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This MBE word matrix will report how often a word or word phrase appears in the question part (root/stem portion), answer part (distractors and right answer), and right answer part of every MBE question released by NCBE. Currently, there are 1,350 released MBE questions - the analysis results are derived from the Sample MBE February 1991 (200 questions); Sample MBE II July 1991 (200 questions); MBE Questions 1992 (581 questions of which 531 are unique); Sample MBE III July 1998 (200 questions); MBE OPE 1 2006 (100 questions); MBE OPE 2 2008 (100 questions); and the MBE 2009 Information Booklet (18 questions plus a question released by NCBE in the November 2007 issue of The Bar Examiner). To generate an analysis report, enter a word or phrase in the below search box and then press ENTER on your keyboard or click on the Update Button. The word search is not case-sensitive. The WORD ONLY MATRIX shows the word count for the entered word only. For example, if you enter the word 'defend', only instances of that specific word will appear. The WORD PORTION MATRIX counts every instance of the text - therefore, not only is the word 'defend' counted, but any word that consists of the word 'defend' such as 'defendant' or 'defendant's'.

The matrices will report word counts for the word or word phrase, the probability the word or word phrase is in the right answer choice; the percentage of appearance of the word or word phrase in all the released questions; and the number of questions the word or word phrase is estimated to appear in on an actual MBE exam. Although this analysis is based on a sample that consists of almost 7 full MBE exams, keep in mind the new format changes to the MBE will affect the future frequency of certain words. I also must add the disclaimer that although this is based on a comprehensive analysis of all the available MBE questions, no representation is made as to the precise accuracy of the word counts or analysis.

The matrices can be used to test how often a word appears in the question part of the MBE questions (i.e. 'federal statute', 'contract', etc.). You can use the matrices to see how often a legal concept is tested on the MBE by examining how often it appears in the answer choices (i.e. 'manslaughter', 'slander', etc.). The matrices are also useful if you are curious as to how often extreme terms such as "none," "never", "always," "every," or "only if" appear in MBE answer choices along with how often they appear as the correct answer. Finally, you can also use the matrices to see how often a word is the correct answer versus how often the antonym of the word is the correct answer (i.e. 'guilty' versus 'not guilty').

To fix an inherent problem with the search, I hyphenated all word phrases that begin with the word 'not'. Accordingly, use these hyphenated keywords when searching the following words: not-enforceable; not-privileged; not-guilty; not-liable; not-objectional; not-prevail; not-recover; not-relieve; not-succeed; not-sufficient; not-hearsay; not-trespass; not-admissible; and not-applicable. For example, hyphenating the word 'not guilty' enables an examinee to see how often a correct answer is 'guilty' versus how often the correct answer is 'not-guilty' Without the hyphenation, searches based on 'guilty' would include the answers containing the word phrase 'not guilty'.

Note: This version of the MBE Word Matrix only analyzes the 2009 MBE Information Booklet which consists of 18 questions along with a question released by NCBE in the November 2007 issue of The Bar Examiner. Some functionality, such as the MBE question estimate, will not be accurate due to the small sample of questions. The MBE Word Matrix calculator on the subscription site analyzes all 1,350 questions.