Common Types of Analogies
To be successful at solving analogies, you need to be able to form a sentence defining the
relationship between the key words of this question. The sentence you form should be
tightly focused on the key relationship between the words. To help you formulate these
sentences, this handout gives you the main types of relationships in formulating analogy
problems. To better help you remember these types we have grouped the 21 types into
four general categories.
Group A: Definitions
These types of analogies play off of the grammatical relationship between the
words. As such, they tend to be highly specific regarding meaning. In other words,
these types of analogies usually rely on very strict meanings of the words involved.
Definition Coward : Brave
A coward is by definition not brave
Antonyms Miser : Spendthrift
A miser is the opposite of a spendthrift
Synonyms Interloper : Intruder
An interloper is an intruder
Level of Intensity Mad : Furious
Furious is more extreme than mad
Group B: Traits and Subsets
These kind of analogies concern what you might call the adjective-subset type
of analogies. In these types of analogies, one word will generally be a noun and the other
word
will be either an adjective describing a trait of the noun OR another noun that
describes a subset of the first noun.
Part to Whole Star : Galaxy
Many stars make a galaxy
Defining Characteristic Slippery : Ice
Ice is slippery
Class and Member Eucalyptus : Tree
A Eucalyptus is a type of tree
Manner Boisterous : Speak
Boisterous is to speak loudly
Sex Ewe : Sheep
A ewe is a female sheep
Age Puppy : Dog
A puppy is a young dog
Group C: Worker and Work
To be successful at solving analogies, you need to be able to form a sentence defining the
relationship between the key words of this question. The sentence you form should be
tightly focused on the key relationship between the words. To help you formulate these
sentences, this handout gives you the main types of relationships in formulating analogy
problems. To better help you remember these types we have grouped the 21 types into
four general categories.
Group A: Definitions
These types of analogies play off of the grammatical relationship between the
words. As such, they tend to be highly specific regarding meaning. In other words,
these types of analogies usually rely on very strict meanings of the words involved.
Definition Coward : Brave
A coward is by definition not brave
Antonyms Miser : Spendthrift
A miser is the opposite of a spendthrift
Synonyms Interloper : Intruder
An interloper is an intruder
Level of Intensity Mad : Furious
Furious is more extreme than mad
Group B: Traits and Subsets
These kind of analogies concern what you might call the adjective-subset type
of analogies. In these types of analogies, one word will generally be a noun and the other
word
will be either an adjective describing a trait of the noun OR another noun that
describes a subset of the first noun.
Part to Whole Star : Galaxy
Many stars make a galaxy
Defining Characteristic Slippery : Ice
Ice is slippery
Class and Member Eucalyptus : Tree
A Eucalyptus is a type of tree
Manner Boisterous : Speak
Boisterous is to speak loudly
Sex Ewe : Sheep
A ewe is a female sheep
Age Puppy : Dog
A puppy is a young dog
Group C: Worker and Work
