how the first went. [Take a free GRE mock ](/gre/login) Updated 29 September 2026 · 5 min read ## At a glance Questions 27 in two sections: 12, then 15 Time 41 minutes: 18 for section 1, 23 for section 2 Adaptive Section-level: section 2 difficulty follows your section 1 result Question types Reading Comprehension, Text Completion, Sentence Equivalence Score 130–170 in 1-point steps Wrong answers No penalty, so answer every question ## GRE Verbal question types ### Reading Comprehension: select one answer A short or long passage followed by questions with five choices, asking about the main idea, details, inferences, the author's attitude or the role of a sentence. Tip: Before looking at the choices, answer the question in your own words from the passage. Choices that are true in the real world but not supported by the text are the most common trap. ### Reading Comprehension: select all that apply Three choices, and any one, two or all three can be correct. You only get credit if you select every correct choice and no wrong ones. Tip: Judge each choice on its own as a true or false statement about the passage. Do not assume there must be more than one answer; a single correct choice is common. ### Reading Comprehension: select in passage You click the sentence in the passage that does a particular job, such as giving an example or qualifying an earlier claim. Tip: Restate the job the sentence must do, then test only the sentences in the paragraph the question points to. Rule out sentences that do the job only partly. ### Text Completion A passage of one to five sentences with one, two or three blanks. One-blank questions have five choices; two- and three-blank questions have three choices per blank, and every blank must be right for credit. Tip: Cover the choices and predict a word for each blank from the clue words and signals such as although, because or indeed. In multi-blank questions, start with the blank that has the clearest clue, not necessarily the first. ### Sentence Equivalence A single sentence with one blank and six choices. You pick the two words that each complete the sentence and give it the same meaning. Tip: Predict the meaning first, then find a pair that both fit it. Watch for pairs of synonyms that do not fit the sentence, and for a word that fits but has no partner. ## How GRE Verbal is scored Your raw score is the number of questions you get right across both sections, and each question counts the same. That raw score is converted to a scaled score from 130 to 170, taking into account which version of section 2 you were given, so a strong section 1 opens the way to the top of the scale. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, and multi-answer questions give no partial credit. [GRE score percentile calculatorSee what percentile your Verbal, Quant and Writing scores put you in, from ETS data.](/gre/score-percentiles) ## How to prepare for GRE Verbal 1. 1 ### Treat section 1 as the one that sets your ceiling Section 1 decides whether section 2 is easy, medium or hard, and the harder section 2 is what makes scores in the 160s reachable. Work section 1 carefully, flag anything you are unsure of and use the time left to check those answers rather than rushing to finish early. 2. 2 ### Learn vocabulary in context, not from lists alone Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence reward knowing how a word is used, not just a one-word definition. Study words in small groups of related meanings, write your own sentence for each, and review the ones you miss in practice questions every few days. 3. 3 ### Read passages for structure On a first read, note what each paragraph does and where the author's view sits, rather than trying to remember every detail. Most questions send you back to a specific part of the passage anyway, and knowing the structure tells you where to look. 4. 4 ### Spend your time where it earns points Sentence Equivalence and one-blank Text Completion usually take the least time, while long passages and three-blank completions take the most. If a question is eating time, make your best guess, mark it and come back once you have answered everything else in the section. 5. 5 ### Review every wrong answer by type After each practice set, sort your mistakes into vocabulary gaps, misread signal words and unsupported inferences. Practise topin's GRE Verbal questions by type so you can drill the weakest one until it stops costing points. ## Common GRE Verbal mistakes * Choosing a Reading Comprehension answer that sounds reasonable but goes beyond what the passage actually says. * Filling Text Completion blanks from the choices instead of predicting from the sentence first. * Picking two Sentence Equivalence words that mean the same thing as each other but do not fit the sentence. * Selecting only one choice on select-all questions out of habit, or assuming at least two must be correct. * Leaving questions blank at the end of a section when a wrong answer costs nothing. ## GRE Verbal questions, answered How many questions are in GRE Verbal? There are 27 Verbal questions in two sections: 12 in the first section and 15 in the second. How long is the GRE Verbal section? 41 minutes in total: 18 minutes for section 1 and 23 minutes for section 2\. Each section is timed separately, so unused time does not carry over. Is GRE Verbal adaptive? Yes, at the section level. Your performance on the first Verbal section decides how difficult the second one is, but the questions within a section do not change as you answer them, so you can skip around and return to earlier questions. What is a good GRE Verbal score? It depends on the programmes you are applying to. Humanities, social science, law and policy programmes tend to weight Verbal heavily and expect higher scores, so check each programme's published class profile or average scores and aim at or above them. Do I need to memorise vocabulary for the GRE? You need a solid working vocabulary of academic words, because Text Completion and Sentence Equivalence make up a large share of the section. Learning words through example sentences and practice questions sticks far better than memorising definitions alone. ## See where you stand in GRE Verbal Your first full-length GRE mock is free, with every section included. [Take the free mock ](/gre/login)