KDF Cadet Aptitude cheat sheet

Subject–verb agreement: a singular subject takes a singular verb; compound subjects joined by 'and' take a plural verb unless they form one idea (e.g., 'bread and butter is').

Neither/nor and either/or agree with the nearer subject: 'Neither the cadets nor the officer was ready.'

Tenses: past perfect (had + past participle) marks the earlier of two past actions; present perfect links past action to present relevance.

Direct to indirect speech: shift tense back one step and change pronouns and time markers (now → then, today → that day, tomorrow → the following day).

Active to passive: object becomes subject, verb becomes be + past participle, agent introduced by 'by' and often dropped.

Common confusions: affect (verb) vs effect (noun); lie (recline) vs lay (put down); its (possessive) vs it's (it is).

Punctuation: a semicolon joins two independent clauses; a colon introduces a list or explanation; commas separate items but not subject from verb.

Synonyms and antonyms are judged by connotation and register, not just dictionary meaning - 'thrifty' and 'stingy' share sense but differ in tone.

Reading comprehension: the main idea is usually stated in the first or last sentence of a paragraph; inference answers must be supported by the text, not by outside knowledge.

Nomina classes: ngeli ya A-WA (watu), KI-VI (kitu), LI-YA (jicho/macho), U-I (ukuta/kuta), I-ZI (kitabu/vitabu), PA-KU-MU for location.

Upungufu wa nomina: kivumishi na kitenzi hufuata ngeli ya nomina - 'Mtoto mzuri amekuja', 'Vitabu vizuri vimekuja'.

Vitenzi huchukua viambishi: wakati (li, na, ta, me, ka), nafsi (ni, u, a, tu, m, wa) na kiima; mfano 'tulikwenda' = tu + li + kwenda.

Ngeli ya U has no plural marker in many nouns: 'ukuta' → 'kuta'; ngeli ya I-ZI takes 'i' singular and 'zi' plural in verb agreement.

Methali na misemo hutumika kufunga hoja: 'Haraka haraka haina baraka' (kufanya haraka hakuna faida); 'Mtoto umleavyo ndivyo akuavyo'.

Viwakilishi: nafsi ya kwanza (mimi/sisi), ya pili (wewe/ninyi), ya tatu (yeye/wao); 'yeye' huchukua kiambishi 'a-' kwa kitenzi.

Ukanushaji: 'si-' kwa nafsi ya kwanza ('sikwenda'), 'hu-' kwa mazoea ('hukwenda'), 'ha-' kwa nafsi nyingine ('hakwenda').

Kusoma kwa ufahamu: wazo kuu huwa mwanzoni au mwishoni mwa aya; jibu la maswali ya ufahamu linapaswa kutegemea maandishi pekee.

Ngeli ya LI-YA: 'jicho' (umoja) na 'macho' (wingi); kivumishi hufuata: 'jicho kubwa', 'macho makubwa'.

Order of operations: brackets, indices, division/multiplication (left to right), addition/subtraction (left to right).

Percentage change = (new − old) ÷ old × 100; percentage of a number = percent ÷ 100 × number.

Simple interest = P × R × T ÷ 100; compound interest uses A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt).

Speed = distance ÷ time; average speed = total distance ÷ total time (not the mean of speeds).

Ratio sharing: divide the total by the sum of ratio parts, then multiply by each part.

Area: circle = πr²; triangle = ½ × base × height; trapezium = ½(a + b)h. Volume of cylinder = πr²h.

Pythagoras: a² + b² = c² for right triangles; 5-12-13 and 3-4-5 are common triples.

Number series: check differences, then ratios, then alternating patterns; prime, square and Fibonacci sequences recur in aptitude tests.

Probability of an event = favourable outcomes ÷ total outcomes; independent events multiply, mutually exclusive events add.

Kenya's capital is Nairobi; the official languages are English and Kiswahili; the currency is the Kenya shilling (KES).

Kenya's counties number 47, created under the 2010 Constitution; each is headed by a Governor and a County Assembly.

Kenya is a member of the African Union, the United Nations, the East African Community (EAC) and the Commonwealth.

Kenya's highest mountain is Mount Kenya (5,199 m); the longest river is the Tana; the largest lake is Lake Victoria.

Kenya gained independence on 12 December 1963 and became a republic on 12 December 1964, with Jomo Kenyatta as first President.

The East African Community headquarters is in Arusha, Tanzania; the African Union headquarters is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Kenya Defence Forces comprise the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, under the Ministry of Defence.

Current affairs items are time-sensitive: verify dates, officeholders and figures against a recent official source before answering.

The Imperial British East Africa Company administered the territory from 1888; the British East Africa Protectorate was declared in 1895.

