Anagrams and word making
You move letters around to make a word: to fit a sentence, to find which word can be made from a longer one, or to build a word from brackets. Here's how to place every letter right.
Rush doesn’t practise anagrams and word making yet. These games practise related skills: Spelling and Missing Letters.
Chapter 1
What are anagram questions?
An anagram is a word made from the letters of another word in a new order. EARTH makes HEART.
Anagram questions ask you to move letters around. Whatever the kind, the skill is the same: using every letter you’re given once, and only once.
Which word can or can’t be made? A long word and five shorter ones. You use some of its letters, never extra ones. That’s the question here.
Unscramble the capitals. A jumbled word in a sentence, or with a clue like “an animal”. You use all the letters. Chapter 3.
Two exam extras. Making a word from brackets, and finding the letter missing from two jumbles. Chapter 4.
Which word cannot be made from the letters of TEACHER?
- CHEAT
- THREE
- CHEER
- TREAT
- REACH
Chapter 2
Solve it in 3 steps.
Here’s the question, one step at a time.
The question
Which word cannot be made from the letters of TEACHER?
- CHEAT
- THREE
- CHEER
- TREAT
- REACH
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Step 1
Check: can or cannot?
Papers ask it both ways, so underline the word before you start. Here it’s cannot: four of the options can be made, and you want the one that can’t.
Which word cannot be made from the letters of TEACHER?
Four can be made. Find the odd one.
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Step 2
Look for a stray letter.
A stray letter is one the long word hasn’t got at all. RAIL can’t come from TRAIN, because TRAIN has no L. Here every option uses only T, E, A, C, H and R, so look closer.
- CHEAT
- THREE
- CHEER
- TREAT
- REACH
Every option uses only letters in TEACHER.
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Step 3
Cross off letters as you use them.
For each word, cross off one letter of TEACHER for every letter it uses. THREE needs two Es, and TEACHER has two, so it can be made. TREAT uses the T, then needs a second one, and there isn’t one.
TREAT needs one more T than TEACHER has.
Three traps in the options
| The mistake | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| Ruling out THREE or CHEER. Each needs two Es, which looks like too many. | Count the long word too. TEACHER has two Es, so both can be made. |
| Picking CHEAT or REACH. They can be made, so they answer the “can” question. | Underline can or cannot first, then answer that one. |
| Passing TREAT at a glance. T, R, E and A are all in TEACHER, so it looks fine. | Cross letters off one at a time. The second T has nothing left to cross. |
So it’s TREAT. It needs two Ts, and TEACHER has only one. The other four can all be made.
Remember: One letter, one use.
Chapter 3
Unscramble the capitals.
The other main kind: one jumbled word in a sentence, or with a clue. This time you use every letter.
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Step 1
Guess the word from the sentence.
Cover the capitals and ask what fits. You sit down for dinner at a table. A guess is much quicker than shuffling letters.
We sat down for dinner at the kitchen BLETA.
TABLE?
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Step 2
Tick off every letter, once.
Your guess must use each capital once: none left over, none used twice. TABLE uses B, L, E, T and A once each.
Five letters in, five letters out.
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Step 3
Read your word in the sentence.
The same letters make BLEAT, the sound a sheep makes. “At the kitchen bleat” makes no sense, so it’s TABLE.
- …at the kitchen TABLE. Makes sense.
…at the kitchen BLEAT.Makes no sense.
Four catches
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Use every letter
The answer has as many letters as the capitals.
Something you sit on: RIHAC. Trap: HAIR jumps out first, but it leaves the C. CHAIR uses all five.
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A real word can still be wrong
If the capitals already spell a word, check it fits.
The cows slept in the BRAN. Bran is a real word, but cows sleep in a BARN. Trap: leaving the capitals as they are because they look finished.
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The sentence gives the ending
“Was” or “is” before it often means ‑ING. “Yesterday” often means ‑ED.
The baby was GNIRYC all night. Take out I, N and G, and C, R and Y are left: CRYING. Trap: shuffling all six letters at once.
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Long jumble? Find letter teams
Some letters stick together. Pull them out first.
NOITSUQE: Q nearly always has U after it, and TION often ends a word. That leaves E and S: QUESTION. Trap: splitting a team up.
Letter teams to try first
Most words take turns: a vowel, then a consonant or two. If a try has four consonants in a row, move one.
Chapter 4: In the exam
Two more ways the exam asks it.
Some papers for the 11+ and other entrance exams ask these. You still place every letter exactly.
Make a word from brackets
The middle word in the first brackets is made from letters of the two words beside it. Work out which letters, then take the same ones from the second group. GL’s practice papers use this kind.
(both [tops] skip) (best [ ? ] town)
- A sent
- B nest
- C tent
- D west
- E note
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Step 1
Number the letters in the first group.
Find where each letter of TOPS comes from. T is the 3rd letter of BOTH and O the 2nd. P is the 4th letter of SKIP and S the 1st. If a letter could come from two places, keep both and let the second group decide.
Light tiles come from the left word, dark from the right.
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Step 2
Take the same places from the second group.
The 3rd and 2nd letters of BEST are S and E. The 4th and 1st of TOWN are N and T. That makes SENT. Trap: NEST has the same letters in the wrong order.
So it’s SENT.
Two jumbled words, one letter missing
A sentence has two jumbled words, and the same letter has been taken out of both. You pick that letter.
We built a tleca out of nad on the beach.
- A s
- B t
- C e
- D n
- E a
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Step 1
Guess both words from the sentence.
On a beach you build a castle out of sand. CASTLE has six letters and tleca only five, so one is missing: the S. SAND is missing its S too.
