SSC CHSL 2026 reasoning preparation: topics, tricks and worked examples

Students working at computers in a college computer lab in India
Photo: Arjuna Rao Chavala, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

SSC CHSL Tier-I General Intelligence is 25 questions for 50 marks in its own 15-minute section, with 0.50 marks taken off for each wrong answer. The question types repeat from paper to paper, so this is the section where practice turns into marks most reliably: once you recognise a type in a few seconds and know its method, most questions take 20 to 30 seconds. Below are the topics in the notice, a worked example of each text-based type, short tricks for the common ones, and how to deal with figure questions. Tier-I is proposed for 30 November to 31 December 2026; see our SSC CHSL 2026 guide for dates and the full pattern.

What the notice lists

Paragraph 13.10.2 of the SSC CHSL 2026 notice says the section has "both verbal and non-verbal type" questions on: semantic analogy, symbolic/number analogy, figural analogy, semantic classification, symbolic/number classification, figural classification, semantic series, number series, figural series, coding and decoding, numerical operations, symbolic operations, trends, Venn diagrams, drawing inferences, space orientation, punched hole and pattern folding and unfolding, figural pattern folding and completion, embedded figures, critical thinking, problem solving, emotional intelligence, social intelligence, word building, and "other sub-topics, if any".

Blood relations, directions and order-ranking are not named, but they are short problem-solving questions of the kind that list allows, and they are worth practising. Questions are in English and Hindi. The same list returns in Tier-II Reasoning.

Worked examples of the text-based types

Semantic analogy. Doctor : Hospital :: Teacher : ? School: the place where each works.

Number analogy. 3 : 27 :: 5 : ? 125: each number is cubed.

Symbolic (letter) analogy. ACE : BDF :: GIK : ? HJL: each letter moves one step forward.

Semantic classification. Find the odd one: Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars. Moon: the others are planets.

Number classification. Find the odd one: 17, 23, 29, 35. 35: the others are prime.

Number series. 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, ? 42: the differences are 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 (or n × (n + 1)).

Semantic (letter) series. B, E, H, K, ? N: +3 each time.

Coding-decoding. If MANGO is written NBOHP, how is APPLE written? Each letter moves one step forward: BQQMF.

Symbolic operations. If + means ×, × means −, − means ÷ and ÷ means +, find 8 + 2 − 4 × 1 ÷ 3. Rewrite: 8 × 2 ÷ 4 − 1 + 3 = 16 ÷ 4 − 1 + 3 = 4 − 1 + 3 = 6. Always rewrite first, then apply BODMAS.

Venn diagram. Which diagram shows Fruits, Apples, Vegetables? Apples sit inside Fruits; Vegetables is a separate circle.

Drawing inferences (syllogism). Statements: All pens are books. Some books are chairs. Conclusions: I. Some pens are chairs. II. Some chairs are books. Only II follows. II is the second statement turned round. I does not follow: the books that are chairs need not be the books that are pens.

Word building. Which word can be made from the letters of EXAMINATION? STATION, NATION, MOTHER, EXAMS. NATION. STATION and EXAMS need an S; MOTHER needs H, R.

Blood relations. Pointing to a man, Riya says, "His mother is the only daughter of my mother." How is the man related to Riya? The only daughter of Riya's mother is Riya herself, so the man is Riya's son.

Directions. Aman walks 4 km north, turns right and walks 3 km. How far is he from the start, and in which direction? Right from north is east. Distance = √(4² + 3²) = 5 km, to the north-east.

Emotional and social intelligence. A colleague is upset after a mistake in a report. What is the best response? (a) Report it to the manager at once (b) Ignore it (c) Help them find and fix the error (d) Tell others about it. (c). These questions reward the calm, helpful, responsible choice.

