CAT4 verbal reasoning: Verbal Classification and Verbal Analogies

The CAT4 Verbal Reasoning battery has two tests: Verbal Classification, where your child picks the word that belongs with a group of three, and Verbal Analogies, where they complete a second pair of words linked the same way as the first. Each takes 8 minutes in GL's timing charts. Both test how your child thinks about word meanings, not spelling or grammar, and the free drills below have 12 original questions each.

2
verbal tests: 8 min
each: 48
verbal questions (GL sample report): 2
free drills

Last checked 13 November 2026 · Tests and timings from GL Assessment; question total from GL's sample report

Free verbal drills: 12 original CAT4-style questions each, at the real pace, then every answer explained. No sign-up.

12
questions
4 min
time limit
Free
every answer explained

By the LifeScore Editorial Team · Updated 13 November 2026 · How we check facts · How this is scored

How does CAT4 Verbal Classification work?

Your child sees three words that share something and picks the one answer word that shares it too. The skill is naming exactly what the three have in common.

The link might be a category (all fish), a meaning (all mean "very big") or a type of thing (all capital cities). The wrong answers are rarely random: one is usually connected to the three in a looser way, such as a country next to three capital cities, or an animal that lives in water next to three fish.

The habit that helps most is to say the link in as few words as possible before looking at the answers, then test every answer against those words. "Things in water" lets an otter in; "fish" does not.

CAT4-style question 1 · Verbal classification
Which word goes with these three? trout salmon cod
1. Aotter
2. Bhaddock
3. Cswan
4. Dseal
5. Efrog
Worked answer
B: haddock. Trout, salmon and cod are all fish, and so is haddock. An otter and a seal live in water and eat fish, but they are mammals.
1. Name the group in as few words as you can: "fish".
2. Test every option against the name, not against a vague feeling of "water things".
3. Only haddock is a fish.
The trap: Picking otter or seal because they live in water too. The link is what the three are, not where they live.
CAT4-style question 2 · Verbal classification
Which word goes with these three? huge vast enormous
1. Atiny
2. Bheavy
3. Cgigantic
4. Dtall
5. Ecrowd
Show the worked answer
C: gigantic. Huge, vast and enormous all mean very big, and so does gigantic. Tiny is also a size word, but it means the opposite.
1. Find what the three words share: they all mean "very big".
2. Check each option means the same, not just that it is about size.
3. Gigantic means very big; tiny means very small, heavy is about weight, tall is about height.
The trap: Choosing "tiny" because it is a size word like the others. CAT4 puts an opposite among the options on purpose.
CAT4-style question 3 · Verbal classification
Which word goes with these three? Paris Rome Madrid
1. ASpain
2. BEurope
3. CBerlin
4. DFrench
5. Eriver
Show the worked answer
C: Berlin. Paris, Rome and Madrid are capital cities, and so is Berlin. Spain is a country and Europe a continent: linked to the three, but not the same kind of thing.
1. Say what the three are: capital cities.
2. Rule out words that are only connected to them (a country, a continent, a language).
3. Berlin is the only capital city.
The trap: Picking "Spain" because Madrid is in it. Being linked to the group is not the same as belonging to it.

How does CAT4 Verbal Analogies work?

Your child sees one pair of linked words and the first word of a second pair, and picks the word that completes the second pair in the same way. The skill is finding the exact link, in the right direction.

Links that come up often in our analogy questions
Link	Example
Young and adult	puppy → dog
Maker and what they make	author → book
Same meaning	begin → start
Opposite	ancient → modern
Part and whole	petal → flower
Tool and job	needle → sew
Place and what lives there	bee → hive

The best method is a sentence. "A puppy grows up into a dog" becomes "a kitten grows up into a ___", and only one answer fits. If two answers seem to fit, the sentence is too loose: make it more exact.

