SSC GD · Bite-size lessons

Analogies

About 6 min · General Intelligence and Reasoning · English

Time worked out from the lesson's 420 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.

Analogies form one of the listed topics in the General Intelligence and Reasoning section of SSC GD. An analogy question asks you to identify the logical relationship between a given pair and then apply that same relationship to find or complete another pair. The SSC GD exam tests three types: Word Analogies (semantic relationships between words), Number Analogies (mathematical relationships between numbers), and Figural Analogies (visual pattern relationships between figures).

Key ideas

• Relationship identification is primary: Every analogy has a specific logical, semantic, or mathematical relationship between the first two terms. Your first job is always to identify what connects them before looking at options.
• Same relationship must apply exactly: The correct answer maintains the identical relationship structure. If A is the opposite of B, then C must be the opposite of D — not just loosely related.
• Word analogies test meaning and context: Common relationships include synonyms, antonyms, part-to-whole, tool-to-worker, cause-and-effect, gender pairs, young-to-adult, item-to-category, and degree of intensity.
• Number analogies follow arithmetic or algebraic patterns: Look for operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squares, cubes, prime numbers, multiples, or positional patterns in digits.
• Figural analogies involve visual transformations: Common patterns include rotation (clockwise/anticlockwise), reflection (horizontal/vertical mirror), increase/decrease in elements, shading changes, and positional shifts of components.

Watch out for

• Forcing a weak relationship: Students see "Cat : Kitten" and think "Dog : Puppy" is similar, which is correct. But then they force "Car : Vehicle" saying both are hierarchical — missing that the first is adult-young while the second is item-category.
• Ignoring word sequence: In "Author : Book", the author creates the book. But "Book : Author" would mean the book is associated with an author (different nuance). Students often flip these. Fix: Maintain the exact sequence and direction of the original pair.
• Trying too many operations for numbers: Wasting time testing 10 different formulas on a number pair. Fix: Start with the simplest relationships first: square, double, sum, difference, then move to complex ones only if needed.

Quick reference

• Always identify the relationship first, then hunt for the answer — never reverse this order.
• Common word pairs: synonym, antonym, part-whole, tool-worker, cause-effect, young-adult, male-female, item-category.
• Common number patterns: square, cube, double, sum, difference, prime, digit-sum.
• Common figural changes: rotate, flip, add/remove elements, shade/unshade, shift position.
• If stuck in 10 seconds, eliminate wrong options and guess from remaining — don't waste time.

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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