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Practice Verbal Analogies questions for the Cognitive Abilities Test — Grade 4 (Level 10). Every question includes a full explanation of why the correct answer is right and why the tempting distractors are wrong.
30 questions available · medium difficulty · CogAT Grade 4 · Free, no registration required
A pair of words is given that relate in some way, then a third word, and the child picks the word standing in the same relationship to it. It measures verbal reasoning rather than vocabulary - though a word the child has never met will stop them regardless, which is why reading matters more here than drilling.
The same structure with a wider vocabulary and relationships that are no longer physical - a word and its category, a word and a property it has, a word and what it is used for. Several choices now relate to the third word in some way, so the relationship has to be pinned down precisely.
At level 10 — grade 4
Level 10 widens the vocabulary and introduces relationships that are not physical: a word and its category, a word and a property it has. Fourth graders comfortable with part-and-whole items often need explicit practice at naming these less tangible connections.
'They go together' is not a relationship. If the connection cannot be stated as a sentence precise enough to exclude the other choices, it is not specific enough to answer with - and at this level several choices will survive a vague reading.
Relationships at this level are often about category or function rather than parts and places. A child who has learned to look for a concrete link will not find one on these items and tends to fall back on association instead.
Under time pressure an unfamiliar word can feel like the safer answer. It is not a signal of anything, and items sometimes place a difficult word among the distractors precisely because it attracts.
Build the sentence habit: 'a kitten is a baby cat, so a blank is a baby dog'. Saying the relationship as a full sentence and then reading each option into it makes the wrong-but-related choices sound wrong, which is exactly what a child at this level cannot yet feel. Beyond that the highest-return activity is simply reading widely - most missed items at this level are vocabulary, not reasoning.
Not by design - it tests reasoning about relationships. But a word your child does not know will cost the item regardless of how good the reasoning is, so vocabulary sets a ceiling on the score.
At this level: part and whole, object and its use, animal and its home or young, and opposites. Naming the relationship type aloud is a useful habit even when the answer is already obvious.
Honestly, you cannot. Reading is what moves it and it moves over months. Anyone selling a word list that raises a CogAT verbal score in a fortnight is selling something.
10 example questions with full explanations. Use the interactive practice above to work through the complete set.
Correct answer: B
An oak is one kind of tree, so the answer must be the larger group a salmon belongs to. A salmon is a kind of fish, making B correct. A 'river' is where salmon live rather than what they are. 'Swim' is what they do, and a 'scale' is a small part of a salmon, not the group it belongs to.
Correct answer: C
A spark is the small beginning that grows into a fire, so the answer must be what a seed grows into. A seed grows into a plant, making C correct. 'Soil' and 'water' are things a seed needs in order to grow, not what it becomes. A 'garden' is the place where many plants grow together.
Correct answer: D
Cold is cool taken further, so the answer must be warm taken further in the same direction. Hot is stronger than warm, making D correct. 'Mild' is the tempting wrong answer because it is close in meaning to warm, but it is not a stronger version of it. 'Cool' goes the opposite way, and 'wet' describes something different altogether.
Correct answer: A
A knife is the tool a chef works with, so the answer must be a tool a gardener works with. A rake is a gardening tool, making A correct. A 'flower' is something a gardener grows and a 'seed' is what they plant, so both are materials rather than tools. A 'garden' is the place where the work happens.
Correct answer: B
Ancient and modern are opposites, so the answer must be the opposite of shrink. Growing is the opposite of shrinking, making B correct. 'Small' and 'tiny' both describe the result of shrinking rather than reversing it, which is the trap — a word connected to shrink is not the same as its opposite. 'Fold' is a different action entirely.
Correct answer: C
A root is one part of a whole tree, so the answer must be the whole creature a fin is part of. A fin is part of a fish, making C correct. 'Swim' is what a fin helps a fish do, not the whole it belongs to. 'Water' is where the fish lives, and a 'scale' is another separate part of a fish rather than the whole.
Correct answer: A
A pedal is one part of a whole bicycle, so the answer must be a part of a guitar. A string is part of a guitar, making A correct. 'Music' is what a guitar produces rather than a piece of it. 'Play' is the action, and a 'band' is a group that guitars are used in, so neither names a part.
Correct answer: B
Magnifying is the job a microscope does, so the answer must be the job a refrigerator does. A refrigerator cools things, making B correct. 'Food' is what goes inside it rather than what it does. A 'kitchen' is where it stands, and a 'door' is one of its parts.
Correct answer: C
Enormous and huge mean the same thing, so the answer must mean the same as rapid. 'Quick' means rapid, making C correct. 'Slow' is the opposite rather than a match. 'Small' is the opposite of enormous, which is the trap if you follow the first word instead of the second, and 'loud' describes sound rather than speed.
Correct answer: D
Glass is what a window is made of, so the answer must be what a sweater is made of. Sweaters are made of wool, making D correct. 'Warm' describes how a sweater feels rather than its material. 'Winter' is when you wear one, and 'knit' is how it is made rather than what it is made from.