Verbal analogy

Two words share a relationship; pick the pair with the same relationship in the same order. The whole secret is turning the link into a short sentence.

The 4-step method

Say the link as a specific sentence: “a cub is a young lion”.
Put each choice into the same sentence: “a foal is a young horse” ✓, “a cat is a young tiger” ✗
If two fit, tighten the sentence (add kind, size or function).
Check the order: the first word in the question matches the first word in the choice.

The relations to know by heart: part–whole (finger: hand), tool–use (scissors: cut), job–place (doctor: hospital), opposites (hot: cold), synonyms (brave: bold), cause–effect (rain: flood), small–big of a kind (hill: mountain), animal–sound (lion: roar), animal–young (cat: kitten).
Check the order: the relation must run the same way; “doctor: hospital” is not “school: teacher”.

Situations that need care

Look-alike relationships

Tell apart: tool → function (saw: sawing), tool → material (saw: wood), worker → tool (carpenter: saw).

Part vs kind

“A branch is part of a tree” differs from “an eagle is a kind of bird”. Ask: is the first a piece of the second, or a member of its group?

Synonyms vs degree

Synonyms mean the same thing (brave: courageous); a degree pair is the same idea at a different strength (warm: hot).

The reversed order trap

The most dangerous trap: a choice with the right link reversed. “cub: lion” matches “foal: horse”, not “horse: foal”.

Cause vs sequence

“Rain leads to a flood” is cause and effect. “Dawn comes before sunrise” is order, not cause.

Ask one question: “what is the first word to the second?” and answer in a sentence. That sentence unlocks every choice.
Ignore the topic: animals in the question don’t make the animal choice right; only the relationship counts.

How the test asks it

Pick the matching pair

This is how the test asks every analogy: a given pair, then four pairs. Make a sentence for the given pair, then try it on every choice in the same order.

Reversed order: “book: page” has the right link in the wrong direction.
A shared word: a choice repeats a word from the question with a different link, like “saw: wood” for “carpenter: saw”.
Right kind, wrong link: “scissors: writing” looks like the relationship, but scissors do not write.
A look-alike relationship: part-of-whole, member-of-category and container-and-contents look similar; an exact sentence tells them apart.