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Verbal Reasoning · Guide 11 of 15

Missing three letters

A word in capitals has lost three letters in a row, and those three letters spell a word of their own. Use the sentence to work out the full word.

  • Ages 9 to 11
  • 11+ Verbal Reasoning
  • Worked examples

What is it?

In a missing three letters question, one word in a sentence is written in capital letters. Three letters that sat next to each other have been taken out of it, so it looks odd: 'The cat chased a tiny MO.'

The three missing letters always make a real three-letter word, in the same order. You find the full word the sentence needs, then write down the three letters that are missing.

A typical question

Find the three-letter word missing from the word in capitals: The cat chased a tiny MO.

How to spot it

  • One word in the sentence is in capital letters and doesn't look like a real word.
  • The instructions say three letters next to each other have been taken out.
  • Your answer is the three-letter word, not the whole word.

Step-by-step method

  1. Step 1: Read the whole sentence and ask: what word would make sense here?
  2. Step 2: Check that your word starts and ends with the same letters as the word in capitals.
  3. Step 3: Cross out the capital letters from your full word, in order. Three letters in a row should be left.
  4. Step 4: Check those three letters make a real word on their own.
  5. Step 5: Read the sentence again with the full word in place.
  6. Step 6: Write just the three-letter word as your answer.

Worked examples

Example 1: a short word

Question: The cat chased a tiny MO.
  1. Step 1: Something tiny that a cat chases: mouse.
  2. Step 2: MO + USE = MOUSE. The missing letters are U, S, E.
  3. Step 3: USE is a real word.

Answer: USE

Example 2: letters missing from the middle

Question: Our VIOR stayed for tea.
  1. Step 1: Someone who stays for tea and starts with VI: a visitor.
  2. Step 2: VI + SIT + OR = VISITOR. The letters in capitals (V, I, O, R) are all still there, in order.

Answer: SIT

Example 3: the sentence decides

Question: Smoke rose from the CNEY.
  1. Step 1: C _ _ _ NEY could be CHUTNEY (missing HUT) or CHIMNEY (missing HIM). Both missing parts are real words.
  2. Step 2: Smoke doesn't rise from chutney. It rises from a chimney.
  3. Step 3: C + HIM + NEY = CHIMNEY.

Answer: HIM

Common traps

  • Writing the whole word

    The answer is the three missing letters (HIM), not CHIMNEY. Read what the question asks for.

  • Ignoring the sentence

    GAR could become GARAGE (missing AGE) or GARDEN (missing DEN). Only one fits 'We planted tulips in the…', so always use the meaning.

  • Letters that aren't next to each other

    The three letters must come from one place in the word, side by side. You can't take one letter from the start and two from the end.

  • Three letters that aren't a word

    If the letters you've crossed out don't make a real word (like IST from MOIST), you've chosen the wrong full word. Think again.

Top tips

  • Spell the full word slowly in your head, letter by letter, and tick off each capital letter as you go.
  • Common hidden three-letter words: and, ant, are, ear, her, him, man, one, our, pet, ran, rat, sit, ten, the, use.
  • Spelling matters: practise tricky words like favour, separate and different.

Practice questions

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6 practice questions on this topic, from easy to 11+ level. Reading the guide is free for everyone; practice is for members, and signing up is free.

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