Word analogy: name the relation and the answer follows
Analogy items are answered before you look at the options, or they are answered by feel - and the options are built to defeat feel. The wrong pair is almost never unrelated to the right one; it is related in a way that is nearly the same, which is precisely what makes it attractive.
Say the relation out loud as a full sentence before reading the options. A thermometer measures temperature. Then test each option against that exact sentence. A pair that needs the sentence reworded is not the answer.
Why saying it as a sentence works
“Thermometer and temperature” is a topic. “A thermometer measures temperature” is a relation, and a relation can be tested. The difference between those two is the whole of this format: a topic lets three options in, a sentence lets one.
The same pair, held two ways. The sentence is what does the eliminating.
The relations worth recognising
Nearly every analogy on this paper is one of these. Naming which one you are looking at is usually enough to finish the item.
The recurring relations
Relation
Said as a sentence
Example
Synonym
X means roughly the same as Y
meticulous : thorough
Antonym
X is the opposite of Y
candid : evasive
Degree
X is a milder form of Y
warm : scalding
Instrument to function
X is used to do Y
sundial : hour
Producer to product
X produces Y
dynamo : electricity
Part to whole
X is a part of Y
petal : flower
Category to member
Y is a kind of X
fruit : mango
Worker to tool
X works with Y
surveyor : theodolite
Synonym and degree: the pair most often confused
These two look alike and are not. A synonym pair holds two words of about the same strength; a degree pair holds a mild word and an extreme one. Deciding which you have is what stops you picking a word that means the right thing at the wrong intensity.
Synonym · same meaning, same strength
meticulous : thorough :: jovial : ?
Acheerful
Bbarren
Cword
Ddistinguished
Name the relationship before looking at the options: in meticulous : thorough, the second word means nearly the same as the first. Applying the same relationship to jovial gives cheerful. State the relationship in a short sentence first. An option that is merely on the same topic will not survive that test.
BThis word expresses a different relationship, where the second word means the opposite of the first.
CThis word expresses a different relationship, where the first is a part of the second.
DThis word belongs to the right kind of relationship, but not to the pair in the question.
Degree · mild to extreme, and the answer must match the jump
swift : blistering :: savoury : ?
Aship
Bdelectable
Clever
Dinconsolable
Name the relationship before looking at the options: in swift : blistering, the second is a far more extreme form of the first. Applying the same relationship to savoury gives delectable. State the relationship in a short sentence first. An option that is merely on the same topic will not survive that test.
AThis word expresses a different relationship, where the first is a part of the second.
CThis word expresses a different relationship, where the second is a part of the first.
DThis word belongs to the right kind of relationship, but not to the pair in the question.
In the second one the first pair moves from ordinary to extreme. The answer has to make the same jump - a merely pleasant word would be the right relation at the wrong strength, which is the distractor this format is built around.
Direction is half the answer
If the first pair runs producer to product, the answer must run producer to product and not the reverse. The reversed pair is a standing option on this format because it is the error people make when they have named the relation correctly and then stopped concentrating.
Producer to product · keep the direction
dynamo : electricity :: pump : ?
Apanel
Blateness
Cclarity
Dflow
Name the relationship before looking at the options: in dynamo : electricity, the second is what the first measures or produces. Applying the same relationship to pump gives flow. State the relationship in a short sentence first. An option that is merely on the same topic will not survive that test.
AThis word expresses a different relationship, where the second is a part of the first.
BThis word expresses a different relationship, where the first brings about the second.
CThis word belongs to the right kind of relationship, but not to the pair in the question.
Instrument to function · same shape, different relation
dynamo : electricity :: sundial : ?
Ahour
Bcard
Ctempo
Dstubborn
Name the relationship before looking at the options: in dynamo : electricity, the second is what the first measures or produces. Applying the same relationship to sundial gives hour. State the relationship in a short sentence first. An option that is merely on the same topic will not survive that test.
BThis word expresses a different relationship, where the second is a part of the first.
CThis word belongs to the right kind of relationship, but not to the pair in the question.
DThis word expresses a different relationship, where the second word means nearly the same as the first.
When two options both fit
That is not a badly written item. It means the sentence you named was too loose, and the fix is to tighten it until only one survives.
“A dynamo is related to electricity” admits almost anything. “A dynamo produces electricity” admits far less. “A dynamo is a machine that produces electricity” usually admits one. Tighten in that direction - adding the verb first, then the constraint - rather than guessing between two options that both survived a vague sentence.
Double analogies are the same question
Some items remove both terms and ask you to supply the pair. It looks like a harder format and it is the same one: read the two words that are there, name the relation between them, and the missing pair has to stand in it.
Double analogy · read what is given first
______ is to electricity as pump is to ______.
Asubsidy - leakage
Bdynamo - flow
Celectricity - pump
Dflow - dynamo
Two words are printed in different positions, so name the relation from what you can see: the second is what the first measures or produces. Working backwards from electricity gives dynamo; working forwards from pump gives flow. Order matters here in a way it does not with one blank: the same two words in the other blanks is always on offer.
ABoth words come from a relation where the first brings about the second, which is not the relation printed.
CThis repeats the two words already printed rather than supplying the missing ones.
DThis puts the right two words in the wrong blanks, which reverses the relation at both ends.
Notice the shape of the wrong options here. One is the correct pair reversed; one uses the two given words themselves. Both are what you produce by pattern-matching the layout instead of naming the relation.
What not to do
Do not pick by topic. If the stem is about medicine, an option containing a medical word will feel right and is usually the trap. Topic is not a relation.
Do not translate the words first. The relation survives translation; the connotation often does not, and analogy items turn on connotation more than on definition.
Do not spend a third minute. Analogy items are fast or they are guesses, and the paper is roughly a minute and seven seconds an item overall. If the sentence has not resolved it in two passes, mark it, choose the closest, and move.
Practising it
The relation list above becomes automatic with exposure and not before. Word analogy practice draws fresh pairs in every relation above, with the reasoning under each one, for as long as you keep going.
The rest of the analytical section works the same way - logic and assumptions rewards the same habit of naming the structure before reading the options, and the Professional paper walkthrough sets out where analytical ability sits on the paper.