CAT4-style question 1 · Verbal analogy
Which word completes the second pair in the same way as the first? puppy → dog kitten → ?
1. Alamb
2. Bcat
3. Cmilk
4. Dcub
5. Epurr
Show the worked answer
B: cat. A puppy grows up to be a dog; a kitten grows up to be a cat. The link runs from young to adult, in that order.
1. Make a sentence for the first pair: "a puppy grows up into a dog".
2. Use the same sentence on the second: "a kitten grows up into a ___".
3. Only "cat" fits.
The trap: "Cub" is another young animal: right family of words, wrong direction. Keep the sentence the same way round.
CAT4-style question 2 · Verbal analogy
Which word completes the second pair in the same way as the first? author → book composer → ?
1. Apiano
2. Borchestra
3. Csymphony
4. Dconductor
5. Epoem
Worked answer
C: symphony. An author writes a book; a composer writes a symphony. The link is "person and what they create".
1. Sentence for the first pair: "an author writes a book".
2. Same sentence: "a composer writes a ___".
3. A symphony is written; a piano is played, an orchestra performs and a conductor leads.
The trap: "Piano" is strongly linked to a composer, but it is a tool, not the thing made. The strongest link is not always the same link.
CAT4-style question 3 · Verbal analogy
Which word completes the second pair in the same way as the first? begin → start finish → ?
1. Arace
2. Bend
3. Cline
4. Dopen
5. Efirst
Show the worked answer
B: end. Begin means the same as start, and finish means the same as end.
1. The first pair are two words that mean the same.
2. Find the word that means the same as "finish".
3. "End" does; "race" and "line" go with finish in a different way ("finish line").
The trap: Choosing "line" because "finish line" is a common phrase. The link in the first pair is "same meaning", not "words that go together".

More verbal practice, when it helps

Four more drills for each verbal test, and eight full CAT4-style mocks, every answer explained.

The CAT4 Pass Pack gives you 8 full mocks on the real clock, 32 drills of 12 questions for the sections that cost you points, and a predictor that turns your mocks into the odds of reaching your target. One payment, no subscription, and your free score stays free.

Prep courses for these tests usually cost $19 to $129. The CAT4 Pass Pack is US$39 (£29), once.

See the CAT4 Pass Pack How our questions are built and checked

8
timed mocks: 32
topic drills: 1
score predictor

Does CAT4 verbal reasoning need a big vocabulary?

Some, because a child cannot link words they do not know. But GL designs the tests around reasoning, and the words at each level are ones most children of that age meet.

Reading for pleasure, talking at meals and playing word games are the best long-term help, and they help with everything else too. Learning lists of hard words for CAT4 is not worth it: the test is not about rare words, and GL warns that coaching can make results less accurate.

Children who speak English as an additional language can score lower on the verbal battery than on the others for that reason alone. Teachers know this, and CAT4's profile is designed to show it.

How fast does my child need to be on CAT4 verbal tests?

GL gives each verbal test 8 minutes. On our practice test that is 24 questions in 8 minutes, about 20 seconds each, so a question that is taking much longer is worth skipping and coming back to.

Children who freeze often get stuck on one early question and lose the time for five easier ones after it. The habit to practise is moving on: answer, or pick the best guess and keep going. A blank scores no more than a wrong answer.

The free drills above run at the real pace, 12 questions in 4 minutes, so your child can feel the speed without a full test.

What does the CAT4 verbal score tell a school?

How readily your child reasons with words, which matters for subjects heavy on reading and writing. Set against the spatial score, it also shapes the verbal-spatial profile.

A verbal score well above the spatial one suggests a child who learns well through reading and discussion; well below suggests a child who may learn best from pictures and doing. Neither is better. The CAT4 scores page explains the profile, and the non-verbal guide covers the shape tests that sit alongside the verbal ones.

Where should my child practise next?

Try the two free drills above, then, if you want to see all eight formats, the free full practice test.

The CAT4 practice test runs every battery on GL's clocks. The quantitative reasoning guide covers the number tests, which use the same "find the link" thinking with numbers instead of words. More verbal examples, with the slip each one catches, are on CAT4 sample questions.

GL Assessment says plainly that it advises against any kind of practice before CAT4 and does not endorse any practice materials, ours included, because CAT4 is not a test of learnt knowledge and coaching could make a score less accurate. We take that seriously. Our questions are for meeting the formats once or twice so nothing on the day is a shock, not for drilling a child towards a number.

Frequently asked questions

How many verbal tests are on CAT4?

Two from Level A: Verbal Classification and Verbal Analogies, 8 minutes each.

Is spelling tested on CAT4?

No. The verbal tests are about meanings and links between words, not spelling or grammar.

Does my child read the verbal questions alone?

From Level A, yes, after the teacher has explained the test and gone through the practice examples.

My child speaks English as a second language. Will that matter?

It can lower the verbal score, which teachers expect. The non-verbal and spatial batteries do not depend on English.

Words, then the other three batteries

The free CAT4-style practice test covers all eight tests; the Pass Pack adds seven more mocks and 32 drills.