Verbal Reasoning for CAT, MAT, SNAP, XAT Exams

By : Raghavendra Singh

Updated : Dec 29, 2020, 16:09

Verbal Reasoning is one of the tougher topics in the CAT exam, so many candidates don’t sufficiently focus on it. If you break it down, the verbal reasoning definition indicates the capacity to think logically and constructively and reason out concepts rather than being fluent or having a good vocabulary in a particular language. Verbal reasoning is a major element of the verbal ability section.

It is important to learn some quick verbal reasoning tricks before you appear for CAT. These will help you immensely to solve the paper efficiently and save your time as well. The verbal reasoning section has a 33% weightage in the CAT exam. It includes questions related to reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary based on the English language..

Important Verbal Reasoning Topics

Some of the most important topics for verbal reasoning are given below.

Topic	Explanation
Paragraph Jumbles	Rearranging the jumbled paragraphs correctly.
Correct the sentences	Rearranging the incorrect sentence to make a meaningful correct sentence.
Critical Reasoning	Assessing your logic by choosing the right answer based on a given paragraph.
Paragraph Completion	Completing the paragraph with the help of meaningful and related sentences
Summary Writing	Writing a summary of the given paragraph or dialogue.

Tips to Solve Verbal Reasoning Questions

The verbal reasoning section has 6 to 11 questions, which you can solve easily with a lot of practice.
Read english newspapers and journals to build your vocabulary.
This section depends upon your reading skills and how you interpret it. Frequent solving of sample questions will keep you in practice to ace the section.
Most questions don’t have any rules to follow. They will resemble questions from the general grammar section of your class 10th English paper. But there are some simple instructions given for the section that you have to follow.
You must have a strong grip on your English grammar to ace these questions. You can refer to various verbal reasoning questions for CAT and verbal reasoning questions and answers online to boost your grammar and reading skills.

Importance of Verbal Reasoning in CAT exam

Verbal Ability is weighted equal to the Quantitative Aptitude Section, and Verbal Reasoning is a big part of it.
For each wrong answer, you get a negative marking of -1, and for each right answer, you get +3 marks.
Losing marks in this section can affect your overall score drastically if you are not sufficiently proficient in quantitative aptitude.
This section is scoring if you get a grip over grammar, vocabulary and it consumes the least time so that you can solve quant and reasoning of CAT exam.

Most Recommended Books for Verbal Reasoning

You can refer to several verbal reasoning study guides, verbal reasoning notes, and verbal reasoning practice questions online to practice for your CAT exam. Some of the good books that are commonly used by students are mentioned below:

Book	Author
How to prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT	Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay.
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension	Ajay Singh
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT	Nishit K Sinha

Why Prepare Verbal Reasoning from BYJU'S Exam Prep?

BYJU'S Exam Prep is an excellent platform to learn Verbal Reasoning from. We have interactive verbal reasoning test questions that cover all verbal reasoning topics for the CAT exam. With the help of our verbal reasoning questions and solutions, you will be able to ace this topic like never before. BYJU'S Exam Prep has been getting an immensely positive response from students; they love the different verbal reasoning quizzes and verbal reasoning examples. Students also believe their reading skills and vocabulary have improved with BYJU'S Exam Prep’s interactive and fun questions.

FAQs

Q: Is there any material/book to improve scores in the verbal ability for CAT?

There are numerous websites where you can practice verbal ability questions. Most of them focus on practicing and testing your reading comprehension skills. You can visit websites like BYJU'S Exam Prep, where you can enhance your reading skills and improve your verbal ability. You can also download different verbal reasoning questions and answers PDF for practice.

Apart from these, you must also read newspapers like Economic Times, and The Hindu. These newspapers write English in a sophisticated manner that will enhance your reading skills and verbal ability, as well.

Q: What are the skills required to solve verbal reasoning?

Verbal reasoning is a very scoring subject, but it can sometimes be tricky. It will help if you improve upon these skills to ace the verbal reasoning -

Good reading skills
Sound Vocabulary skills (Synonyms and antonyms)
Command on spellings and Grammar

You can enhance these skills with various verbal reasoning problems with solutions available online.

Q: Is it hard to score in the verbal ability section?

Not at all. The verbal ability section is very easy for the candidates with proper practice and a good command of the vocabulary. If you have understood the concepts of grammar, then you can surely ace the exam.

Q: What is the best strategy to increase vocabulary for the verbal section for CAT?

Many students get up in the morning and read articles from the newspaper of their choice. It can be politics, entertainment, business, philosophy, etc. Note down the words you remember from that article, and with 1 article per day, you will see that you have learned many new words and improved your vocabulary.

Q. How many questions are there on verbal reasoning in the CAT?

Usually, there are 6 to 11 questions dedicated to verbal reasoning, of which 3 to 4 questions cover jumbled paragraphs, three questions involve summary writing, and three questions cover other verbal reasoning areas.