The Uganda Railway reached Nairobi in 1899 and Kisumu in 1901; it shaped the growth of Nairobi as a railway depot.

The Devonshire White Paper (1923) declared that African interests were paramount in Kenya.

The Mau Mau uprising (1952–1960) led to the declaration of a State of Emergency in October 1952 and the arrest of Jomo Kenyatta.

The Lancaster House Conferences (1960, 1962, 1963) negotiated the constitution and independence; KANU won the 1963 election.

Kenya became independent on 12 December 1963 with Jomo Kenyatta as Prime Minister; the Republic was declared on 12 December 1964 with Kenyatta as President.

The 1982 attempted coup was led by elements of the Air Force; the 1991 repeal of Section 2A restored multi-party politics.

The 2002 election ended KANU's rule with Mwai Kibaki's victory; the 2007–2008 post-election violence led to the National Accord and a coalition government.

The Constitution of Kenya 2010 replaced the 1963 independence constitution; it has 18 chapters and six schedules.

Article 1 vests all sovereign power in the people, exercised directly or through elected representatives.

Chapter Four (Articles 26–57) is the Bill of Rights; Article 27 guarantees equality and freedom from discrimination.

Article 43 guarantees economic and social rights: health, housing, food, clean water, social security and education.

The Executive comprises the President, the Deputy President and the Cabinet; the President is elected for a maximum of two five-year terms.

Parliament is bicameral: the National Assembly and the Senate; the Senate represents counties and protects devolution.

The Judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice; the High Court has unlimited original jurisdiction, and the Supreme Court hears presidential election petitions.

Chapter Six requires public officers to observe integrity, including financial probity and avoiding conflict of interest.

Devolution: county governments have executive committees and county assemblies; functions are listed in the Fourth Schedule.

The Great Rift Valley runs north–south through Kenya; it hosts Lakes Turkana, Baringo, Naivasha, Nakuru and Magadi.

Kenya's climate zones: equatorial highlands (cool, wet), coastal tropical, and arid/semi-arid north and northeast.

The water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, runoff and infiltration; transpiration adds water vapour from plants.

Photosynthesis: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O + light → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂, occurring in chloroplasts using chlorophyll.

The three states of matter and changes: melting, freezing, evaporation, condensation, sublimation; mass is conserved in physical changes.

Newton's laws: inertia (first), F = ma (second), equal and opposite reaction (third).

The human body: the heart pumps blood through arteries (away) and veins (towards); the lungs exchange O₂ and CO₂ in alveoli.

Map reading: scale expresses map distance to ground distance; contour lines close together indicate steep slopes.

Ecosystem terms: producers (plants), consumers (herbivores, carnivores), decomposers (bacteria, fungi); energy flows through food chains.

Deduction: if all A are B and all B are C, then all A are C; a valid conclusion must follow necessarily from the premises.

Syllogism traps: 'some A are B' does not imply 'some B are not A'; converse of an 'all' statement is not automatic.

Analogy: identify the relation (part-to-whole, cause-to-effect, synonym, opposite) before choosing the matching pair.

Odd-one-out: test category, function, number property (prime, square, even) and alphabetical order.

Coding-decoding: check letter shifts (e.g., +1, +2), reversal and substitution patterns; write the alphabet with positions 1–26.

Blood relations: draw a family tree; use '+' for male, '−' for female, and horizontal lines for siblings, vertical for parent–child.

Direction sense: draw axes; north-up, east-right; track turns sequentially rather than in the head.

Assumptions: an assumption is unstated but necessary for the argument; a conclusion is what the argument tries to establish.

Seating arrangement: fix one anchor person, then place others relative to it; circular arrangements use clockwise/anticlockwise cues.

The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) are established under Article 241 of the Constitution; their mandate is to defend and protect Kenya's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

KDF comprises the Kenya Army, the Kenya Navy and the Kenya Air Force; the Commander-in-Chief is the President.

The Chief of the Defence Forces (CDF) is appointed by the President with the approval of Parliament; the CDF heads the Defence Headquarters.

Military ranks (Army, ascending): Private, Lance Corporal, Corporal, Sergeant, Senior Sergeant, Warrant Officer, Second Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier, Major General, Lieutenant General, General.

The Kenya Military Academy at Lanet, Nakuru, trains officer cadets; the National Defence College Kenya provides senior-level strategic training.

KDF has served in peacekeeping missions including AMISOM/ATMIS in Somalia and MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Core military values include discipline, loyalty, integrity, courage and selfless service; the military is subordinate to civilian authority under the Constitution.

Basic fieldcraft: a section is a small infantry unit; camouflage, cover and concealment reduce detection; map and compass skills support navigation.

The Geneva Conventions govern the laws of armed conflict, including protection of civilians, prisoners of war and the wounded.