Verbal Reasoning Compound Words
The JOIN method in four minutes — one real question, solved step by step.
A Compound Words question gives you two groups of three words. You take one word from each, and they join into a single real word. The word from the first group always goes in front.
At school you learned that a compound word puts together the meanings of its parts. Here that does not apply.
OFF + ICE = OFFICE. An office has nothing to do with ice.
You are making a real word, not a sensible one.
The video above and the worked example below take apart the same question.
The method
Four steps: join, group one first, one starter at a time, is it a real word? and nail the letters — their first letters spell JOIN.
- Step 1 of 4
Join, group one first
The group 1 word always goes in front, so never try a join backwards. That doubles the work for nothing. Three starters and three enders make nine joins, and the paper promises exactly one of them is a real word. It is a small, finished job, not a hunt. - Step 2 of 4
One starter at a time
Take the first starter and try it with all three enders. Then the second starter, then the third. No jumping about. - Step 3 of 4
Is it a real word?
Say each join in your head and ask that one question, and only that one. Never ask whether the two words go together. The sound changes when the parts join, so a correct join can sound wrong at first. - Step 4 of 4
Nail the letters
Every letter of both words must be there, in order, with nothing added and nothing dropped. Then stop. Only one join works, so there is nothing to compare it with.
About 30 seconds each.
Four things to watch out for
We looked at all eight Compound Words questions in GL's own practice papers.
- It needn't mean what its parts mean. Seven of the eight answers are words their parts do not explain. Don and key make donkey, and a donkey is neither. Just ask: is it a real word?
- The sound changes when they join. Most of the eight sound different once the parts are joined. Dam and age make damage, which sounds nothing like dam and age. Look at the spelling, not the sound.
- Don't skip the little starters. Six of the eight answers start with a word of two or three letters. Am and bush make ambush. Short words like am, up and for often start the answer.
- Every letter survives. Pat and tern make pattern, with both t's kept. GL's own instructions say the order of the letters must not change. Nothing is added, and nothing is dropped.
Stuck? Go through the nine joins again, one starter at a time. Give the little starters a real chance, and judge each join by its letters, not its sound.
Try these yourself
Now have a go yourself — tap the two words that join to make one word.
Related
- The complete 11+ question-type guide
- VR: Complete the Word — the opposite reflex. There, meaning is your best clue
- VR: Closest Meaning — the same two-group layout, matching meanings instead of letters
All example questions come from the Brainblox question bank — practise this question type inside 25+ learning 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.