Analogies

Metaphors and similes are figures of speech that use direct and indirect comparisons. Both require you to use critical and creative thinking skills to figure out the relationships between ideas. Solving analogies is an effective way to develop critical and creative thinking skills and prepare for standardized tests.

An analogy is a type of word problem that is made up of two pairs of words. The first pair of words sets up a logical relationship between two ideas. You must complete the second pair of words with a word that correctly reflects the same relationship.

An analogy is a type of word problem
pairs of logically related words.

Study the following example and explanation of analogy-solving steps:

SAD : GLAD :: SHORT : __________

Step 1:	Read the analogy in the form of a sentence that states a comparison between the ideas like this: “Sad is to glad as short is to __________."
Step 2:	Ask yourself, “What is the relationship between sad and glad?” These words are opposite in meaning; they are antonyms. The sentence can now read “<i>Sad</i> is the opposite of glad as short is the opposite of __________."
Step 3:	Write the word that is the opposite of short in the blank. The best answer is tall.

The word pairs in many analogies are in one of four general types of relationships:

Analogy Type	Definition	Example
Antonyms	words with opposite meanings	sad : glad
Synonyms	words with similar or same meanings	brilliant : radiant
Descriptions	one word describes the other word	talented : actor
Part to whole	one word is an item in the larger group named by the the word	fingers : hand

However, often an analogy does not fit into one of these groups, as the following example illustrates:

CALF : COW :: FAWN: __________

Step 1:	When we put the word pairs into a sentence, we can see that none of the four common relationships is expressed: “A calf is to a cow as a fawn is to a __________."
Step 2:	When we ask what the relationship is between a calf and a cow, our sentence changes to read, “A calf is a young cow as a fawn is a young __________."
Step 3:	Write deer in the space as the word that best completes the sentence.