Analogy Relationships

Analogies are a staple of standardized tests. The PSAT, ACT, GRE, TOEFL exam, SSAT, and FCAT, to name
a few, contain significant analogy sections on the tests. The analogy questions measure reasoning
ability, vocabulary skills, and familiarity with the analogy format.

It has been said, “Building vocabulary is far more than memorizing words. Ideally, children should be
brought up in a rich language environment which is language- and word- conscious. Children take up
attitudes and learn from their parents so building vocabulary starts as a family affair. Children are
greatly influenced generally by the amount of conversation, by the nature of the conversation (and the
vocabulary used), and the “word awareness” of the family.There are a great number of families where
vocabulary word games are played with the children as an ongoing game to build vocabulary and “word
awareness” skills including phonemic awareness. These games can build vocabulary and phonemic
awareness.”

A unique way to build analogy vocabulary skills is through online vocabulary software. Ultimate
Vocabulary provides a focused method for building vocabulary skills for learning analogy relationships.

Keep reading to better understand the basics of how analogy questions are structured.

An analogy question asks students to select the answer that best mirrors the relationship between the
two words in the question. As a simple example, the question might start with: “Hot is to cold.” The
reader should note that hot is the exact opposite of cold and look for a pair of words in the answer
choices where the words are also opposites. Here is a complete analogy example question:

Hot is to cold as:

Fat is to obese

Inside is to outside

Parent is to mother

Tepid is to warming
The reader should see that inside is to outside is the only pair of opposites and select it as the correct
response.

Analogies are revealing test questions causing the reader to hypothesize the relationship between the
example words and then finding the best match for that analogy. Common types of analogies used on
standardized tests with examples:

Opposites or antonyms

Synonyms or words with identical or similar meetings

Near synonyms with variations by degree: ice cube is to iceberg as rain is to downpour

Action is to result: punch is to cry as tickle is to laugh

Part to whole: nose is to face as nail is finger

Uses: fork is to eat as telephone is to talk

Places: earth is to solar system as California is to the USA

Users: resident is to apartment as a golfer is to clubs

Measurement: ruler is to distance as barometer is to pressure

Product to Producer: milk is to cow as wool is to sheep

Degree of intensity: drizzle is to deluge as sniffles is to pneumonia

Analogy questions are not riddles or puzzles in the sense that the “field of play” is the meaning of words.
Some students think to look outside the meaning of words. As far as I know, none of the standardized
tests will base analogies on alliteration.

Desk is to door as

wall is to wind

window is to chair

book is to read
dwarf is to decade.

A student, unfamiliar with these types of questions, might reason like this: “Desk and door both start
with the letter D and have four letters. So, wind and wall are four lettered words that start with the
same letter. I’ll pick it.” Directions, on the test, should state: “Find the answer choice that best matches
relationship between the meanings of the two primary words.”

The key to students successfully completing an analogy is for them to first realize they need to link their
familiar experiences with these new ideas that are presented to them. Once they have used the already
learned concept, they can apply this same concept to the other word pairs. This helps them develop
higher level thinking processes.

When students understand that analogies are all based upon relationships, they can work on
overcoming analogy apprehension and even develop their own analogies.

Students also need to build their vocabulary base to have a better understanding words introduced in
analogous relationships.