Verbal Ability
What the items test
Verbal ability on the NMAT blends vocabulary in context, analogies, sentence completion, reading comprehension, and short critical-reasoning items. None of these reward a memorized word list alone; they reward a disciplined procedure applied to unfamiliar text.
Analogies
Write a bridge sentence linking the first pair, then apply the same sentence to the stem word. "Miser : hoard :: spendthrift : squander" works because the bridge is "a ___ characteristically ___s money." Check order and part of speech as well as meaning - reversing the bridge is the most common error.
Sentence completion
Locate the pivot word (although, because, moreover, despite) and decide whether the blank continues or reverses the sentence's direction. Predict a word in your own language before reading the options, then pick the closest match.
Reading comprehension
Read for structure: thesis, evidence, concession, conclusion. Main-idea items punish choices that are true but too narrow; inference items punish choices that go beyond what the passage states.
Critical reasoning
Separate the conclusion from the evidence, then ask what must be true for that evidence to support it. Extreme words - always, never, all, only - usually mark wrong options.
Rule of thumb
When two options look right, one is usually true-but-irrelevant and the other is on-topic but overstated. Choose the choice that is both supported and moderate.