Tricks for the common types

Coding-decoding

  • Write the alphabet with positions once at the start of your rough sheet: A1 to Z26. Learn the reverse pairs too (A–Z, B–Y, ... M–N; each pair adds up to 27).
  • Check the first two letters of the word and code. If the shift is the same, test it on the last letter before marking the answer.
  • For sentence codes ("sky is blue" = "ta na pa"), find the word common to two sentences and the code common to both.

Series

  • Start with differences. If the differences are not constant, take differences of differences, then check for ×, squares (1, 4, 9, 16), cubes (1, 8, 27, 64) and primes.
  • If the series jumps up and down, it is probably two series alternating: split the odd and even positions.
  • In letter series, turn letters into numbers.

Analogy and classification

  • Say the relation in a sentence: "a doctor works in a hospital". Test each option against that exact sentence.
  • In number classification, check in this order: odd/even, prime, squares and cubes, divisibility, sum of digits.

Blood relations

  • Draw a quick family tree: males as squares or with +, females as circles or with −, a horizontal line for a married couple, vertical lines for generations.
  • Start from the far end of the sentence ("my mother") and work back to the person asked about.

Directions

  • Draw north at the top every time. Right turn = clockwise, left turn = anticlockwise.
  • For distances, look for a right triangle; 3-4-5, 6-8-10 and 5-12-13 come up often.
  • Shadow questions: in the morning the sun is in the east, so shadows fall to the west; in the evening they fall to the east.

Syllogism

  • Draw circles for each statement in the least-overlapping way that is still allowed. A conclusion follows only if it is true in every possible drawing.
  • "All A are B" lets you say "Some B are A", not "All B are A".
  • Two "some" statements give no definite conclusion about the end terms.
  • Watch for either-or pairs: if neither "Some A are C" nor "No A is C" follows alone, one of them must be true, so "either I or II follows".

How to treat figure questions

Figural analogy, classification and series, mirror and water images, paper folding and punched holes, embedded figures and pattern completion make up part of the section. They are often faster than they look:

  • Series and analogy: track one element at a time (a dot, an arrow, a shaded part). Note how it moves: usually 45° or 90° steps, clockwise or anticlockwise.
  • Mirror image: left and right swap, top and bottom stay. Water image: top and bottom swap, left and right stay.
  • Paper folding and punched holes: unfold in reverse order, one fold at a time, and reflect each hole across the fold line.
  • Embedded figures: look for a distinctive corner or angle of the small figure in the big one, not the whole shape.
  • If figures are your weak area, do the text questions first and come back to figures in the last five minutes, but do practise them: they are as predictable as number series once seen often.

How to spend 15 minutes

  • Round 1 (about 9 minutes): all quick types, text and figure: analogy, classification, series, coding, operations, Venn diagrams.
  • Round 2 (about 5 minutes): syllogisms, blood relations, directions and any figure questions you skipped.
  • Last minute: check the marked answers. With +2 and −0.5, a guess after ruling out two options is worth taking; our article on negative marking has the arithmetic.

Practise in timed sets of 25. Our free SSC CHSL mock tests give each section its real 15-minute timer in English and Hindi and show which reasoning types to practise next.

Frequently asked questions

How many reasoning questions are there in SSC CHSL Tier-I?

25 General Intelligence questions for 50 marks, in a 15-minute section of their own. A wrong answer loses 0.50 marks.

Which reasoning topics are most important for SSC CHSL?

Start with analogy, classification, series and coding-decoding: they are the quickest to learn and appear in many forms (word, letter, number). Then Venn diagrams, symbolic operations, syllogism and the figure types.

Are blood relations and directions in the SSC CHSL syllabus?

They are not named in the notice, which lists problem solving, drawing inferences and "other sub-topics, if any". Short blood relation and direction questions fit those headings, so practise them.

Can I take the reasoning section in Hindi?

Yes. General Intelligence questions are set in English, Hindi and the other languages listed in the notice.

How can I get faster at reasoning for SSC CHSL?

Learn each type's method once, then practise sets of 25 against a 15-minute clock and note which types took longest. Speed comes from recognising the type, not from rushing.