Analogy Reasoning Tricks: Word, Number and Letter Analogies

An analogy question gives one pair with a hidden relationship and asks you to complete a second pair with the same relationship. The fastest method is to put the first relationship into a short sentence before looking at the options: "a pen is the tool a writer uses", or "the second number is the cube of the first". Then test that sentence on the second pair. If it fits only one option, you are done. If it fits several, make the sentence more precise.

The questions come in three families: word analogies, number analogies and letter analogies. Each has a small set of relationships that appears again and again, so learning them turns most questions into recognition rather than search.

These are the relationships seen most often in SSC and Railway papers. Keep the direction in mind: tool to worker is not the same as worker to tool.

When an option seems loosely related, check whether it fits the exact relationship. For "Pen : Writer :: Scalpel : ?", a hospital is related to a scalpel, but the relationship is tool to worker, and only "surgeon" is the worker who uses a scalpel.

Number pairs are almost always linked by a power or a small change to a power. Check these in order: square, cube, square plus or minus one, cube plus or minus one, then simple multiplication.

Sometimes two rules fit the first pair, and the options decide which one the question setter meant.

The multiply-by-4 reading gives 25 × 4 = 100, which is why both numbers often appear as options together.

Letter analogies use the same tools as coding-decoding with letter shifts: letter positions (A = 1 to Z = 26), forward or backward shifts, opposite letters and words spelt backwards. Write the positions above the letters before looking for a pattern.

Opposite letters are pairs whose positions add to 27: A and Z, B and Y, C and X, and so on. The quick memory aid is that M and N sit in the middle as a pair.

1. Say the relationship of the first pair in one short sentence, including its direction.
2. For numbers, test squares and cubes first, then plus or minus one.
3. For letters, write the positions and check shifts and opposite pairs.
4. Apply the rule to the second pair and look for the result among the options.
5. If more than one option fits, sharpen the sentence until only one does.

• ✘ Choosing a word that is related but in a different way, such as a place instead of a worker.
• ✘ Reversing the direction of the relationship on the second side.
• ✘ Stopping at the cube when the rule is the cube plus one.
• ✘ Counting letter positions from memory instead of writing them down.

Similar letter work appears in coding-decoding, and the full list of reasoning topics is in the study hub.

What if two different rules fit the given pair?

Apply both rules to the second term and compare the results with the options. Usually only one result appears among the options. If both appear, prefer the simpler, more common rule, such as a square or cube, over an unusual combination of operations.

Does the order of the words in a word analogy matter?

Yes. Pen : Writer is tool to worker, so the answer must also be tool to worker, not worker to tool. Reversing the order on one side is a common way options are made to look correct when they are not.

All problems and solutions on this page are original. No outside facts are relied on; every numeric answer is recomputed by software before publishing.

• Letter Series and Alphanumeric Series
• Alphabet Positions and the EJOTY Trick