Verbal Reasoning · Logic
Identify what must follow from a small set of supplied facts.
This video shows how to use a short set of given facts to decide which conclusion must be true. Watch an 11+ verbal reasoning question solved step by step.
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10 questions, with feedback after each one. No sign-up needed.
Question 1
Sam is richer than Dev. Dev is richer than Leo. Isla is richer than Hugo. Nothing else is known about their savings. Which one of these statements must be true?
Question 2
Leo is slimmer than Ella. Ella is slimmer than Noah. Noah is slimmer than Mia. Nothing else is known about their build. Which one of these statements must be true?
Question 3
Cara is shyer than Amy. Leo is shyer than Gita. Gita is shyer than Sam. Nothing else is known about their shyness. Which one of these statements must be true?
Question 4
Hugo is tidier than Ben. Jack is tidier than Cara. Cara is tidier than Rosa. Nothing else is known about their bedrooms. Which one of these statements must be true?
Question 5
Tom is hungrier than Ben. Ben is hungrier than Dev. Dev is hungrier than Rosa. Nothing else is known about their appetites. Which one of these statements must be true?
Question 6
Noah is wiser than Mia. Isla is wiser than Sam. Sam is wiser than Rosa. Nothing else is known about their judgement. Which one of these statements must be true?
Question 7
Finn is friendlier than Leo. Leo is friendlier than Mia. Noah is friendlier than Dev. Nothing else is known about their manners. Which one of these statements must be true?
Question 8
Hugo is healthier than Jack. Jack is healthier than Noah. Ella is healthier than Tom. Nothing else is known about their health. Which one of these statements must be true?
Question 9
Ella is heavier than Amy. Amy is heavier than Rosa. Sam is heavier than Jack. Nothing else is known about their weight. Which one of these statements must be true?
Question 10
Ben is messier than Gita. Gita is messier than Hugo. Tom is messier than Jack. Nothing else is known about their bedrooms. Which one of these statements must be true?
Use the clues to work out which snack belongs to each child.
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One question of the kind this skill is tested with, worked all the way through: the reasoning, and what the wrong answers are there to catch.
The difference between might and must
Noah is thirstier than Ben. Ben is thirstier than Mia. Mia is thirstier than Amy. Nothing else is known about their thirst. Which one of these statements must be true?
Build one chain of facts and see why a sensible statement can still be avoidable.
Answer: Ben is thirstier than Amy.
How you get there
Line the facts up into a chain: Noah above Ben, Ben above Mia, Mia above Amy. Ben is thirstier than Amy. follows from that chain and cannot be avoided, which is what "must be true" means. The other statements go against the chain somewhere, so no ranking that fits the facts makes them true. Draw the chain before you read the options, and only join two people when a line of facts runs all the way between them.
Why the other answers tempt
A statement can sound completely reasonable and still not follow: two separate chains of facts say nothing at all about each other.
If they are stuck, say this
Draw the people in a line, highest at the top, putting each fact in as you read it. Only join two people when the facts run all the way between them.
Use the clues to work out which snack belongs to each child.
Only one arrangement keeps every clue true: Jonah chose flapjack, Ava chose pretzel, Gita chose muffin. Negative clues ("does not") are just as powerful as positive ones - each one crosses off a possibility until a single arrangement is left.
What to say if they get stuck
This is the wrong answer 11+ papers are built to offer, so it is worth watching for directly: a child who does this will look confident and still lose the mark. If it keeps happening on evaluate stated facts, the fix is the misunderstanding rather than more questions.
What this skill involves, common mistakes and ways to practise it at home.
Identify what must follow from a small set of supplied facts. It is one of 26 named verbal reasoning skills in the 11+, in the logic strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.
There is a specific mistake recorded against this skill: imports an unstated real-world assumption. 11+ papers are written to offer exactly that answer, so a child can be confident and still lose the mark. When it keeps happening, the fix is the misunderstanding rather than more questions.
Point at the next move rather than explaining the whole rule. Draw the people in a line, highest at the top, putting each fact in as you read it. Only join two people when the facts run all the way between them.
The skill map draws the line here: Use only supplied facts, without world knowledge. A question past that line is testing a different named verbal reasoning skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.
The logic strand holds 2 skills that are tested together, and the page next to evaluate stated facts is complete a letter connection. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.
Use Logic Grid, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to evaluate stated facts, it runs in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.
A free diagnostic looks at which mistakes repeat across all four subjects, not just whether evaluate stated facts was right on the day.
