Non-verbal reasoning: Counting sides, symbols and more

Non-verbal reasoning is all about understanding sequences of shapes

and patterns. You might be looking for similarities or differences between
different figures. Alternatively, you might be given a series of figures and
asked to complete the sequence with another figure.
Often counting is the first step to finding the similarities between figures.
Start by revising what you know about geometry and the number of sides
each shape has. Can you name these shapes correctly and state how
many sides they have?

Triangle (3), square / quadrilateral (4), pentagon (5), hexagon (6), heptagon
(7), octagon (8), nonagon (9), decagon (10), hendecagon (11), dodecagon (12)

circle

What common elements could you be looking for

when youre counting? Check for the following:

The number of line segments that make up a compound line

The number of sides on the top and the bottom shapes
The number of sides on the inside and outside shapes
The number of curved or straight sides on shapes
The number of arrowheads

The number of identical shapes

The number of symbols

The total number of edges/sides

Remember: shapes
can have the same
number of sides but
look very different!

These shapes all have five sides.

They might also have equivalent sides and angles, and you might be
asked to spot the shape which doesnt fit the sequence:
The isosceles
triangle is the odd
shape as all the
others, including
the square, have
equal sides.

You might also find a pattern in the number of sides a shape has:

4 sides

5 sides

6 sides

The number of curved sides is increasing by one.

7 sides

8 sides

Alternatively you might

find a sequence of figures in
which there is a number of straight
sides and a number of
curved sides.

COUNTING EXERCISES 1-8

Time to try some practical exercises! The first two shapes are related
by a specific feature they have in common. Choose the one figure from
the five choices that is most like the two figures on the left.
1

Answers:
1

The first two figures are made up

of a diamond shape and then three
perpendicular lines; figure E is the only
option to follow this pattern.

The first two figures are composites made up

of a central rectangle with an additional shape
or shapes attached, which have a combined
total of 7 sides (square + triangle; heptagon).
The third figure needs to include a rectangle
and shapes totalling seven sides; in figure D
the rectangle is linked to a triangle (3 sides)
and a rectangle (4 sides).

3
The first two figures are each made up of
a dot, a curved line and two arrows with no
extra markings. The only similar figure is C.

4
The first two figures are made up of a shape
overlapped by another shape, with the same
(smaller) shape inside it. Figure E is three
pentagons shown in this configuration.

5
The first two figures feature three arrow
heads, as does figure D.

Look at the relationship between the shapes and

their sides: the first figure, a triangle with 3 sides,
is intersected by two squares with 4 sides. The
second, a heptagon with 7 sides, is intersected by
two octagons with 8 sides. The third figure in the
sequence needs to be a shape intersected by two
more shapes with one more side than the shape
theyre intersecting. Figure A is a pentagon (5
sides) intersected by two hexagons (6 sides).

The first two figures are shapes with smaller

shapes (pointing right) underneath them,
indicating their number of sides minus 1:
triangle (3 sides) with two shapes; hexagon (6
sides) with five shapes. Figure B is a pentagon
(5 sides) with four shapes pointing right
underneath.

Look at the relationship between objects (not

sides). In the first two figures the number of
shapes at the top of the figure is decreased by
one in the number of shapes underneath it, so
three triangles / two shapes then five hexagons
/ four shapes. Figure C, four triangles / three
shapes, fits the sequence.