Analytical reasoning questions give you a few facts, a pattern or a short argument and ask what must follow. Here are 30 of them in six sets of five, written in the style of aptitude and graduate tests, and every one has a worked answer so you can see the method as well as the result.
These are test-style questions, not riddles. For those, try our logic puzzle questions, lateral thinking puzzles or brain teasers for adults.
Quick facts
At a glance4 quick answers
How many questions are there?
Answer30, in six sets of 5, each with a worked answer
What topics do they cover?
AnswerSeries, analogies, syllogisms, seating, coding, family relations, data and critical reasoning
How were the answers checked?
AnswerEvery answer was worked by hand and re-checked by script
Can I run them as a live quiz?
AnswerYes, as a free live quiz on AhaSlides
Number and letter series
Look for the rule between neighbouring terms first, then for a rule that links every other term.
Number and letter series5 questions
1What comes next? 2, 5, 10, 17, 26, ?
Answer37. The gaps grow by 2 each time (3, 5, 7, 9), so the next gap is 11 and 26 + 11 = 37. The terms are also n² + 1, ending with 6² + 1 = 37.
2What comes next? 5, 10, 8, 16, 14, 28, ?
Answer26. The rule alternates: double, then subtract 2. 5 × 2 = 10, 10 − 2 = 8, 8 × 2 = 16, 16 − 2 = 14, 14 × 2 = 28, so the next step is 28 − 2 = 26.
3What comes next? 7, 3, 11, 6, 15, 12, 19, ?
Answer24. Two series are woven together. Positions 1, 3, 5 and 7 give 7, 11, 15, 19 (add 4). Positions 2, 4 and 6 give 3, 6, 12 (double), so the next one is 24.
4What letter comes next? A, C, F, J, O, ?
AnswerU. Turn the letters into positions: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15. The gaps are 2, 3, 4, 5, so the next gap is 6 and 15 + 6 = 21, which is U.
5One term in this series is wrong. Which one? 3, 8, 15, 24, 34, 48
Answer34. The terms follow n² − 1 starting at n = 2: 3, 8, 15, 24, 35, 48. The fifth term should be 35, not 34.
Analogies and odd one out
Name the relationship between the first pair in a sentence, then apply the same sentence to the second pair.
Analogies and odd one out5 questions
6Pen is to writer as scalpel is to:
AnswerSurgeon. The relationship is tool to user.
7Chapter is to book as scene is to:
AnswerPlay. The relationship is part to whole: a chapter is a part of a book, and a scene is a part of a play.
87 is to 49 as 12 is to:
Answer144. 49 is 7 squared, so the second number is the square of the first: 12 × 12 = 144.
9Which does not belong? Kilometre, Kilogram, Millimetre, Mile
AnswerKilogram. The other three measure length. A kilogram measures mass.
10Which number does not belong? 27, 64, 125, 150, 216
Answer150. The others are perfect cubes: 3³, 4³, 5³ and 6³.
Syllogisms and conditional statements
Treat every statement as true. A conclusion follows only if it must be true in every case.
Syllogisms and conditional statements5 questions
11Statements: all doctors are graduates; some graduates are athletes. Which conclusion follows? (1) Some doctors are athletes. (2) Some athletes are graduates.
AnswerOnly 2. If some graduates are athletes, then some athletes are graduates. The doctors may all be graduates who are not athletes, so conclusion 1 is not guaranteed.
12Statements: no cat is a dog; all dogs are pets. Which conclusion follows? (1) No cat is a pet. (2) Some pets are not cats.
AnswerOnly 2. Dogs are pets and no dog is a cat, so some pets (the dogs) are not cats. Conclusion 1 fails because a cat can be a pet without being a dog.
13Statements: some tablets are phones; all phones are devices. Which conclusion follows? (1) Some devices are tablets. (2) All tablets are devices.
AnswerOnly 1. The tablets that are phones are devices, so some devices are tablets. Only some tablets are phones, so we cannot say that all tablets are devices.
14If it rains, the match is cancelled. The match was not cancelled. What follows?
AnswerIt did not rain. Rain would have cancelled the match, and it was not cancelled.
15Only managers have a key. Tom is not a manager. Which conclusion follows? (1) Tom has no key. (2) Every manager has a key.
AnswerOnly 1. Having a key requires being a manager, so a non-manager has no key. Conclusion 2 does not follow.
Seating and ordering
Fix the clue with the most information first, then test the rest.
Seating and ordering5 questions
16Five friends sit in a row of five seats. Asha sits at one end. Dina sits next to Asha. Eli does not sit next to Dina. Ben sits directly between Eli and Chen. Who sits in the middle seat, and who sits at the other end from Asha?
AnswerChen is in the middle and Eli is at the far end. The row is Asha, Dina, Chen, Ben, Eli, or the same row reversed. Dina takes the seat beside Asha, and Ben must sit between Eli and Chen.
17Six people sit round a table facing the centre. Sana sits opposite Priya. Quinn sits immediately to Priya's right. Ravi sits next to both Sana and Uma. Tom does not sit next to Priya. Who sits opposite Quinn?
AnswerRavi. Going round from Priya, the seating is Priya, Uma, Ravi, Sana, Tom, Quinn. Ravi is three seats from Quinn.
18Five departments each give a briefing, one a day from Monday to Friday. Finance goes before HR. Legal is not on Monday or Friday, and not on a day next to HR. IT is the day straight after Sales. Sales is not on Monday. On which day is IT?
