📖Definition
In these questions, you are given two pairs of words. The second word in each pair is formed using letters from the first word. You have to work out the pattern that is used and then apply it to another word to form the answer.
✏️Example
spot tops, doom mood, liar ( ____ )
Knowledge Required
This is not so much about word knowledge as about the ability to spot patterns.
✅How To Answer
There are a number of patterns that are used to form the words. Below are the main ones - you should look for these.
Reversal
The pattern is that the first word in each pair is written backwards to form the second.
This is the case in the example above so, the answer is 'liar' written backwards ie. 'rail'.
Removal
The pattern is that a particular set of letters is removed from the first word to form the second.
✏️Example
strain rain, devoid void, injury ( ____ )
Here, Letters 1 and 2 of the first word in each pair have been removed to form the second word.
Remove the 'in' from 'injury' to form 'jury'.
Removal and Rearrangement
The pattern is that a particular set of letters is removed from the first word and the remaining ones are rearranged in a particular way to form the second.
This type, and the variation below with repeated letters, are the ones that appear most often in the exam.
✏️Example
combat tomb, packer rack, honest ( ____ )
Here, Letters 1 and 5 have been removed from the first word in each pair, and then letter 6 has been moved to the start.
Diagram
Applying that to the word honest we remove the h and s and move the t to the start to get tone
Diagram
Method
Sometimes the first word in a pair will have repeated letters. Always try to find the pattern using a first word that has NO repeated letters.
If that's not possible, go to the word with the fewest repeated letters.
✏️Example
practice trace, cribbing bring, parodied ( ____ )
Both of the first words we've been given contain repeated letters but the one in the first pair only has one letter, c, repeated whereas the one in the second pair has two, b, i.
So, we'll look at the first pair to find the pattern.
Start by finding letters in the first word that don't appear in the second and cross those out.
Do the same for the word you need to solve as well.
Diagram
Next, see where the unrepeated letters in the first word move to form the second word.
Diagram
So, we know where four of the letters go. You can check in the second pair if you like to make sure they follow the same pattern.
Diagram
And in this pair of words, we can see that Letter 4 of the second word must come from Letter 7 of the first word so include that in the pattern and then apply the pattern to the first word in the third pair.
Diagram
And the answer dared appears!
💡Multiple Choice Tip
In the last example, you can see that, even without a set of multiple choice answers, you could have worked out the answer dared before working out every letter logically.
When you have 5 multiple choice answers, as you're working through the problem, you'll be able to eliminate some and more than likely, work out which is the right one without finding all the letters in the missing word.