ISEE Verbal Reasoning: Synonyms and Sentence Completion

What this section tests

This section answers what Verbal Reasoning measures and how many questions students meet at each level. Verbal Reasoning is one of the four scored sections of the ISEE, which is administered by E3n (formerly ERB, website admission.org). It is the first scored section on test day and is followed by Quantitative Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and Mathematics Achievement, then the unscored essay.

The section checks two things at once: how many words a student knows, and how well the student reasons about meaning. Knowing a word is necessary but not sufficient. A student must also tell apart words that sound alike in meaning, and must read a sentence closely enough to see what it requires.

Level	Applying to	Verbal Reasoning questions	Time
Primary 2, 3 and 4	Grades 2–4	Not tested	Not applicable
Lower Level	Grades 5–6	34	20 minutes
Middle Level	Grades 7–8	40	20 minutes
Upper Level	Grades 9–12	40	20 minutes

Source: E3n, ISEE overview (admission.org), checked 2026-08-24.

Verbal Reasoning appears only from the Lower Level up. Families applying to grades 2 through 4 can read the level overview to see what the Primary levels include. For the full picture of all four scored sections, see the sections overview and what the ISEE is.

Some questions in an operational test are included for research and do not count toward the score. Students cannot tell which ones they are, so every question deserves a complete effort.

How to recognize the two question types

This section explains how each question type looks on the screen and what it asks the student to do. Every question has four answer choices, and only the format of the stem changes.

Question type	What the stem looks like	What the student must do
Synonyms	A single word in capital letters, followed by “most nearly means”	Choose the option closest in meaning to the stem word
Sentence completion	A sentence with a blank, or at higher levels sometimes two blanks	Choose the word or words that make the sentence clear and logical

Synonyms. The task is not to find a word that is related to the stem word. It is to find the word that could replace it. A reliable order of work is to form a rough definition before reading the options, confirm that the part of speech matches, and then compare what remains by exact meaning. The synonyms lesson walks through a three-step method with an interactive item.

Sentence completion. The sentence almost always contains a signal that fixes the direction of the missing word. Contrast words such as although, but and unlike point to an opposite. Cause words such as because and therefore point to a result that follows the first idea. A colon or a dash points to an explanation of the word before it. The best habit is to fill the blank with a word of the student’s own before looking at the options. The sentence completion lesson covers prediction in more detail.

Common errors

This section lists the mistakes the teaching team sees most often when reviewing student work, because each one points to a different kind of practice.

Error	What it looks like	What helps
Related is not the same	Choosing a word that often appears with the stem word, such as picking wealthy for frugal	Test each option by substituting it into a short phrase
One meaning only	Knowing the common meaning of a word, while the question tests a less common one	Learn words through several example sentences
Familiar word wins	Picking the option that looks familiar instead of the one that fits	Define the stem word first, then read the options
Ignoring the signal word	Matching only the words next to the blank and missing although or however earlier in the sentence	Circle signal words before choosing
Checking one blank	Confirming the first blank of a two-blank item and not the second	Test both words in the full sentence
Opposite direction	Choosing a word with the right topic but the reverse meaning	Ask whether the sentence moves with or against the first idea

The most frequent error is the opposite-direction option. A student sees a word that fits the subject, selects it quickly, and does not notice that the sentence required the reverse.

Original examples

The two items below were written by the ISEEPrep teaching team in the style of the test, with the options in alphabetical order. Each explanation covers every option.

Example 1 (Verbal Reasoning · Synonyms)

FRUGAL most nearly means (A) generous (B) thrifty (C) wasteful (D) wealthy

Explanation

B. A frugal person spends carefully and avoids waste, which is what thrifty means. (A) generous describes giving freely, so it moves in the opposite direction. (C) wasteful is the direct antonym. (D) wealthy is the related-but-different option: a frugal person is not necessarily rich, and a wealthy person is not necessarily careful with money.

Skill tested: separating a related word from a word of the same meaning.

Example 2 (Verbal Reasoning · Sentence Completion)

Unlike her brother, who announced every decision loudly, Priya was ______, sharing her opinions only when someone asked. (A) boastful (B) curious (C) impatient (D) reserved

Explanation

D. The word unlike signals contrast: the brother announced decisions loudly, so Priya must be the opposite, quiet and held back. Reserved fits that meaning and also matches “only when someone asked.” (A) boastful describes the brother, not Priya, and is the choice a student makes after missing unlike. (B) curious describes interest in learning, which the sentence does not discuss. (C) impatient does not connect to how openly a person shares opinions.

Skill tested: using a contrast signal to predict the missing word before reading the options.

Original practice item written by the ISEEPrep teaching team; not a question from the actual ISEE.

How to practice

This section describes a weekly routine that builds vocabulary and judgment together. The approach is a teaching recommendation, not a requirement of the test.

• Read at the target level. Vocabulary tested in Verbal Reasoning comes mainly from reading. Students applying to the Upper Level benefit from articles and books written for high school readers, and students applying to the Lower Level from age-appropriate nonfiction and novels.
• Keep a missed-word notebook. For each word, record the part of speech, a definition in English, a synonym, an antonym and one sentence taken from real reading. Translation alone rarely helps in sentence completion.
• Review on a schedule. New words are looked at the same day, reviewed again a few days later, and revisited on the weekend. A word is treated as learned after two correct reviews in a row.
• Sort every error. After each practice set, label each miss as unknown word, known word but wrong choice, or missed signal word. The count in each group decides the next week’s focus.
• Add timed sections. Short practice by question type is useful early on. As the test date approaches, students complete a full 20-minute section at the real timing to practice pacing.

A student who does not read English at home as often as peers may need an extra layer of support. The page on preparing for the ISEE as an English language learner covers that case, and the study plans page shows how this routine fits into a full preparation timeline.

Ways to prepare

Families can prepare for Verbal Reasoning independently with a notebook, regular reading and timed sections, or with structured help. Online one-on-one tutoring lets a teacher review each missed word and each reasoning error with the student and adjust the plan week by week. Families who want to see a student’s starting point first can try the free trial.

Level pages explain how this section fits the rest of the test: Lower Level, Middle Level and Upper Level. Scores for this section are reported on their own, and the scores page explains how stanines and percentiles are read.