Reasoning practice

Analogy Questions with Answers

Analogy questions give you a pair of words, numbers or letters and ask you to find the pair that shares the same relationship. They are asked in SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS, and in RRB NTPC and Group D reasoning sections. The relation can be one of function, category, part and whole, or a number or letter rule. The key tip is to state the relation in one plain sentence before you look at the options.

Rules to remember

Both pairs must follow the same relation in the same order. If A relates to B, then C must relate to D, not D to C.
Common word relations: tool and use (pen : write), worker and workplace (doctor : hospital), part and whole (petal : flower), cause and effect (fire : burn), category and member (bird : sparrow).
Number analogies: test squares, cubes, doubling, and adding or subtracting a fixed number. Know squares up to 25 and cubes up to 15.
Letter analogies: use alphabet positions, A = 1 to Z = 26. Letters at opposite ends add up to 27 (A and Z, B and Y, and so on).
Letter pairs: check the gap between the two letters, whether the letters are reversed, and whether each letter moves by the same number of steps.
Fact-based pairs (for example a country and its capital) need the same kind of fact in the answer, not just a loose link.
Wrong options often match a different relation, such as the same words in reverse order. Check the order before you mark an option.

Worked examples

Q1. Pen : Write :: Knife : ? (a) Cut (b) Kitchen (c) Sharp (d) Steel

Find the relation in the first pair. A pen is a tool used to write.
So the relation is tool and its main use.
A knife is a tool. Its main use is to cut.
Kitchen is a place, sharp is a quality and steel is a material. None of these is a use.

Answer: (a) Cut

Q2. 6 : 216 :: 9 : ? (a) 81 (b) 324 (c) 729 (d) 972

Test simple rules on the first pair. 6 x 6 = 36, not 216, so it is not a square.
6 x 6 x 6 = 216, so the second number is the cube of the first.
Apply the same rule: 9 x 9 x 9 = 729.
Check the other options. 81 is the square of 9, 324 is 9 x 36 and 972 is 9 x 108. None of these follows the cube rule.

Answer: (c) 729

Q3. DOG : WLT :: HEN : ? (a) SUM (b) SVM (c) TVM (d) SVN

Write the alphabet positions of DOG: D = 4, O = 15, G = 7.
WLT has W = 23, L = 12, T = 20.
Each pair adds up to 27 (4 + 23, 15 + 12, 7 + 20), so each letter is replaced by its opposite letter.
For HEN: H = 8 gives 27 - 8 = 19, which is S. E = 5 gives 22, which is V. N = 14 gives 13, which is M.
So HEN becomes SVM.

Answer: (b) SVM

Shortcuts that save time

Say the relation aloud in one short sentence, for example 'a pen is used to write'. If an option does not fit that exact sentence, cross it out. This stops you from marking a loosely related word and losing marks.
For letter and number analogies, test one rule on the first pair only. If the rule fails there, discard it at once instead of testing every option. This saves time and avoids a guess.
If two options both seem to fit, look for a narrower relation (main use, not any use). Mark only when one option fits the exact relation. If you cannot tell, skip it, because a wrong answer costs marks in most papers.

Where this appears

SSC CGL Tier-1	General Intelligence & Reasoning section
SSC CHSL Tier-1	General Intelligence section
SSC MTS	Reasoning section
RRB NTPC CBT-1	General Intelligence & Reasoning section
RRB Group D CBT	General Intelligence & Reasoning section

Analogy

Practice Set

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R : W :: N : ?

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