The same letter is missing from both.
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Step 2
Check the letter works in both.
Trap: T turns tleca into CATTLE, a real word. But nad and T make no word, so T is out. Only S works in both.
- s CASTLE and SAND: both work.
- t CATTLE, but nad fails
Chapter 5
Try it yourself.
Easier ones first. Try each one before you open its answer.
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Question 1Level 1
Rearrange the letters in capitals to make a word that completes the sentence.
We pushed our bikes up the steep LHLI.
Show answer
Answer: HILL.
How to answer it
- Bikes are pushed up a steep hill, so guess HILL.
- Check: HILL has H, I and two Ls, the same as LHLI. The answer is HILL.
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Question 2Level 1
Which word cannot be made from the letters of STREAM?
- STAR
- TEAM
- STORM
- MEAT
- SEAT
Show answer
Answer: STORM.
How to answer it
- Scan each option for a letter STREAM hasn't got.
- STORM has an O, and STREAM has no O. The others use only S, T, R, E, A and M. The answer is STORM.
Why the other answers are wrong
- STARS, T, A and R are all in STREAM, so it can be made.
- TEAMT, E, A and M are all in STREAM, so it can be made.
- MEATThe same letters as TEAM, all in STREAM, so it can be made.
- SEATS, E, A and T are all in STREAM, so it can be made.
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Question 3Level 1
Rearrange the letters in capitals to make something that swims:
SIFH.
Show answer
Answer: FISH.
How to answer it
- Something that swims, with four letters including F and H: FISH.
- Check: F, I, S, H, each used once. The answer is FISH.
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Question 4Level 2
Rearrange the letters in capitals to make a word that completes the sentence.
We waited at the bus PSTO for ages.
Show answer
Answer: STOP.
How to answer it
- P, S, T and O make several words: STOP, POST, POTS, SPOT, TOPS and OPTS.
- You wait at a bus stop. None of the others fits the sentence. The answer is STOP.
Answers that look right but aren’t
- POSTThe same letters, but you don't wait at a bus post.
- POTSThe same letters, but a bus pots makes no sense.
- SPOTThe same letters, but the sentence wants the place a bus stops.
- TOPSThe same letters, but a bus tops makes no sense.
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Question 5Level 2
Which word cannot be made from the letters of PLANET?
- PLANT
- PANEL
- APPLE
- PETAL
- PLATE
Show answer
Answer: APPLE.
How to answer it
- Every option uses only P, L, A, N, E and T, so look at doubles.
- APPLE needs two Ps, and PLANET has only one. The answer is APPLE.
Why the other answers are wrong
- PLANTP, L, A, N and T are all in PLANET, once each, so it can be made.
- PANELP, A, N, E and L are all in PLANET, so it can be made.
- PETALP, E, T, A and L are all in PLANET, so it can be made.
- PLATEThe same letters as PETAL, so it can be made too.
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Question 6Level 2
Rearrange the letters in capitals to make an animal:
SEROH.
Show answer
Answer: HORSE.
How to answer it
- S, E, R, O, H make HORSE and SHORE.
- The clue asks for an animal. The answer is HORSE.
Answers that look right but aren’t
- SHOREThe same letters, but a shore is the edge of the sea, not an animal.
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Question 7Level 3
Rearrange the letters in capitals to make something on your hand:
RENIGF.
Show answer
Answer: FINGER.
How to answer it
- Look for a common ending first. E and R are there, so try ER at the end.
- That leaves F, I, N, G, which go in front as FING: FINGER, and you have fingers on your hand.
- The same letters also make FRINGE, but a fringe is hair, not part of your hand. The answer is FINGER.
Answers that look right but aren’t
- FRINGEThe same six letters, but a fringe is hair over your forehead, not something on your hand.
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Question 8Level 3
Which word can be made from the letters of CARPET?
- CREEP
- PEACE
- TRACE
- CREATE
- CARROT
Show answer
Answer: TRACE.
How to answer it
- CARROT has an O, and CARPET has no O, so it's out at once.
- CREEP, PEACE and CREATE each need two Es. CARPET has only one E, so none of them can be made.
- TRACE uses T, R, A, C and E once each, all in CARPET. The answer is TRACE.
Why the other answers are wrong
- CREEPIt needs two Es, and CARPET has only one.
- PEACEIt needs two Es, and CARPET has only one.
- CREATEIt needs two Es, and CARPET has only one.
- CARROTIt needs an O, and CARPET has none. It also needs two Rs.
For parents.
What parents ask us about anagrams and word making.
Questions parents ask
What is an anagram in 11+ verbal reasoning?
A word made by rearranging all the letters of another, the way MELON is an anagram of LEMON. In 11+ questions the jumbled letters often come with a sentence or a clue, which tells you which word is wanted when the letters make more than one.
How can my child get better at unscrambling words?
Write the jumbled letters in a circle instead of a line. The eye stops reading them in the jumbled order and starts to see letter teams like CH, ER and ING.
What goes wrong on "cannot be made" questions?
Usually one of two things. Some children answer the opposite question, because these are asked both ways, so underline can or cannot before starting. The other is double letters: a word that needs two of a letter can only be made if the long word has two.
What if two words can be made from the letters?
Then the clue or sentence decides, and the question is set so that only one fits. Read the sentence again with each word in place; one will make less sense.
Practise the related skills in Rush.
- SpellingPicking the right spelling builds a feel for which letter teams and endings make real words, which makes unscrambling quicker.
- Missing LettersIt starts by guessing the whole word from the sentence before looking at the letters, which is also the first step of a sentence anagram.
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