NNAT Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield NNAT facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. A row starts with triangle, then square. What should the missing third cell contain? → Pentagon (5 sides)
2. Which shape has exactly 4 sides of equal length AND 4 right angles? → Square
3. A circle with a dot inside becomes an empty circle. What rule applies? → Internal elements are removed; outer shape preserved
4. When a figure is reflected in a vertical mirror, which aspect changes? → Left and right are reversed
5. Two shapes have the same form but one is larger than the other. What are they called? → Similar
6. A white shape becomes shaded. The next shape has stripes. What should the answer look like? → The same shape with stripes and added shading
7. Which type of answer choice is typically the easiest to eliminate when using process of elimination on the NNAT? → Answers that share no visual relationship with the shapes or rules already in the pattern
8. What comes next in the series? 1, 4, 2, 8, 3, 12, __ → 4
9. A flat shape with exactly 3 sides and 3 angles is called a: → Triangle
10. What comes next in the series? 1, 8, 27, 64, __ → 125
11. When an NNAT pattern shows a consistent relationship between size and position, what is the correct strategy? → Track how size and position change together across the matrix to predict the missing piece
12. If a triangle pointing right is rotated 90 degrees clockwise, which direction does it point? → Down
13. A letter F is rotated 180 degrees. What does it look like? → An upside-down and backwards F
14. What number comes next? 2, 5, 9, 14, 20, __ → 27
15. How many vertices (corners) does a pentagon have? → 5
16. In a 3×3 grid, each row must contain a star, heart, and diamond exactly once. The last row already has a star and a heart. What is missing? → Diamond
17. What makes higher-level pattern completion questions challenging? → Multiple overlapping patterns in different directions
18. What comes next in the series? 1, 3, 9, 27, __ → 81
19. A triangle points up, then rotates 90° clockwise each step: up, right, down, left, up... In which direction does it point at step 9? → Up
20. Visual tiles show 4, 9, 16, 25. What pattern connects these numbers? → They are perfect squares: 2², 3², 4², 5²
21. A shape with exactly 5 sides is called a: → Pentagon
22. Which term describes two shapes that are exactly the same size and shape? → Congruent
23. Which piece correctly fills the upper-right corner of a divided square puzzle? → A piece with a straight left edge and straight bottom edge
24. What does a student's performance on the NNAT primarily reflect? → Their visual-spatial reasoning and problem-solving ability with nonverbal patterns
25. Shapes rotate across rows and change color down columns. What must the answer have? → Correct rotation for its row AND correct color for its column
26. If a circle is to an oval as a square is to ___: → Rectangle
27. What is the term for a figure that looks the same on both sides of a dividing line? → Symmetric
28. Which property do a square AND a rhombus BOTH share? → Four equal sides
29. If a large white circle is top-left, a small white circle is top-right, and a large black circle is bottom-left, what goes in the bottom-right? → Small black circle
30. What comes next? 20, 17, 13, 8, 2, __ → -5