How to Answer 11+ Build the Word Questions

This type shows you two groups of three words. In the first group, the middle word sits in brackets — and it was BUILT from the two words either side of it, using pieces of each. In the second group, the middle word is missing. Your job: work out how the first middle word was built, then build the second one the same way.

Look at (help [hem] mat). Where did HEM come from? "he" starts HELP and "m" starts MAT: first two letters of the left word, first letter of the right. Find that rule and you can build the missing word yourself before you even glance at the options.

The easy versions feel friendly — the letters are usually pinched from the fronts of the words. Harder ones take letters from the ENDS, or different amounts from each side, and that's where guessing fails and method wins.

The method

1. Interrogate the first group's middle word. Take it letter by letter and ask each letter where it came from: the left word or the right word? Which position — the front or the back?
2. Say the rule precisely. Not "bits of both words" but something you could hand to a robot: "the LAST two letters of the left word, then the LAST letter of the right word." Precision here is the whole game.
3. Apply the very same rule to the second group's outer words. Same sides, same positions, same order. Build the word before looking at the options.
4. Check your built word is real, then find it. The answer is always a proper word. If what you built is gibberish or missing from the options, your rule was off — recheck front versus back.

Worked examples

Example 1

Find the missing word in the second group, which follows the same pattern as the first. (kettle [key] yard) (mouse [?] wall)

A. moo B. mow C. how D. wow E. vow

1. Where did KEY come from? k-e is the start of KETTLE; y is the first letter of YARD.
2. Rule: first two letters of the left word + first letter of the right word.
3. Build it for group two: mo (from MOUSE) + w (from WALL) = mow. Real word — done.

Answer: B. mow

Example 2 (the letters now come from the ends)

Find the missing word in the second group, which follows the same pattern as the first. (star [art] plant) (gear [?] storm)

A. arc B. harm C. art D. arm E. farm

1. Where did ART come from? Not the front of STAR — s-t-a doesn't give it. Check the back: STAR ends in a-r, and PLANT ends in t. ar + t = art.
2. Rule: last two letters of the left word + last letter of the right word.
3. Build: GEAR ends in ar; STORM ends in m. ar + m = arm.

Answer: D. arm — and notice "art" itself is sitting in the options, waiting for anyone who copies the example instead of the rule.

Example 3 (harder — a five-letter middle word, pieces of different sizes)

Find the missing word in the second group, which follows the same pattern as the first. (baton [onset] settle) (robin [?] putty)

A. inset B. input C. unlit D. print E. pithy

1. ONSET has five letters. BATON ends in o-n; SETTLE starts with s-e-t. on + set = onset.
2. Rule: last two letters of the left word + first three letters of the right word.
3. Build: ROBIN ends in i-n; PUTTY starts with p-u-t. in + put = input.

Answer: B. input

The traps

• Copying the example's letters instead of its rule. The middle word of group one tells you the POSITIONS to use, not the letters. Anyone who "sees art" and picks ART in example 2 has fallen straight into the type's favourite trap.
• Front-back mix-ups. "Two letters from the left word" is only half a rule — WHICH two? The front pair and the back pair both look plausible until you test them. Pin down front or back before you build.
• Real-word decoys. Every option is usually a real word, and several will reuse letters from the outer words. Being a real word proves nothing — only the built word wins.
• Sliding piece sizes. Harder questions take two letters from one side and three from the other. Count the middle word's letters first: they must all be accounted for, in order.

Try these yourself

1.

Find the missing word in the second group, which follows the same pattern as the first. (bat [top] open) (hit [?] end)

A. hen B. den C. tin D. tan E. ten

2.

Find the missing word in the second group, which follows the same pattern as the first. (fog [fun] run) (bag [?] twig)

A. bag B. wig C. dig D. big E. fig

3.

Find the missing word in the second group, which follows the same pattern as the first. (frost [star] solar) (piano [?] quite)

A. nose B. note C. tone D. vote E. dote

Answers

1. E — last letter of the left word + first two of the right: t + en = ten.
2. D — first letter of the left word + last two of the right: b + ig = big.
3. B — last two of the left word + last two of the right: no + te = note.

Related

• The complete 11+ question-type guide
• VR: Word Pairs — spot the letter-trick that turns one word into another
• VR: Letter Fit — one letter finishes one word and starts the next

All example questions come from the Brainblox question bank — practise this question type inside 15 arcade games, timed mock exams and focused practice. Brainblox is an independent app: not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by any exam board, school or assessment publisher, and it contains no past papers.