Which term describes pairs of words that exhibit reversal of a relationship, as in John sells to Fred and Fred buys from John?

• A. Contextual Clues
• B. Converseness
• C. Creative Construction Process
• D. Discrete Point Test

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is how certain verb pairs express opposite directions in the same transaction. When John sells to Fred, the seller’s action and the buyer’s action are two sides of the same event. The pair of verbs that describe this reciprocal relationship—where one verb’s meaning becomes the inverse of the other in terms of who is giving and who is receiving—is called converseness. This captures why Fred buying from John is the converse of John selling to Fred: the roles of seller and buyer swap, and the action direction reverses accordingly. The other terms don’t describe this reciprocal verb relationship or the way the two actions reflect opposite perspectives in a transaction.