Study guide
5.1 Pattern & Figure Series
Pakistan Air Force GD Pilot Initial Test Exam
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1 Chapter 1: Introduction & Exam Overview
1.1 Current Exam Facts 1.2 Eligibility & Registration 1.3 Test Format & Selection Pipeline
2 Verbal Intelligence: Word Relationships
2.1 Analogies 2.2 Synonyms & Antonyms 2.3 Vocabulary in Context 2.4 Sentence Completion
3 Verbal Intelligence: Series & Coding
3.1 Number Series 3.2 Letter & Alpha-Numeric Series 3.3 Coding-Decoding
4 Verbal Intelligence: Quantitative Logic
4.1 Direction Sense 4.2 Percentages 4.3 Age & Relationship Problems 4.4 Time, Speed & Distance
5 Non-Verbal Intelligence: Patterns
5.1 Pattern & Figure Series 5.2 Odd-One-Out 5.3 Classification
6 Non-Verbal Intelligence: Spatial Reasoning
6.1 Rotation 6.2 Mirror Images 6.3 Matrix Reasoning 6.4 Spatial Reasoning
7 English: Grammar Foundations
7.1 Grammar Essentials 7.2 Tenses 7.3 Prepositions
8 English: Voice, Reported Speech, Correction & Vocabulary
8.1 Active & Passive Voice 8.2 Sentence Correction 8.3 Spelling 8.4 Vocabulary & Comprehension 8.5 Direct & Indirect Speech
9 Physics: Mechanics & Fluids
9.1 Mechanics 9.2 Fluid Dynamics & Bernoulli
10 Physics: Waves, Optics & Modern
10.1 Waves & Sound 10.2 Optics & Light 10.3 Modern Physics
11 Physics: Electromagnetism & Thermodynamics
11.1 Electromagnetism 11.2 Thermodynamics
12 Mathematics: Algebra, Calculus & Logs
12.1 Algebra 12.2 Calculus Basics 12.3 Logarithms
13 Mathematics: Geometry, Trig, Matrices & Vectors
13.1 Geometry 13.2 Trigonometry 13.3 Matrices & Vectors
14 Mathematics: Applied Reasoning
14.1 Percentages & Ratio 14.2 Word Problems
15 General Knowledge: PAF & Aviation
15.1 PAF Organisation 15.2 PAF History 15.3 Aviation Fundamentals
16 General Knowledge: Pakistan & General Science
16.1 Pakistan Geography 16.2 Armed Forces Selection & Basic Science
17 Test-Day Strategy & Selection Pipeline
17.1 Test-Day Strategy 17.2 Later Selection Stages
5.1 Pattern & Figure Series
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
A figure series changes by ONE primary rule at a time — isolate the feature that changes by a constant step before predicting the next figure.
Trackable features: side count, element count, rotation angle, shading cycle, and position shift; enumerate all five, then pick the one with a clean constant progression.
Multiple features changing simultaneously is the standard trap — solve each feature independently, then combine only if both rules are consistent.
Decoy distractors match exactly one feature but violate another; always verify the predicted figure satisfies EVERY changing feature, not just the obvious one.
Last updated: August 2026
5.1 Pattern & Figure Series
Quick Answer: In a figure series, exactly one feature changes by a constant rule each step — count of sides, count of elements, rotation angle, shading cycle, or position shift. Enumerate every feature, find the one with a clean constant step, and project that step forward one stage. Most wrong answers match only one feature and break another.
Non-verbal reasoning is useful preparation for the advertised intelligence screening, but PAF does not publish a figure-series frequency, length, response format, or option count. This chapter uses described figure sequences as practice examples. Because this is a text guide, every figure is described in words — train yourself to picture the described shape, then apply the method.
The Feature Checklist
Before looking at the answer options, run every figure in the series through the same five-feature checklist. The rule that changes by a constant step is almost always one of these:
- # Feature What you track Typical step
- 1 Side count Number of sides on the main polygon +1 side per step (triangle → square → pentagon)
- 2 Element count Number of small shapes inside or around the figure +1 element per step, or doubling
- 3 Rotation Angle the whole figure or an arrow inside it turns 45°, 90°, or 120° per step
- 4 Shading Which region is filled, or fill style (solid → striped → empty) Cycles through a fixed order
5 Position shift Where a dot or marker sits (top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left) Clockwise corner move per step
The method is deliberately exhaustive on purpose: checking all five features takes only a few seconds and protects you from the decoy trap described below.
Worked Example 1 — Rotation Rule
Series described in words: A triangle with a small dot at its top vertex appears in figure 1. In figure 2 the same triangle has rotated a quarter-turn clockwise and the dot is now at the right vertex. In figure 3 the triangle has rotated another quarter-turn clockwise and the dot is at the bottom vertex. What comes next?
Step 1 — Enumerate features. Side count: three in every figure (no change). Element count: one dot in every figure (no change). Shading: no fill in any figure (no change). Position shift: the dot moves from top → right → bottom, which is a clockwise 90° rotation per step. Rotation: the whole triangle rotates 90° clockwise per step.
Step 2 — Identify the changing feature. Two features move together here — the triangle's rotation and the dot's position — but they are the SAME rule viewed two ways: a 90° clockwise rotation of the entire figure carries the dot with it.
Step 3 — Project one step. Another 90° clockwise rotation puts the dot at the left vertex. The correct option is the triangle with the dot on the left vertex.
Worked Example 2 — Side-Count Rule
Series described in words: Figure 1 is a triangle (3 sides). Figure 2 is a square (4 sides). Figure 3 is a pentagon (5 sides). What comes next?
Side count increases by exactly one each step: 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 . The next figure is a hexagon. Element count, rotation, shading, and position are all constant (no fill, no rotation, no extra elements), so the side-count rule is the only one operating.
Worked Example 3 — Combined Rotation and Shading
Series described in words: Figure 1 is an arrow pointing up, fully shaded. Figure 2 is the same arrow pointing right, half-shaded (striped). Figure 3 is the arrow pointing down, unshaded (outline only).
Two features change at once: rotation 90° clockwise per step (up → right → down → left), and shading cycles solid → striped → empty → solid. The next figure must satisfy BOTH: arrow pointing left AND solid-shaded. A decoy option showing a left-pointing striped arrow matches the rotation rule but breaks the shading cycle — reject it.
The Decoy Trap
PAF distractors are engineered to match exactly one feature and violate another. If you spot the rotation rule first and stop checking, you will pick the rotation-matching distractor even when its shading or element count is wrong. The defense is mechanical: after predicting the next figure, confirm it satisfies EVERY feature in your checklist, not only the one that first caught your eye.
Worked Example 4 — Position Shift
Series described in words: A square has a dot in its top-left corner in figure 1, top-right in figure 2, bottom-right in figure 3. What comes next?
The dot moves one corner clockwise per step. The next position is the bottom-left corner. The correct option is the square with a dot in the bottom-left corner. A common distractor places the dot in the top-left again (the figure-1 position) — that breaks the clockwise rule, so reject it.
A Mermaid View of the Method
The flow below captures the decision process for any series item. Run it on every question and you will rarely fall for a decoy.