CCAT Verbal Reasoning Questions: Samples & Quick Win Tips

This page will show you exactly what verbal questions to expect on the CCAT test and how to answer them FAST.

You’ll see:

So if you’d like to master the CCAT verbal questions and increase your test score, you’ll love this post.

What Verbal Questions Should You Expect on the CCAT Test?

The CCAT verbal questions measure your vocabulary skills, whether you can identify how words relate to one another and if you can quickly spot differences between sets of words.

Here are the verbal question types you should expect:

Word Analogies
Sentence Completion
Antonyms
Attention to Detail

Overall, there are 17 verbal questions on the CCAT (out of 50 in total), as opposed to 18 CCAT math questions and 11 spatial reasoning questions.

Now:

As you may already know, you have to answer these questions lightning fast, as you have only 15 minutes to complete the whole test.

So, to get a feel for these verbal questions, let’s review the question types and see some realistic sample questions.

Word Analogies

Word analogies are the most common CCAT verbal question type (together with sentence completion).

For each question, you must identify the relationship between each pair of words and decide which answer maintains the same logical relationship.

One of the most straightforward techniques to answer such questions is formatting a sentence that’s true to the original analogy and seeing which answer option fits this format.

Give this technique a try in the following CCAT word analogy sample question:

VOWS is to WEDDING as:

1. POEM is to LETTERS
2. CONCERT is to SONG
3. TEXT is to BOOK
4. WORDS is to DIALOGUE

The correct answer is D.

First, let’s format a sentence that’s true for the original analogy.

Vows are exchanged at a wedding.

Now, let’s go over the answer options:

Poem : letters is incorrect because poems comprise letters (and words), but they are not “exchanged” in letters.

Concert : song is incorrect because songs are not exchanged in a concert, and the order of the words is reversed.

Book : text is incorrect because a book contains text, but it is not exchanged.

That leaves us with answer (D) as the correct one since words are exchanged in a dialogue.

Sentence Completion

Here, you’ll need to choose the word or words that best fits the meaning of the sentence when inserted in the sentence to replace the blank or blanks.

You should expect 7-8 sentence completion questions on the CCAT.

These question types rely heavily on your English vocabulary level. So, if you have a good vocabulary, you’ll find these easier.

But don’t worry, even if you feel this is not your strength, there are several techniques to improve your accuracy and solving speed.

One of the simplest techniques is finding keywords that set the sentence’s tone and predict what type of word should fill in the blank.

Let’s see this technique in action in this sentence completion sample question:

Approved websites must be removed from any programmed inspection lists for the _______ of participation.

1. persistence
2. stoppage
3. continuity
4. duration
5. periodical

The correct answer is (4).

Antonyms

On these questions, you’ll need to find the opposite word to a given word.

Antonyms questions, similarly to sentence completion, mainly rely on your English vocabulary skills. But unlike sentence completion questions, you don’t get any context around the given word.

So, if you don’t have time to practice and expand your vocabulary before taking the CCAT test, your best bet will be to use elimination techniques.

Here’s an example of an antonym question:

DILIGENTLY is the opposite of:

1. Slowly
2. Lazily
3. Easily
4. Eagerly
5. Carefully

The correct answer is (2), lazily.

The word diligently means hard-working. The word lazily means not wanting to do any work.

Attention to Detail

Attention to detail is the least common question type of all CCAT verbal questions.

In these questions, you’re presented with a few pairs of names, addresses, etc. Your task is to count how many pairs are identical.

Check out the following example to see what it’s like:

How many of the five items in the left-hand column are exactly the same as the corresponding entry in the right-hand column?

Arclite Software Inc.	Arclite Software Co.
Victory Motors Co.	Victory Motors Co.
Vegan Republic Supermarkets	Vegan Republic Supermarket
Brooklyn Furniture and Home	Brooklyn Furniture and Home
Sun King Mustard Inc.	Sun King Mustard Inc.

A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5

The correct answer is (C) – 3.

The only identical items are the second, fourth, and fifth couples: Victory Motors Co., Brooklyn Furniture and Home, and Sun King Mustard Inc.

Take this CCAT sample test for additional CCAT verbal practice questions (as well as other CCAT question types).

Why It’s Important to Practice Your Verbal Skills Before You Take the CCAT

As mentioned before, about a third of CCAT’s 50 questions are verbal questions. So, to get a high score, you must excel in this category.

Now:

While these questions mainly rely on your vocabulary level, your chances of improving it dramatically in only a few prep days are quite low.

That being said, if you know which questions to expect, learn shortcut techniques, and prepare for the toughest CCAT question types, you can increase your chances of scoring high.

And that’s why getting to know this test section beforehand is so important.

Visit this CCAT prep guide for more helpful preparation tips.

Why Does Your Future Employer Care About Your Verbal Reasoning Skills

Research suggests there’s a strong correlation between your vocabulary size and your communication skills level.

If you, as an employee, can’t properly articulate your thoughts or understand your colleagues and customers, it can potentially damage business relationships.

Additionally, vocabulary affects reading comprehension, which is an essential component of cognitive aptitude, and one of the best predictors of future job success.

Employers want to ensure their new hires have solid cognitive skills that enable them to communicate effectively. And that’s why major companies, such as Vista Equity and dozens of other employers, use assessment tests like the CCAT to measure these skills.

Valuable Practice Resources to Help You Ace the CCAT Verbal Questions

Want to take your CCAT prep to the next level? We’ve found the most useful practice resource to help you prep and increase your chances of acing the test:

JobTestPrep’s CCAT practice includes five full-length (50 questions – 15 minutes) CCAT simulations and 17 dedicated verbal reasoning drills. All questions come with step-by-step explanations.

This includes solving tips and shortcut techniques for every verbal reasoning question to help increase your solving speed and accuracy.

Additionally, there’s a free CCAT sample test to give you a taste of the real exam.

Take a free CCAT sample test and get full-length CCAT simulations to help you pass the test.

5 Tips to Get More CCAT Verbal Questions Right and Boost Your Score

On Sentence Completion questions, it’s often helpful to work backward and start with the second missing word. Then, when you spot the second word, you can quickly eliminate answer choices based on the second word, as you don’t even need to know if the first one fits.
Another quick tip for Sentence Completion questions is to fill in the blanks with the simplest words you can come up with, and then go over the answer choices and find words that convey similar meanings.
On Attention to Detail questions, use a pen and scratch paper to draw a line for each identical pair you find. This is much easier than keeping the number in your head or counting with your fingers.
On Word Analogy questions, pay extra attention to the exact order of the analogy. There might be cases where you go over the answer choices and see the relationship you’ve found but in reverse order. Never pick this option.
On Antonym questions, try formatting a simple sentence using the given word, similar to what you’d do on Analogy questions. It will enable you to eliminate at least a few answer choices quickly.

Looking for more cognitive aptitude test questions? Check the free practice tests on this page.