AnswerThursday. The only order that fits every clue is Finance on Monday, Legal on Tuesday, Sales on Wednesday, IT on Thursday and HR on Friday.
19Five teams share a building with one team on each of floors 1 to 5. Sales is directly above Ops. Tech is higher than Sales but not on the top floor. Legal is lower than Design. Design is not directly above Tech. Which team is on floor 4?
AnswerLegal. Only one arrangement meets all five clues. From the bottom: Ops, Sales, Tech, Legal, Design.
20Meera is 12th from the top and 19th from the bottom in a class ranking. How many students are in the class?
Answer30. Add the two ranks and subtract 1, because Meera is counted in both: 12 + 19 − 1 = 30.
Coding-decoding and family relations
Write the rule down for the first example, then apply it. For family puzzles, draw a tree.
Coding-decoding and family relations5 questions
21In a certain code, MANGO is written as NBOHP. How is APPLE written?
AnswerBQQMF. Every letter moves one place forward in the alphabet: M to N, A to B, N to O, G to H, O to P. So APPLE becomes BQQMF.
22In a certain code, "lemon pear plum" is written "ka mo ti", "pear grape" is written "mo lu", and "plum grape fig" is written "lu ti ba". Which code word means "lemon"?
Answerka. "Pear" and "mo" appear in both of the first two phrases, so pear is mo. "Plum" and "ti" are shared by phrases one and three, so plum is ti. That leaves "ka" for lemon.
23If A = 1, B = 2, C = 3 and so on to Z = 26, what is the sum of the letters in REASON?
Answer72. R = 18, E = 5, A = 1, S = 19, O = 15 and N = 14. Then 18 + 5 + 1 + 19 + 15 + 14 = 72.
24Pointing to a man in a photograph, Asha says, "He is the son of my mother's only brother." How is the man related to Asha?
AnswerCousin. Asha's mother's only brother is Asha's maternal uncle, and his son is Asha's cousin.
25A is B's sister. C is B's mother. D is C's father. E is D's mother. How is A related to E?
AnswerGreat-granddaughter. A and B share a mother, so A is a child of C, who is a child of D, who is a child of E. That makes E A's great-grandmother, and A, a girl, E's great-granddaughter.
Data interpretation and critical reasoning
Read what the numbers or argument say before reaching for an answer.
Data interpretation and critical reasoning5 questions
26A shop sold 120 units in Q1, 150 in Q2, 165 in Q3 and 231 in Q4. In which quarter was the percentage rise on the previous quarter the largest?
AnswerQ4. The rises are Q2: 30 on 120 = 25%, Q3: 15 on 150 = 10% and Q4: 66 on 165 = 40%.
27A company with a monthly budget of 240,000 spends 45% on staff, 20% on rent, 15% on marketing and 20% on everything else. How much more does it spend on staff than on marketing?
Answer72,000. The difference is 45% − 15% = 30 percentage points, and 30% of 240,000 is 72,000.
28A courier walks 9 km north, then 12 km east. How far is the courier from the start in a straight line?
Answer15 km. The two legs meet at a right angle, so use Pythagoras: 9² + 12² = 81 + 144 = 225, and the square root of 225 is 15.
29Since the new app launched in March, support tickets have fallen by 30%. The team concludes that the app has made customers' problems easier to solve. Which fact most weakens that conclusion?
AnswerThe refund form. It gives another reason for the fall in tickets, so the drop does not show that the app solved anything.
30"Every swan I have seen is white, so all swans are white." Is this deductive or inductive reasoning, and can the conclusion be certain?
AnswerInductive, and only probable. It generalises from the swans observed to every swan, so one counter-example, such as a black swan, breaks it.
How to approach analytical reasoning questions
- Work out what is asked before you read the options. In a series, find the rule first.
- Write the facts down. A small table, tree or column of differences saves you holding it all in your head.
- Test your answer against every clue. If one clue fails, the answer is wrong, however neat it looks.
- Distrust the tempting option. Many questions hide a wrong answer built from the careless route.
Run these as a live quiz
As a live round, where everyone locks in an answer before the reveal, these work for a whole room. In AhaSlides you can build the set with the online quiz creator, and players join from their phones with a code.
Use Type Answer for number series. Players type the number, so they cannot guess from the options.
Use Pick Answer for syllogisms. Offer the four standard choices, let the room vote, then reveal and walk through the reasoning.
Put the tempting wrong answer among the options. For coding-decoding, include codes from half-applying the rule, such as CQQNG.
Prefer not to build from scratch? The template library has ready-made quiz sets you can duplicate and edit.
Frequently asked questions
What are analytical reasoning questions?
Questions that ask you to reach a conclusion from facts, a pattern or a rule rather than recall something memorised, such as series, analogies, syllogisms and seating puzzles.
What is the difference between logical and analytical reasoning?
Logical reasoning is moving from premises to a conclusion. Analytical reasoning applies it to a given set of facts to work out what must, or could, be true, as in the seating questions above.
How do I get better at analytical reasoning questions?
Practise one type at a time, write the rule or clue table down, and check your answer against every clue. Reading the worked answers after each attempt teaches the method fastest.
What is the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning?
Deductive reasoning gives a conclusion that must be true if the premises are. Inductive reasoning gives one that is only probable, as in question 30.
