Cannot Say: the verdict everyone gets wrong

“Cannot Say” means the passage does not contain enough information to judge the statement true or false — even if you happen to know the answer from the real world. It is not a trick option, and it is not a last resort. It is the correct answer whenever the statement steps outside what the passage actually asserts.

If you’ve ever left a verbal reasoning test convinced a question was wrong, the odds are it was a Cannot Say call. This page gives you the rule, a reliable method, and the five traps that account for most mistakes.

The rule, precisely

In a True/False/Cannot Say question you are judging one thing only: the relationship between the statement and the passage.

True — the passage asserts the statement, directly or by clear logical consequence.
False — the passage asserts the opposite, directly or by clear logical consequence.
Cannot Say — the passage does neither. The statement may well be true in the real world; that is irrelevant.

The test is not “is this statement true?” It is “does this passage settle it?”

The evidence-contrast method

For every statement, ask three questions in order:

Find the candidate evidence.Which sentence (or sentences) in the passage is even about this statement? If there is none, you’re done: Cannot Say.
Ask: would this sentence force True?For the statement to be True, the passage must assert it — same subject, same scope, same strength. “Some employees” doesn’t force “most employees”. “Sales rose” doesn’t force “profits rose”.
Ask: would this sentence force False?For False, the passage must contradict the statement — not merely fail to support it. “The scheme is likely to expand” does not contradict “the scheme will close” — it just makes it unsupported.

If the evidence forces neither verdict, the answer is Cannot Say — however confident your general knowledge makes you feel.

The mental switch that fixes most errors:stop asking “is this true?” and start asking “what would the passage need to say for this to be True? For it to be False? Does it say either?” That contrast — what the passage would need to say versus what it does say — is the whole skill.

A worked example

Passage:“The company’s graduate intake grew for the third consecutive year in 2025. Managers attribute the growth to a new partnership with three universities, and expect the programme to expand further next year.”
Statement:“The company’s graduate intake will grow in 2026.”

Step 1 — candidate evidence:the final sentence: managers “expect the programme to expand further next year.”

Why not True

What the passage would need to state — and doesn’t.

An expectation is not an assertion of fact. For True, the passage would need something like “intake will grow next year” stated as fact — a plan, a guarantee, a completed event. An expectation can fail.

Why not False

The statement isn’t contradicted, only unsupported.

Nothing contradicts future growth — quite the opposite.

Verdict: Cannot Say. The passage makes 2026 growth likely, and likely is exactly what Cannot Say is for. This is the single most common way tests separate careful readers from confident ones: “expected”, “likely”, “planned” and “hoped” never make a future claim True.

The five traps

Outside knowledge. The statement is true in the real world, so you mark True. The passage never said it. Fix:the passage is the entire universe; if you’re using a fact you brought with you, stop.
The quantifier shift.The passage says “some”; the statement says “most” (or “all”, or “only”). These are different claims. Fix: underline quantity words in both passage and statement and compare them literally.
The near-synonym that isn’t.The statement swaps a passage word for one that feels equivalent but covers different ground — “beginners” for “newcomers”, “profits” for “revenue”, “banned” for “discouraged”. Fix: ask whether the two words are true of exactly the same set of things. If not, the swap changes the claim.
Polarity and scope slips.A negation, an exception (“unless”, “except”), or a condition (“if approved”) quietly changes what’s asserted — and the statement drops it. Fix: re-read the candidate evidence for hedges and conditions before deciding.
Confusing “unsupported” with “False”. The passage fails to support the statement, so you mark False. But False requires contradiction. Fix: run step 3 explicitly — can you point to the sentence that says the opposite? No sentence, no False.

Why practice sites argue about Cannot Say — and how we don’t

Cannot Say lives on a boundary, and carelessly written questions sit ON the boundary — that’s why so many practice answers get disputed, and why the verdict has its reputation. Every True/False/Cannot Say question on this site is built from a structured record of what its passage does and doesn’t assert, then independently verified: a blind solver must reach the same verdict, and an adversarial check must fail to defend any other verdict. Questions where two readings survive are withheld, not published. How every question is verified →

FAQ

Does “Cannot Say” mean the statement is false?

No. It means the passage doesn’t settle the statement either way. The statement might be perfectly true in reality — the test is about the passage, not reality.

How often is Cannot Say the right answer?

Roughly as often as True or False — good tests balance their answer keys. If you’ve barely used it, you’re probably importing outside knowledge; if you’re using it constantly, you may be demanding mathematical proof where the passage gives a clear assertion.

Is “Cannot Say” the same as Watson-Glaser’s “Insufficient Data”?

They’re cousins, not twins. Watson-Glaser-style Inference uses a five-point scale where “Insufficient Data” sits between “Probably True” and “Probably False” — a graded judgement. Cannot Say is binary-adjacent: the passage settles it or it doesn’t. Watson-Glaser-style Inference guide →

What if two answers both seem defensible?

On a well-built question, they aren’t — one verdict survives scrutiny and the others don’t, and the evidence-contrast method will find it. If you ever believe a question of ours genuinely supports two verdicts, use the dispute button on that question; a person reviews every dispute.

Put the method to work.

Our True/False/Cannot Say drill is completely free — every answer explained with the deciding sentence highlighted.

Start the free Cannot Say practice

Not sure this is your weak area? Take the 12-question diagnostic — it will tell you.