How to Answer 11+ Word Pairs Questions

A word pairs question shows you three pairs of words in brackets. The first two pairs are complete, and in each one the second word has been made from the first by the same secret trick — maybe the last letter was chopped off, maybe the word was written backwards. The third pair is missing its second word. Your job: work out the trick and use it to finish the last pair.

So (barn bar) and (beans bean) both chop the final letter — which means (tramp … ) becomes TRAM.

This type is a rule-hunting game, and children love or dread it depending on whether they've learned to check the rule on BOTH example pairs. The first pair alone often fits several rules; the second pins down the right one. Hard versions jumble the letter order too, but even those fall to careful letter-numbering.

The method

1. Watch the first word turn into the second. Line the pair up letter by letter and ask: which letters were kept? Which were dropped? Did any move? Say the trick in words: "the first letter fell off."
2. Test your trick on the second pair. It must work perfectly there too. If it doesn't, your trick is wrong — sharpen it and test again. Never skip this step: it's the whole reason two example pairs are given.
3. Do the same trick to the new word. Apply it slowly, letter by letter, and settle on your word BEFORE you look at the options.
4. Find your word in the options. If it's there, that's your answer. If it isn't, don't bend your prediction to fit — go back to step 1, because the trick must be something else.
5. For the very hard ones, number the letters. If the kept letters come out in a strange order, label the first word's letters 1, 2, 3… and work out which numbered positions built the second word, in which order. Then pull the same positions from the new word.

Worked examples

Example 1

Find the word that completes the last pair in the same way as the first two pairs. (gold old) (brush rush) (plate [ ? ])

A. late B. tale C. pale D. leap E. plea

1. gold → old: the g fell off the front. Trick: drop the first letter.
2. Test on pair two: brush → rush. The b fell off the front. Confirmed.
3. Apply to plate: drop the p → late.

Answer: A. late

Example 2

Find the word that completes the last pair in the same way as the first two pairs. (swing sing) (spoon soon) (brake [ ? ])

A. beak B. rake C. bark D. bare E. bake

1. swing → sing. Careful — the s survived, so it's not "drop the first letter". Line them up: s-w-i-n-g → s-i-n-g. The SECOND letter vanished.
2. Test: spoon → soon. Second letter gone again. Confirmed.
3. Apply to brake: b-r-a-k-e minus its second letter → b-a-k-e.

Answer: E. bake

Example 3 (harder — the letters come out in a jumbled order)

Find the word that completes the last pair in the same way as the first two pairs. (custom must) (hamper ramp) (danger [ ? ])

A. darn B. gear C. rage D. rang E. grand

1. custom → must. No simple chop explains this — so number the letters: c1 u2 s3 t4 o5 m6. MUST is m(6) u(2) s(3) t(4): positions 6, 2, 3, 4.
2. Test on hamper: h1 a2 m3 p4 e5 r6 → positions 6, 2, 3, 4 give r-a-m-p. RAMP. Confirmed.
3. Apply to danger: d1 a2 n3 g4 e5 r6 → positions 6, 2, 3, 4 give r-a-n-g.

Answer: D. rang

The traps

• Trusting one example pair. gold → old also fits "keep the last three letters". Only the second pair tells you which trick is really in play — test on both, every time.
• The anagram decoys. The options love to include words built from the same letters as the true answer — ramp, mart and tram all lurk near TRAM. Predict your word first, then match it exactly, letter for letter, in order.
• Assuming the trick is simple. Chops off the front or back are common, but words can also be reversed, lose a middle letter, or be rebuilt from scattered positions. If no simple trick survives both pairs, number the letters.
• Bending your answer to the options. If your predicted word isn't offered, the honest conclusion is that your rule is wrong — not that a nearly-matching option will do.

Try these yourself

1.

Find the word that completes the last pair in the same way as the first two pairs. (bunny bun) (dentist den) (boxer [ ? ])

A. bore B. box C. oxen D. ore E. exam

2.

Find the word that completes the last pair in the same way as the first two pairs. (stop pots) (tips spit) (pans [ ? ])

A. span B. naps C. snap D. sap E. nap

3.

Find the word that completes the last pair in the same way as the first two pairs. (garden drag) (spider dips) (editor [ ? ])

A. diet B. tide C. dote D. trod E. tired

Answers

1. B — keep the first three letters: bunny → bun, dentist → den, so boxer → box.
2. C — write the word backwards: stop → pots, tips → spit, so pans → snap.
3. B — take positions 4, 3, 2, 1 (the first four letters backwards): garden → drag, spider → dips, so editor → tide.

Related

• The complete 11+ question-type guide
• VR: Build the Word — build the middle word from two outer words
• VR: Move a Letter — shift one letter to make two new words

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.