On this page you will find information about the Verbal Reasoning questions that form part of entrance exams for Stretford Grammar, Sale Grammar, Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, Loreto and Ambrose College.
Better Tuition’s team of qualified teachers can help prepare your child for entrance exams.
Better Tuition’s team of expert teachers can prepare your child for entrance exams.
More information about entrance examinations for Trafford’s grammar schools can be found here. You can also call Better Tuition on 0161 748 3912 to book tuition, a FREE assessment or a practice entrance examination. Find out how to book our popular summer school and ensure your child remains focused throughout the long summer break. Check out our useful links page for plenty of focused online activities to help your child prepare for these important exams.
Verbal reasoning tests your child’s word power, understanding, ability to spot patterns and connections and expertise in writing. Our Introduction to Verbal Reasoning workbook (available directly from us or from Amazon) offers an excellent overview of all types of verbal reasoning and enables the development of solid verbal reasoning skills. You may also wish to purchase our Word Power Vocabulary Workbook (from our download store or from Amazon) which aims to develop your child’s vocabulary in a way that is both dynamic and systematic.
Verbal Reasoning Question Categories
Verbal Reasoning Category A: Word Progression
1. Rearrange to make new words
Move one letter from the first word to the second word, to make two new words.
Example:
brain/ rake
Answer: b
New words = rain, brake
2. Insert a letter
The same letter must fit into both sets of brackets, to complete the word in front of the brackets and begin the word after the brackets.
Example:
cal (?) and
gul (?) air
Answer: l
New words = call, land, gull, lair
3. Make compound words
Choose two words, each from a list of three, to make a compound word.
Example:
(foot feel hold)
(card toe ball)
Answer: foot, ball (The word is football.)
4. Insert a word
Find the three letter word that will make the word in capitals complete.
Example:
The dog BED at the little boy.
Answer: ARK (The word in capitals is BARKED).
5. Insert letters (antonyms)
Example:
Add the missing letters here: _ e ll _ _ to make a word that means the same as shout.
Answer: bellow
6. Insert letters (synonyms)
Example:
Add the missing letters here: h_ _ _ il _ to make the opposite of the word friendly.
Answer: hostile
Verbal Reasoning Category B: Selecting Words
1. Finding the odd one(s) out.
Which two words are different to the rest?
Example:
apple banana gravy rattle orange
Answer: gravy, rattle (all the rest are fruit).
2. Similarities
Find the two words closest in meaning.
Example:
(bag, boot, whistle)
(foot, apple, sack)
Answer: bag, sack
3. Hidden words
Find the pair of words that contains the hidden, four- letter word.
Example:
The sun was particularly hot yesterday.
Answer: was, particularly (the word is wasp).
4. Analogies
Find the pair of words that relate together in the same way.
Example:
Apple is to (orange, fruit, tree)as carrot is to (red, potato, vegetable)
Answer: fruit, vegetable
Verbal Reasoning Category C: Codes and Logic
1. Substitutions
In these questions, letters stand for numbers. Work out the answer to each sum.
Example:
If A = 2, B = 3, C = 4, D = 5 and E = 9, What is the answer to this sum written as a letter?
A + B + C = (?)
Answer = E
2. Alphabet sequences
Determine which pair of letters completes the analogy.
Example:
AB is to CD
As PQ is to (?)
Answer: RS
3. Numeric Sequences
Determine which number completes the sequence
Example 1:
2, 4, 6, 8, ____
Answer = 10
Example 2:
3, 10, 6, 20, ____
Answer = 10
4. Worded logic puzzles
Solve the puzzle.
Example:
Toby and Tilly play tennis. Bob, William and Ruby play tennis and netball. James, William and Toby play rugby. Everyone likes cricket, except Ruby.
Who likes netball and rugby?
Answer: William
Verbal Reasoning Category D: Relationships
1. Vocabulary
In these questions, two pairs of words are given. Only one of the possible answers given will go with both pairs equally well.
Example:
(light, blond) (just, unbiased)
Answer: fair
2. Number relationships
The three numbers in each group are related in the same way. Find the number that completes the last pair of words in the same way as the other two pairs.
Example:
(2 [8] 10)
(3 [?] 9)
Answer: 11 (subtract the first number from the last).
3. Make a new word
The missing word in the second group should be formed in the same way as the middle word in the first group.
Example:
(bat [bag] egg)
(ham [?] sit)
Answer: hat (use the first two letters of the first word and the last letter of the last word).
4. Shuffled Sentences
The words in the following sentence have been shuffled. Unshuffle the sentence and identify the word which is superfluous.
Example:
help here tutor our then are to
Answer: then – The sentence should read ‘Our tutors are here to help’.
Verbal Reasoning Category E: Comprehension Comprehension
If your child is sitting a Durham CEM entrance exam, comprehension is extremely likely to form part of the verbal reasoning section of the exam. There may be one or more short texts followed by a series of questions. The questions are multiple choice and are designed to check general understanding, inference, vocabulary and other aspects of English language as appropriate.
We hope this page has helped give you an overview of Verbal Reasoning question types: please don’t feel overwhelmed. There is a lot of ground to cover and at first it can seem daunting. Practice makes perfect and over time your child will really improve their scores. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to book a FREE assessment, some tuition or a practice test. You can download a FREE Better Tuition Verbal Reasoning paper from our download store.
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