GRE practice questions with answers and explanations
Below are 24 free GRE practice questions, 12 Verbal and 12 Quant, covering every question type on the GRE General Test: text completion, sentence equivalence, reading comprehension, quantitative comparison, multiple choice, numeric entry and data interpretation. Each gives instant feedback and an explanation, and your results show which question types to study next.
We wrote every question ourselves in the style of the real test. The format, timing and scoring facts on this page come from ETS, the maker of the GRE, checked November 9, 2026.
GRE practice questions: Verbal and Quant
The set mirrors a real section in miniature: Verbal mixes sentence-based questions with a passage, and Quant mixes comparisons, problem solving and a data table. Filter by section if you only want one. To feel the real pace, give yourself about 18 minutes for the 12 Verbal questions and 21 minutes for the 12 Quant questions, the time ETS allows for the first section of each.
GRE practice questions: 12 Verbal, 12 Quant
Choose an answer to see the explanation. For select-two, select-all, multi-blank and typed answers, make your choices and press Check answer. Like the real test, a question counts only if every part is right.
Verbal Reasoning
Text Completion (5)
Choose one entry for each blank. On the test there's no credit unless every blank is right.
Sentence Equivalence (3)
Select exactly two answers that each complete the sentence and give sentences alike in meaning.
Reading Comprehension (4)
Answer from the passage alone. Questions with checkboxes can have one, two or three correct answers.
Questions 9 to 11 are based on this passage
Why city birds sing higher
Songbirds in many cities sing at higher pitches than members of the same species in nearby forests. One explanation is anatomical: smaller birds tend to produce higher-pitched songs, and some urban populations are slightly smaller on average than rural ones. Yet this account struggles with a simple observation. Individual birds recorded in noisy areas raise the pitch of their songs as traffic noise builds during the day and lower it again when the noise subsides. A bird's body does not change size between morning and afternoon, so size alone cannot be the explanation.
A more plausible view is that low-frequency traffic noise masks the lower notes of a song, and a bird that sings higher is more likely to be heard by mates and rivals. This flexibility may carry a cost. In experiments in which females heard recorded songs, they responded less strongly to high-pitched versions than to low-pitched ones, which suggests that the song that carries best through a noisy street may also be the less attractive one.
Original passage written for practice; it simplifies the research it describes.
Question 12 is based on this passage
A city replaced every incandescent bulb in its streetlights with an LED fixture that uses about half as much electricity. In the following year, however, the city's spending on electricity for streetlights fell by less than a tenth.
Quantitative Reasoning
Quantitative Comparison (3)
Compare Quantity A with Quantity B using the information given.
Multiple choice: select one (3)
Select one answer. An on-screen calculator is available on the real test; try these by hand first.
Multiple choice: select one or more (2)
Select every answer that works. There's no partial credit.
Numeric Entry (2)
Type your answer. Fractions go in two boxes.
Data Interpretation (2)
Use the table to answer both questions.
Questions 23 and 24 are based on this table
Sales by region, Company Z (thousands of dollars)
Region
2024
2025
North
250
300
South
200
180
East
320
352
West
230
253
Your results by question type
Answer questions above and your results appear here, broken down by GRE question type, with the pages to study for any type you miss.
Last verified against ETS's GRE General Test structure, content and scoring pages: November 9, 2026. All 24 questions are original and written by Test Ninjas.
Practice every GRE question type with explanations A free Test Ninjas account gives you GRE Verbal and Quant practice by question type, with an explanation for every answer.
The GRE General Test takes about 1 hour and 58 minutes and has five sections: one Analytical Writing task, two Verbal Reasoning sections and two Quantitative Reasoning sections, with 27 Verbal and 27 Quant questions in all. This shorter format started on September 22, 2023, so older books and practice materials that describe a test of nearly four hours, 40 questions per measure and an Argument essay are out of date.
Analytical Writing is always first. The Verbal and Quant sections can then appear in any order, so practice switching between them. Within a section you can skip questions, mark them, go back and change answers, which matters for strategy: you don't have to answer in the order shown.
