Mental Ability
Useful for SSC & All Examinations
Test of Reasoning
Chapter-2 | Classification
Classification means to group the given items on the basis of certain
common quality that they possess.
In this chapter, the questions consist of four/five elements. All the
elements except one, follow a certain pattern/rule or have some common
quality and thus form a group. The candidate has to find the element that does
not belong to the group.
Verbal Classification
Non Verbal Classification
Types of Verbal Classification
Classification may be broadly divided into the following types:
(i) Word Classification
(ii) Letter Classification
(iii) Number Classification
Type 1
Word Classification
In word classification, the candidate is given a group of words in which all
except one are related to one another in a particular manner thus form a
group. The candidate has to identify the odd word that does not belong to the
group.
Illustration 1.
Choose the odd one.
(a) Square
(b) Circle
(c) Parallelogram
(d) Rectangle
Solution (b) Except circle, all other given shapes are made up of straight lines.
Illustration 2.
Four words have been given out of which three are alike in some manner,
while the fourth one is different. Select the odd one.
(a) Year
(b) Century
(c) Time
(d) Decade
Solution (c) Except 'time', all are related to time itself.
10 year = one decade
100 year = one century
Illustration 3.
Choose the odd pair.
(a) Gold: Ornaments (b) Cloth: Garments
(c) Wood: Furniture (d) Leather: Footwear
(e) Earthen pots: Clay
Solution (e) Except pair (e), in all other pairs, the first is the raw material used
to make the second.
Illustration 4.
Choose the odd pair.
(a) Broad - Wide
(b) Light - Heavy
(c) Tiny - Small
(d) Big - Large
Solution (b) Light is an antonym of heavy. But in other pairs, words are
synonyms of each other.
Type 2
Letter Classification
In letter classification, there is a similarity or pattern among the letters in
the group and the candidate has to identify the pattern and select the one which
does not follow the common pattern in the group.
The relationship among the letters is generally based on the following
similarities:
Position of letters
Vowel and consonant
Reverse order of letters
Addition or multiplication of positional value
Illustration 5.
Four letter clusters have been given, out of which three are alike in some
manner and one is different. Select the odd one.
(a) IKJL
(b) EGFH
(c) MNPO
(d) ACBD
Solution. (c) Here,
Clearly, MNPO is the odd one.
Illustration 6.
Choose the odd one.
(a) LNJ
(b) RTP
(c) NPK
(d) FHD
Solution (c)
Hence, NPK does not belong to the group.
Note Besides word, letter and number classification, there also exists mixed
classification in which combination of letters and numbers are given.
Illustration 7.
Identify the odd one from the given groups of letters.
(a) JN: QM
(b) DH: WS
(c) RV: IE
(d) PR: IJ
Solution (d) Pattern of groups,
PR: IJ is different from others.
Type 3
Number Classification
In number classification, there is a similarity among the given numbers or
group of numbers. The candidate has to identify the odd number or group of
numbers which does not belong to the group.
The number classification is generally based on the following similarities:
Square and square root of a number
Cube and cube root of a number
Even and odd number
Prime number
Divisibility test of a number
Sum of digits of a number
Illustration 8.
Choose the odd one.
(a) 27
(b) 35
(c) 18
(d) 9
Solution (b) Except 35, all others are multiples of 9, but 35 is the multiple of 5
and 7.
Illustration 9.
Choose the odd one.
(a) 16-28
(b) 32-84
(c) 12-52
(d) 49-77
Solution (c) From options,
2x8=16
8x4 =32
7x7=49
But, 5x2=10 (odd)
Thus, 12-52 is an odd pair.
Illustration 10.
Four number pairs have been given, out of which three are alike in some
manner and one is different. Select the number pair that is different.
(a) 8:34
(b) 5:24
(c) 6:26
(d)7:30
Solution (b) From options,
8:34 => 8x4+2=34
5:24 => 5x4+2=22+24 (odd)
6:26 => 6x4+2=26
7:30 => 7x4+2=30
Except option (b) all others follow same patterns.
Illustration 11.
Choose the odd pair.
(a) 21:24
(b) 28: 32
(c) 14: 16
(d) 70: 80
(e) 54: 62
21 7 28 7 14 7 70 7
Solution (e) Here, = ; = ; = ; =
24 8 32 8 16 8 80 8
54 27
And =
62 31
Clearly, 54:62 is different from others.
Illustration 12.
Choose the odd one.
(a) OE3
(b) XD6
(c) JB5
(d) VK2
(e) PH3
Solution (e) Here, putting the positional values of letters according to English
alphabetical order as
A =1, B=2, C=3,...,Z=26
and solving the alternatives, we have
OE3 => OE=O÷E=15÷5=3;
XD6 => XD=X÷D=24÷4=6;
JB5 => JB=J÷B=10÷2=5;
VK2 => VK=V÷K=22÷11 = 2;
PH3 => PH=P÷H=16÷8=2≠3
Hence, PH3 does not belong to the group.
Non Verbal Classification
Classification is the process of putting things or objects into a group and
then finding the different object or thing that does not belong to the group. In
this chapter, we deal with questions which have a set of four/five figures, out of
which all, except one, are alike or have some common nature/characteristics.
You have to select that exclusively different figure from the given set.
Criteria for Selecting Similar-Dissimilar Figures
There are several criteria used for establishing similar characteristics
between the figures, like rotation of same figure, division of figures, number of
elements or line, interior-exterior consideration of elements etc.
Examples given below, will give you a better idea about the type of
questions asked in various competitive examinations.
Directions (Illustrations 1-8)
Out of these five/four given figures, four/three are similar in a certain way
and so, form a group. Find out the figure which does not belong to the group.
Illustration 1.
Solution (d) In all the figures except figure (d), there are two pins and three
arrows. In figure (d), there are three pins and two arrows, thus it is different
from the others.
Illustration 2.
Solution (e) All the figures, except figure (e) are made of straight lines. But
figure (e) is not, thus, it is different.
Illustration 3.
Solution (a) All the figures except figure (a) contain the same number of pins (-)
as the number of sides of the main figure (outer figure), e.g. The third figure is
a pentagon and thus, have five pins inside in it. Similarly, the ppo second and
fourth figure follow the same pattern.
Illustration 4.
Solution (c) In all the figures except figure (c), the rotation of the arrows is in
clockwise direction. But in figure (c), four arrows are moving in anti-clockwise
direction.
Illustration 5.
Solution (d) The orientation of the triangles in each figure is different except in
figure (d).
Illustration 6.
Solution (d) In each figure except figure (d), the upper right element is identical
to the lower part of the left element and the lower right element is identical to
the upper part of the left element.
Illustration 7.
Solution (d) All the figures except figure (d), are rotated forms of the same
figure. i.e. all are same when rotated. But in figure (d), the shaded portion is at
opposite side.
Illustration 8.
Solution (e) In all the figures except figure (e), the areas of shaded portions are
different.
*********************