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11 Plus Verbal Reasoning

Type U - Letter Relationships

With this type of question you are given a sentence comprising of two pairs of letters, with the first pair relating in some way to the second pair. There is also a second group of two pairs of letters, with the second pair left blank.

You are required to work out the relationships between the letters of the first two pairs of letters and by using this relationship to determine the missing pair of letters from the second group.

You are normally given an Alphabet Line to assist with these type of questions,
but ensure that your child can write one from memory.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Look at this example:

CG is to ED as BW is to (__)

VR Type U


VR Type U




Verbal Reasoning Type U


Verbal Reasoning Type U

Begin by looking at the relationship between the first letter of the first two pairs, C and E.

Using the alphabet line, you can see that by counting forward two letters, 'C' becomes 'E'

Now, by using the same rule, look at the first letter of the second two pairs, 'B' and count forward two letters. 'B' becomes 'D' and you have the first missing letter.



Next look at the relationship between the second letter of the first two pairs, G and D.

Using the alphabet line, you can see that by counting backward three letters, 'G' becomes 'D'

Now, by using the same rule, look at the second letter of the second two pairs, 'W' and count backward three letters. 'W' becomes 'T' and you have the second missing letter.
Verbal Reasoning Type U

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Another form of VR Type U is the Mirror Image.

In these questions, the alphabet is mirrored.

vr

Any letter is encoded (or decoded) into its corresponding mirror letter.
A becomes Z, B becomes Y, G becomes T and so on.

Another way to look at this is to divide the alphabet in two, between M and N and to count the same distance from the middle or ends.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M | N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

L is -2 from the centre so it will code into O (+2 from the centre). D is 4 in from the left so it will code into W (4 in from the right)

It doesn't matter which method you use - I find the 1st method much quicker (you simply write the alphabet backwards underneath the normal alphabet)

This form of Type U can be hard to identify. If you are struggling to find a code using the normal method it is probably because it is a mirror image type! I get my students to remember the first 3 or 4 letter combinations, A-Z, B-Y, C-X and D-W and look for these combinations.

Beware! - You may also come across another form of the Mirror Image where the first letter of the first pair translates to the second letter of the second pair and the second letter of the first pair translates to the first letter of the second pair.

Practice working with Verbal Reasoning Type U questions with this
Verbal Reasoning Type U worksheet














CAT4 / 12 Plus papers