HSSC CET · Bite-size lessons

Analogy

About 6 min · Reasoning Ability · English

Time worked out from the lesson's 413 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.

Analogy questions test your ability to identify relationships between pairs of items and apply the same relationship to find a matching pair. The word "analogy" comes from Greek, meaning "proportion" — you're essentially finding proportional relationships between concepts.

Key ideas

• The Core Structure: Every analogy follows the pattern A : B :: C : D, read as "A is to B as C is to D." Your job is to find the relationship between A and B, then identify which option creates the same relationship with C.
• Direction Matters: The relationship flows in a specific direction. "Doctor : Hospital" means "doctor works in hospital" — reversing to "Hospital : Doctor" changes the meaning entirely.
• First Pair is the Key: Always analyze the given pair completely before looking at options. Identify the precise relationship, not a vague connection.
• Multiple Relationships Possible: Two words can have several relationships. "Pen : Write" could be tool-action, but also "Pen : Ink" is container-content. The question stem defines which relationship applies.
• Number Analogies Follow Mathematical Rules: Look for operations like squares, cubes, addition, multiplication, or digit manipulation applied consistently across pairs.

Watch out for

• Reversing the relationship direction: Students see "Mango : Fruit" and think "type of" but then incorrectly match "Animal : Dog" (which is class-to-member, not member-to-class). Fix: Always check if the direction matches — Mango is a type of Fruit, so you need X is a type of Y.
• Choosing superficially related words: For "Pen : Paper," students might choose "Book : Library" because both involve reading. But Pen is used ON Paper, while Book is stored IN Library — different relationships. Fix: Define the precise relationship verb (used on, stored in, made of).
• Ignoring mathematical precision in number analogies: Seeing 4 : 16 and assuming "multiply by 4" when it's actually "square of." Both work for 4, but give different answers for other numbers. Fix: Test your hypothesis on the given pair before applying.

Quick reference

• Identify the exact relationship before looking at options
• A : B :: C : D means the A-B relationship must equal the C-D relationship
• Common word relationships: synonym, antonym, part-whole, tool-action, worker-workplace
• Number patterns: check squares (n²), cubes (n³), and ±1 variations first
• Figure analogies: track rotation, reflection, shading, and element count

Check yourself: 3 questions

This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 18 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.

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