CogAT lessonsVerbal Battery
CogAT verbal analogies
Two words that go together, then a third word and an arrow. Your child picks the word that goes with the third word in the same way as the first pair.
What your child sees
Grade 4, a question like this one
oak → tree : snake → ?
The first two words go together. Which word goes with the third word in the same way?
- Areptile
- Bhiss
- Cscales
- Dbird
- Etree
Kindergarten to Grade 2, read aloud
Look at the two pictures in the top row. They go together. Now look at the picture in the bottom row. Which picture goes with it in the same way?
- A
- B
- C
Show the answer and whyHide the answer
Say how the top two pictures go together
A spider lives in a spider web.
Use the same words for the bottom picture, a dog.
A dog lives in a doghouse.
Final answer
A doghouse.
Remember
Ask your child to say how the two top pictures go together in a short sentence, like "a bird lives in a nest." Then use the same sentence with the bottom picture and find the answer picture that makes it true.
Up to Grade 2 the words are pictures, the question is read aloud, and there are three pictures to choose from instead of five words.
Worked example
The same question, one step at a time.
- 1Say how the first two words go together in a short sentence: An oak is a kind of tree.
- 2Use the very same sentence with the third word, and look for the word that makes it true.
- 3A snake is a kind of reptile.
- 4Final answer: reptile.
Common traps
Every wrong choice is built from a mistake children really make.
A real link, but the wrong kind
The word does go with the third word, just not in the way the first pair goes together. Saying the first link as a short sentence catches this.
In the example: choices B (hiss) and C (scales).
Copying the example
The second word of the first pair is offered again. It feels familiar, which is exactly why it is there.
In the example: choice E (tree).
The right link to a different word
The link is the right kind, but it fits some other word, not the third one. Check the sentence with the third word itself.
In the example: choice D (bird).
Where it is on the test
Verbal analogies is one of the three parts of the Verbal Battery. Up to Grade 2 it is a picture version, read aloud with no time limit.
| Grade | Part | Questions | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten (Level 5/6) | Picture analogies | 14 | No time limit |
| Grade 1 (Level 7) | Picture analogies | 16 | No time limit |
| Grade 2 (Level 8) | Picture analogies | 18 | No time limit |
| Grade 3 (Level 9) | Verbal analogies | 22 | 10 minutes |
| Grade 4 (Level 10) | Verbal analogies | 24 | 10 minutes |
| Grade 5 (Level 11) | Verbal analogies | 24 | 10 minutes |
| Grade 6 (Level 12) | Verbal analogies | 24 | 10 minutes |
| Grade 7 (Level 13/14) | Verbal analogies | 24 | 10 minutes |
| Grade 8 (Level 13/14) | Verbal analogies | 24 | 10 minutes |
Counts and times are Riverside Insights’ published figures.
Try it
Ten free Verbal Battery questions, new every time, with the score at the end. You will be asked to make a free account.
The other parts of the Verbal Battery
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