How the GRE is scored
Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning are each scored from 130 to 170 in one-point increments, and Analytical Writing from 0 to 6 in half-point increments (GRE Information Bulletin). Three details shape how you should practice:
No penalty for wrong answers. ETS counts your raw score as the number of questions you answer correctly (understanding your scores). A wrong answer and a blank score the same, so never leave a question empty.
No partial credit. On a select-two, select-all or multi-blank question, every part has to be right. That's why this set marks a three-blank question wrong if one blank is wrong.
The test adapts by section. The first Verbal and first Quant sections are of average difficulty, and your performance on each sets the difficulty of the second section in that measure. Equating turns your correct answers into a scaled score that accounts for which second section you got, so a harder second section isn't a penalty.
To turn a practice-test result into an estimated score, try our GRE score calculator.
The GRE Verbal question types
GRE Verbal has three question types: Text Completion, Sentence Equivalence and Reading Comprehension. About half the measure is passage-based; the other half asks you to complete sentences and short paragraphs (ETS, Verbal Reasoning).
Text Completion
A passage of one to five sentences with one to three blanks. A single blank has five choices; with two or three blanks, each blank has three choices and a single right answer. The method that works: find the clue words before looking at the choices, predict your own word, then match. In question 4, the colon tells you the second half is evidence for the first, and “anything but” flips the meaning. Don't assume the first blank is easiest; in question 5 the third blank is the clearest, because the planners “now promote it as a park.” For more, see our text completion practice and guides to one-blank, two-blank and three-blank questions.
Sentence Equivalence
One sentence, one blank, six choices, and you select exactly two that each complete the sentence and give sentences alike in meaning. The common trap is a pair of synonyms that doesn't fit the sentence: in question 6, accommodating and obliging are a perfect pair, but they erase the contrast that “despite” demands. Work out what the blank must mean first, then look for the two choices that deliver it. Our sentence equivalence guide has more worked examples.
Reading Comprehension
Passages run from one paragraph to several, and each has one to six questions. There are three formats: select one of five choices, select one or more of three choices (question 10), and select a sentence in the passage, which needs the computer interface and isn't included here. Every right answer is supported by the text. The usual wrong answers go further than the passage (question 10, choice C, ignores the word “alone”) or answer a different question. Short argument paragraphs like question 12 also appear; practice them with our reading comprehension practice.
The GRE Quant question types
GRE Quant has four question types (Quantitative Comparison, multiple choice with one answer, multiple choice with one or more answers, and Numeric Entry), and any of them can appear in a Data Interpretation set built on a shared table or graph (ETS, Quantitative Reasoning). The questions test basic skills and elementary concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and data analysis, and an on-screen calculator is available.
Quantitative Comparison (questions 13 to 15). Compare Quantity A and Quantity B and choose one of four fixed statements. Simplify both sides the same way, and test different kinds of numbers: in question 14, the allowed values of n give three different relationships, so the answer is (D). See our quantitative comparison guide.
Multiple choice, select one (questions 16 to 18). Five choices, one answer. The wrong choices are usually the results of predictable mistakes, such as the difference between two averages in question 16. See the select one guide.
Multiple choice, select one or more (questions 19 and 20). Check every choice on its own; there's no partial credit, and the question may or may not tell you how many to pick. See the select one or more guide.
Numeric Entry (questions 21 and 22). No choices to check against, so reread what's asked and confirm the units. Integers and decimals go in one box and fractions in two. Round only when told to, and only at the end, as question 24 shows. See the numeric entry guide.
Data Interpretation (questions 23 and 24). Read the title, labels and units first. Totals and percents of totals are the most common asks, and the classic error is averaging percent changes across groups of different sizes. See the data interpretation guide.
Figures aren't necessarily drawn to scale. ETS's conventions say you can trust that straight lines are straight and points on a line are in the order shown, but not lengths or angle sizes that merely look right. Base geometry answers on the given information, not the picture.
