Word analogies
A is to B as C is to ___ — match the relationship, not the topic.
The shape of an analogy
An analogy gives a pair of words with a relationship, then asks for another pair with the same relationship:
Puppy is to dog as kitten is to ___
The relationship is young animal → adult animal, so the answer is "cat".
Naming the relationship is the whole technique
Say the relationship out loud as a sentence before looking at the options. "A puppy is a young dog." Then test each option in the same sentence: "A kitten is a young cat." Fits. Done.
Relationships worth recognising:
- Part to whole — petal is to flower
- Tool to user — brush is to painter
- Cause to effect — rain is to flood
- Degree — warm is to hot
- Category — sparrow is to bird
How to attack this question type
- 1
Build the sentence first, then test options against it. Do not read the options until you have named the relationship — they suggest plausible wrong ones.
- 2
Keep the ORDER the same. If the first pair goes small → large, your answer must too. Reversed order is a standard distractor.
- 3
If two options both fit, your sentence is too vague. Make it more specific and re-test.
- 4
The words need not relate to the first pair — only the *relationship* has to match.
Practice · untimed
Petal is to flower as feather is to ___