Verbal reasoning: words, codes and logic
Verbal reasoning in the ISEB Common Pre-Test is not a test of vocabulary size alone. It is a set of short, timed, multiple-choice puzzles that check how flexibly you manipulate words, letters and logical statements. Questions are mixed rather than grouped by type, and the section is adaptive, so recognise the puzzle family quickly and apply its standard method.
The main question families
- Synonyms and antonyms: pick the word closest in meaning, or most nearly opposite. Exact fits beat loose associations.
- Odd one out: four words share a meaning or category; find the intruder.
- Analogies (sculptor is to chisel as painter is to …): name the relationship precisely - tool of the trade, part to whole, category, degree, cause and effect, or opposite.
- Letter series and codes: track the alphabet position of each letter, watching for steps such as +1, +2, +3, alternating or reversing patterns (A=1, Z=26).
- Anagrams and hidden words: an anagram is usually clued by the sentence around it; a hidden word can run across two adjacent words.
- Word building: compound words, prefixes and suffixes, word ladders changing one letter at a time.
- Logic: ordering puzzles with constraints (Ben sits between two girls), and deductions from statements such as All mammals are warm-blooded.
Worked example
In a certain code, CAT is written as DBU. How is DOG written? Compare letter by letter: C→D, A→B, T→U. Each letter moves forward one place, so D→E, O→P, G→H, giving EPH. Checking the first pair is the step candidates skip; here it confirms a single consistent rule rather than a coincidence on one letter.
Traps that cost marks
- Reversing an analogy: chisel is to sculptor is the opposite direction, so canvas (what a painter works on) is wrong where brush is right.
- Accepting a synonym that is only loosely related when a tighter option exists.
- Assuming a constant letter step when the pattern alternates or increases.
- Ignoring the letter-number link in a code where the position in the alphabet is the key, not the sound.