Verbal reasoning is reasoning with words: understanding written information and working out what follows from it. Non-verbal reasoning is reasoning with shapes and patterns: spotting the rule that links a set of diagrams and using it to find the missing or odd one out, without relying on language. Both are aptitude tests. Employers use them to compare job applicants, and in the UK both also appear in school entrance exams such as the 11+.
The easiest way to understand the difference is to try a question of each. You can practise the word based kind in a free verbal reasoning test and the shape based kind in a free non-verbal reasoning test.
Verbal reasoning in brief
A workplace verbal reasoning test gives you a short passage and a set of statements. For each one, you decide whether it is true, false or cannot say, based only on the passage.
Passage. The library will close for refurbishment from 1 June. During the closure, members can borrow books from the town’s other branches using their existing card.
Statement. Members will need a new card to borrow books while the library is closed.
Answer: False. The passage says members can use their existing card, which contradicts the statement.
The skill is reading precisely and not adding anything the text does not say. Our guide to what verbal reasoning is covers it in more depth.
Non-verbal reasoning in brief
A non-verbal reasoning test shows you a series or grid of shapes. Something changes from one figure to the next according to a rule, and you have to find the rule.
Question. A sequence shows a triangle, then a square, then a pentagon. What comes next?
Answer: a hexagon. Each shape has one more side than the one before: 3, 4, 5, so the next has 6.
Real questions layer two or three rules at once. The number of sides might rise while a shaded segment moves round the shape and a dot switches between inside and outside. The method is the same: track one feature at a time until every change is accounted for.
The key differences
| Verbal reasoning | Non-verbal reasoning | |
|---|---|---|
| What you work with | Written passages, words and sentences | Shapes, patterns and diagrams |
| What it measures | Reading precisely and drawing sound conclusions from text | Spotting rules and patterns in unfamiliar visual information |
| Typical question | Is this statement true, false or cannot say? | Which figure comes next, or which is the odd one out? |
| Depends on language? | Yes, including vocabulary and grammar | Very little, beyond reading the instructions |
| Common trap | Using outside knowledge or assuming too much | Spotting one rule and missing a second |
Because non-verbal reasoning relies so little on language, it is often used to assess reasoning ability in a way that is less affected by how well someone reads English. Verbal reasoning, by contrast, is used precisely because the job involves a lot of reading.
Where you will meet each one
In job applications. Employers often use verbal reasoning tests alongside numerical reasoning tests for graduate schemes and for roles in law, finance, consulting and the civil service. Non-verbal reasoning, often under the names abstract, inductive or diagrammatic reasoning, is common for roles that involve problem solving with new information, such as engineering, IT and analysis. Many employers use more than one.
In school entrance exams. In the UK, verbal and non-verbal reasoning are both common parts of the 11+. In that setting, verbal reasoning usually means word puzzles such as letter codes, hidden words and letter sequences rather than passages, and non-verbal reasoning uses shape sequences, matrices, codes, reflections and nets. The skills overlap with the workplace versions, but the question styles are different, so practise the format you will actually sit.
Which one is harder?
Neither is harder in general. It depends on you. People who read a lot often find verbal reasoning more natural. People who enjoy puzzles or visual problems often take to non-verbal reasoning faster. Both respond well to practice, because both are built from a limited set of question types and a limited set of traps.
What makes either one hard is the time limit. Most people could answer every question correctly given unlimited time. The test measures how accurately you can work at speed.
How to prepare for each
For verbal reasoning:
- Learn exactly what true, false and cannot say mean, and treat “probably true” as cannot say.
- Watch for small words that change meaning, such as “all”, “most”, “some” and “only”.
- Check every answer against the exact sentence that supports it.
For non-verbal reasoning:
- Learn the common rules: rotation, reflection, movement, counting, shading and size.
- Track one feature at a time rather than looking at the whole figure.
- Predict the answer before you look at the options, so the distractors cannot lead you.
For both, do timed practice and review every mistake. Our verbal reasoning test examples show the main verbal question types worked through, and how to improve verbal reasoning sets out a plan for building the skill.
Try both
Ten minutes with each will tell you more than any description. Start with a verbal reasoning practice test, then try a non-verbal reasoning practice test, and note which felt harder. That is where to focus first.
