Identify these questions

It’s highly likely that in a verbal reasoning test you’re going to be asked to decode a set of characters to find the underlying word, number or meaning.

These types of questions often look like this:

The following code BLRZ means DOVE, what does the following code YZP mean?

(A) RYE (B) ACT (C) CAT (D) RAN

And you can identify them by the presence of two important parts – the code and then ‘un-coded’ and then a request to ‘un-code’ or ‘code’ a statement of series of characters.

The strategy to answer these questions (overview)

To answer these questions:

1. Set the code and ‘un-coded element’ in rows and analyse how they relate (see below). You can see by putting the code and word into rows that the pattern is actually V to X, I to G etc… so the pattern is between the number of units going up between the word and the code.
2. If the code is longer than the ‘un-coded element’, do multiple characters represent 1 character / are there dummy characters OR if the code is shorter than the ‘un-coded element’ does 1 character represent more characters in the ‘un-coded element’.
3. Look for common elements that are repeated between the code and the ‘un-coded element’.
4. See if there is a number pattern between the code and the ‘un-coded’ element. This is usually the case if letters are close to each other. If not, see if there is a 1-1 relationship. Remember, write the alphabet out once (and then you can use it for future questions).

Make sure that you:

1. Count units correctly
2. Can clearly see the pattern instead of making one up
3. Spend the allocated time

Example Question/s

Watch video for explanation of the following question/s:

The following code BLRZ means DOVE, what does the following code YZP

mean?

(A) RYE (B) ACT (C) CAT (D) RAN

Correct answer is (b) ACT

Why?

• Look at how the code and the word could possibly relate – in this instance easy to put the code and word in rows.
• Notice that the first letter in the word goes down by two to the code letter, and it follows…
• Second letter in the word goes down by three to the code letter
• Third letter in the word goes down by four to the code letter etc…
• Therefore, the correct answer is (b).

Key Rules to remember

1. Organise your code and your given ‘un-coded element’ visually (ideally one above the other) to compare characters.
2. Does the length match up?
3. Are there common elements? Are there any dummy numbers?
4. Reference the alphabet to find jumps and patterns between the code and the ‘un-coded element’.

Practice time!

Now, it's your turn to practice.

Click on the button below and start your practice questions. We recommend doing untimed mode first, and then, when you're ready, do timed mode.

Every question has two solutions videos after you complete the question. The first is a quick 60 second video that shows you how our expert answers the question quickly. The second video is a more in-depth 5-steps or less explainer video that shows you the steps to take to answer the question. It's really important that you review the second video because that's where you'll learn additional tips and tricks.

Once you're done with the practice questions, move on to the next checkpoint.

Now, let's get started on your practice questions.

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