5.2 SE Strategy: Predict & Match
Key Takeaways
- Read for overall sense first, then identify signal words like although, moreover, and therefore before predicting
- Predict your own word for the blank, then look for two choices that match that prediction
- If only one matching choice appears, abandon your prediction and search for two choices that complete the sentence coherently
- Always verify both selected choices produce completed sentences that are logically, grammatically, stylistically coherent and alike in meaning
- Pairs need not be exact synonyms; equivalence is judged on the completed sentence, not the isolated word
5.2 SE Strategy: Predict & Match
Quick Answer: Read the sentence for overall sense, identify signal words, predict your own word for the blank, scan for two choices that match your prediction, then verify both choices produce completed sentences alike in meaning. If only one choice matches, abandon your prediction and search for two choices that complete the sentence coherently.
The Predict & Match Workflow
ETS publishes a four-step strategy that maps cleanly onto a five-stage workflow you can run on every SE item in under a minute:
- Read the sentence to get an overall sense of its meaning.
- Identify significant words or phrases (such as although, moreover, therefore, despite) that emphasize the sentence's structure or central meaning.
- Predict a word or short phrase you would put in the blank yourself.
- Match by scanning the six choices for two that fit your prediction.
- Verify that each choice produces a logically, grammatically, and stylistically coherent sentence and that the two completed sentences mean the same thing.
Stage 1: Read for Overall Sense
Do not look at the answer choices yet. Cover them with your hand if you must. Read the sentence once at a steady pace and ask yourself, "What is this sentence basically saying?" A one-line paraphrase in plain English is enough. If you cannot paraphrase, you do not yet understand the sentence, and no amount of choice-scanning will save you.
Stage 2: Identify Signal Words
GRE SE sentences almost always contain a structural signal that pins down the blank's expected direction. Common signals:
| Signal type | Examples | Effect on blank |
|---|---|---|
| Contrast | although, despite, however, yet, nevertheless | Blank reverses the surrounding clause |
| Continuation | moreover, furthermore, additionally, indeed | Blank extends the surrounding clause |
| Cause/effect | therefore, consequently, thus, because, so that | Blank follows logically from cause |
| Definition | appositive phrases, colon, dash | Blank is defined by adjacent text |
| Tone | laudatory, pejorative, ironic diction | Blank must match tone |
Underlining or mentally tagging the signal word before predicting prevents the most common SE error: ignoring the sentence's direction.
Stage 3: Predict Your Own Word
Generate a word or short phrase you would use if there were no answer choices. The prediction does not need to be elegant — "kind of mean," "really careful," "outdated" all work. The point is to anchor your scan in a meaning rather than in the test-maker's vocabulary.
If you cannot produce a prediction, generate a direction at minimum: positive, negative, neutral; intensifying or moderating; old vs new; rare vs common.
Stage 4: Match Two Choices to Your Prediction
Now scan the six choices for two that fit your predicted meaning. Three patterns emerge:
- Clean match: Two choices clearly align with your prediction. Verify (Stage 5) and select.
- One match only: Exactly one choice fits your prediction. This is the moment ETS warns about — do not be fixated on your interpretation. Abandon the prediction and re-scan for two other choices that complete the sentence coherently, even if they differ from what you initially predicted.
- Zero matches: Your prediction is wrong. Re-read the sentence, re-check the signal word, and generate a new prediction.
Stage 5: Verify Coherence and Equivalence
This is the pass that separates SE from TC. For each of your two selected choices, plug it into the sentence and ask three questions:
- Is the resulting sentence logically coherent with the rest of the sentence and any surrounding context?
- Is the resulting sentence grammatically and stylistically coherent (no number disagreement, no idiom clash, no register mismatch)?
- Do the two completed sentences mean the same thing?
Only if all three answers are yes is the pair correct. A pair of synonyms that fails question 3 is the classic trap of Section 5.3.
When to Abandon Your Prediction
ETS is explicit: "If you have identified a word that is similar to one answer choice but cannot find a second one, do not be fixated on your interpretation of the sentence. Instead, look for a different word that will produce completed sentences that are alike in meaning." The discipline here is ego management. A clever first reading is satisfying, but if a second match does not appear, your reading is almost certainly wrong. Re-read for a second plausible reading, predict a new direction, and scan again.
Worked Example: Full Workflow
The critic's review was so _____ that even the director praised its fairness, despite the lukewarm verdict.
Choices: evenhanded, objective, harsh, severe, dismissive, glowing.
- Stage 1 (read): The director praised the review's fairness even though the verdict was lukewarm.
- Stage 2 (signal): "despite" sets up a contrast — the verdict was lukewarm, yet the director praised the review's fairness. The blank must mean fair/neutral.
- Stage 3 (predict): fair, balanced.
- Stage 4 (match): evenhanded and objective both fit. Harsh, severe, and dismissive are synonyms of each other but would not be called "fair" by the director. Glowing contradicts "lukewarm verdict."
- Stage 5 (verify): "The review was so evenhanded that even the director praised its fairness" and "The review was so objective that even the director praised its fairness" — both logically coherent, grammatically clean, and alike in meaning. Select evenhanded and objective.
Pacing the Workflow
A trained SE test taker runs the five stages in roughly 45–75 seconds per item. If you exceed 90 seconds, mark your best pair, flag the item for review, and move on — the Verbal section rewards breadth over depth, and a flagged item can be revisited if time permits.
Predict-and-Match in One Sentence
Read, signal, predict, match, verify. Five verbs, one workflow, every SE item.
Select the two choices that fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that are alike in meaning. The professor's lectures were so _____ that students who stayed through the entire hour typically forgot they had ever been bored.
During Predict & Match, you find exactly one choice that fits your predicted word. ETS's recommended next step is to:
Select the two choices that fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that are alike in meaning. The grant was _____: it specified not only the research topic but also the methodology, the timeline, and the expected deliverables.
Which sequence best summarizes the Predict & Match workflow for SE questions?