Basics of Math and Vocabulary & their Importance in CAT exam

Common Admission Test (CAT)

Last Date to Apply
13th September, 2025

Ridhima Jindal
Ridhima Jindal

Table of Content

To prepare for the CAT exam, students must clear their basic understanding of Mathematics and Vocabulary. Learning basics will lead students to be more confident and they can enhance their preparation strategies accordingly to obtain higher marks. The majority of students get caught up in trying mock tests and approaches that are advanced without first creating a good foundation in the basics. It should be kept in mind that CAT Quant questions have a tendency to require the use of basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and number theory in complex ways.

On the other hand, the Verbal Ability section of CAT 2025 not only tests your vocabulary but vocabulary depth, comprehension skills, and sense of context as well. A wide vocabulary helps in accelerating speed and accuracy while attempting reading comprehensions, jumbles of paragraphs, and summarizations.

By re-strengthening your fundamental maths and vocabulary at the very beginning of your CAT exam study routine, you not only improve your accuracy but your confidence in general for the three sections of the CAT exam. This article explains the significance of re-learning basic concepts, mentioning that it is crucial for achieving a percentile rank of over 99 in the CAT.

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CAT 2025 Exam Overview

Refer to the following table to get an overview of the CAT examination.

Section

Purpose

QA

Tests numerical ability and mathematical aptitude

VARC

Evaluates English language skills and reading comprehension ability

DILR

Assesses analytical and logical reasoning through data interpretation

Total

All three sections aim to evaluate aptitude essential for MBA programs

How to Clear Basic Concepts of Math & Vocabulary?

Refer to the following to know how students can strengthen their basic knowledge of Maths and Vocabulary for CAT exam preparation.

How to Clear Basic Concepts of Math (Quantitative Aptitude):

  • Candidates are advised to start their preparation with NCERT books and focus on highest weightage topics such as Arithmetic, Algebra, Number System, etc.
  • Students must prepare a sheet or a separate notebook for all the crucial formulas which will help them revise all important formulas at once in future.
  • Students are advised not to mug up the theories or formulas and focus on deeply understanding the concepts.
  • Candidates can divide the preparation plan into basic and advanced to keep a concise track of their preparation and improve simultaneously.
  • Mental maths will also help students in improving their calculation skills. Practicing mental maths will definitely increase students' chances of scoring higher.
  • Students can refer to the online platform like youtube, e-books, online study material PDFs to prepare in depth. .
  • Candidates must not forget to maintain the consistency of the preparation as this will improve their overall performance by each day.

How to Clear Basic Concepts of Vocabulary (Verbal Ability):

  • Students must learn new vocabulary and use them in a sentence to memorise them completely.
  • Reading newspapers or magazines on a daily basis will definitely improve a student's vocabulary.
  • To learn with ease and comfort, candidates can use their mobile phone to play vocabulary games and learn the same regularly.
  • To memorize the difficult vocabulary, students are advised to write those down and read it regularly until they have it mugged up.
  • Practice reading passages regularly to improve reading skills. Find difficult vocabularies from the passage and translate them to understand the concept deeply.
  • Students must revise difficult words regularly as there are chances that they may forget it. Make notes to remember these all.
  • Learn about the origin of words and vocabulary to decode the meaning of a few words yourself.

Why is Learning Maths and Vocabulary Basics Important for CAT 2025?

I. Learning basics will help students build a strong foundation of the syllabus understanding.

II. This will also help candidates enhance their overall speed and accuracy in the exam.

III. Learning basics will prepare candidates to move to tougher concepts and clear them easily.

IV. By learning the basics of Maths and Vocab for CAT exam preparation, students will be able to decode the variations of the same question.

V. This will help students be confident in their preparation and save their time in the exam.

VI. When students revise the complete syllabus, they'll find it easier to get all the concepts if their basic understanding is strong.

VII. Basic knowledge of any section will help students think on their own and it'll also promote logical thinking and analytical skills.

VIII. It will also help aspirants improve their preparation level for all three sections including the QA, DILR and VARC as well.

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