How to use GRE practice questions
Use question sets like this one to learn each question type and find your weak spots; use full-length timed tests to build pace and stamina and to estimate your score. A routine that works:
Do a mixed set untimed first. Answer every question as if it counted. Guess when stuck, since a blank never scores.
Read every explanation, including the ones you got right. A lucky guess is a question you'll miss next time.
Sort your misses by cause. Vocabulary you didn't know, a clue word you missed, an arithmetic slip, a misread question, or a trap choice. Each has a different fix: word lists, slower reading of the sentence, writing out steps, underlining the question, or elimination drills.
Go deep on your weakest type. The results panel above ranks the types you missed and links to the page for each. Practice that type until it's routine before moving on.
Then add the clock. Work at real section pace, then take a full-length test.
Here's the pace the real test asks for, from the ETS section times:
Computed from the section times in ETS's GRE General Test structure. Verbal totals 27 questions in 41 minutes; Quant 27 in 47 minutes.
Section
Questions
Time
Per question
Verbal Reasoning, section 1
12
18 min
about 90 seconds
Verbal Reasoning, section 2
15
23 min
about 92 seconds
Quantitative Reasoning, section 1
12
21 min
about 105 seconds
Quantitative Reasoning, section 2
15
26 min
about 104 seconds
Those averages hide a real difference within Verbal: a one-blank Text Completion can take 30 seconds, which buys time for a reading passage. Your pacing goal is to bank time on the quick questions, not to spend the same time on every question. For a daily habit between full study sessions, our GRE questions of the day gives you a few new questions every day.
Official GRE practice tests from ETS
For full-length practice with real GRE questions, use ETS's free POWERPREP Online practice tests, which come in timed and untimed versions and use the same tools you'll see on test day, including the on-screen calculator. ETS also sells additional POWERPREP PLUS tests. Because official tests are limited, save them for measuring progress: one near the start of your prep and one or two in the final weeks. Use original practice questions, like the ones above and in our GRE practice tests, for the learning in between.
When you're ready to plan the weeks ahead, our GRE study plans lay out daily tasks by test date.
Frequently asked questions
No. Every question on this page was written by Test Ninjas to match the question types and formats of the GRE General Test, and none is copied from an official test. Official GRE questions come from ETS, the maker of the test, whose free POWERPREP Online practice tests use real test questions and the same on-screen tools as test day.
The GRE General Test has 27 Verbal Reasoning questions (12 in the first section and 15 in the second), 27 Quantitative Reasoning questions (also 12 and 15), and one Analyze an Issue essay task in the Analytical Writing section.
No. ETS computes your raw score for Verbal and Quant as the number of questions you answer correctly, so a wrong answer costs you nothing more than a blank one. Answer every question, and use the Mark and Review features to come back to guesses if time remains in the section.
Yes, on the Quantitative Reasoning sections only. The test gives you an on-screen calculator; personal calculators aren't permitted unless approved as an accommodation. Many questions are faster with estimation or algebra than with the calculator, so practice both.
The GRE General Test takes about 1 hour and 58 minutes and has five sections: Analytical Writing (30 minutes, always first), two Verbal Reasoning sections (18 and 23 minutes) and two Quantitative Reasoning sections (21 and 26 minutes). The Verbal and Quant sections can come in any order after the essay.
Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning are each reported on a 130 to 170 scale in one-point increments, and Analytical Writing on a 0 to 6 scale in half-point increments. Your number of correct answers in each measure is converted to a scaled score through equating, which accounts for the difficulty of the sections you took.
Yes, at the section level. The first Verbal and first Quant section are of average difficulty, and the difficulty of the second section in each measure depends on how you did on the first. Within a section, questions don't adapt one by one, so you can skip questions and go back to change answers.
ETS offers free POWERPREP Online practice tests on its website, with timed and untimed options. Take one early to see your starting point and another closer to test day; between them, use practice questions like the ones on this page to work on the question types you miss.