Non-Verbal Reasoning (figures)

Snapshot

• Non-Verbal Reasoning works with figures instead of words — series, analogies and odd-one-out done on shapes, plus mirror/water images and paper folding. The skill is to track each element of the figure separately: rotation, count, shading and position.
• You cannot "read" these — you must watch how the picture changes step to step, one feature at a time.
• This guide covers figure series, analogy and classification, mirror & water images, and paper folding & punching — with the method for each.
• Exam reality: +5 / −1. Isolate one changing element at a time.

Part 1 — Figure series & analogies

Track each moving part on its own: rotation (does a line/arrow turn 45° or 90°, clockwise or anticlockwise each step?), count (do dots/sides increase by one?), shading (does a shaded region move or alternate?), and position (does an element shift around the corners?). In the series above, the only change is a dot rotating 90° clockwise, so the next figure has the dot at the bottom-left. Figure analogies (A : B :: C : ?) apply the same single transformation to the second pair.

Part 2 — Mirror & water images

• Mirror image (vertical mirror on the side): left and right swap, top and bottom stay. The letter b becomes d; p becomes q.
• Water image (reflection in water below): top and bottom swap, left and right stay. The letter b becomes p; a "3" looks like a shape flipped vertically.
• Symmetrical letters (A, H, I, M, O, T, U, V, W, X, Y) are unchanged by a vertical mirror — a frequent shortcut.

Part 3 — Paper folding & punching

A square sheet is folded one or more times, a hole is punched, then it is unfolded — how many holes and where? Rule: each fold doubles the holes, placed symmetrically about the fold lines. Work backwards: unfold once at a time, reflecting each hole across the most recent fold.

Part 4 — Speed techniques

1. Change one variable at a time — rotation, then count, then shading.
2. Note the rotation direction and angle from step 1 to step 2, then continue it.
3. Mirror = left-right swap; water = top-bottom swap — fix this once.
4. Use symmetrical letters as a quick mirror check.
5. For folding, count folds → holes double each fold, and unfold by reflecting.

Part 5 — Worked examples

1. A dot sits at the top-left, then top-right, then bottom-right of a square. Next? Rotating 90° clockwise → bottom-left.

2. A series adds one side each step (triangle, square, pentagon …). Next after pentagon? Hexagon.

3. Mirror image of the letter R? Reversed R (left-right flipped).

4. Water image of 3? A 3 flipped top-to-bottom (it inverts vertically).

5. An arrow points North, then East, then South (90° clockwise each step). Next? West.

6. A square is folded in half once and one hole punched at a corner. Unfolded holes? 2, symmetric about the fold.

7. Which letter is unchanged in a vertical mirror — F or H? H (symmetrical); F is not.

8. Figure analogy: if a shape rotates 90° from A to B, then C to ? applies the same 90° rotation.

Part 6 — Common traps

• Tracking everything at once — isolate one feature.
• Confusing mirror with water — left-right vs top-bottom.
• Wrong rotation direction — confirm clockwise vs anticlockwise from the first two figures.
• Folding — holes double per fold; don't forget the symmetry.

Part 7 — How to use this page

Practise isolating one changing element, fix the mirror-vs-water rule, work a few folding cases backwards, then attempt the practice set and the timed test.

One-line revision: track one element at a time (rotation/count/shading/position), mirror swaps left-right while water swaps top-bottom, and each paper fold doubles the punched holes symmetrically.