Analogies
One figure changes into a second, and a third waits for the same change. Here’s how to spot every change and make exactly those to the third.
Chapter 1
What are shape analogies?
You’re shown a figure (a picture in a box), an arrow, and the figure it changes into. Then comes a third figure, with an arrow pointing to an empty box.
Your job is to make exactly the same change to the third figure, and pick the option that shows it. It’s the same idea as word analogies, but the link is a change you can see.
The first pair. It shows the change. Nobody tells you what it is: finding it is the question.
The third figure. The one you change. It often looks quite different from the first.
Which shows the same change?
An NVR question from Rush, level 2.
What can change
Every change in Rush is one of these ten. Go down the list for the first two figures, and note each one that’s different.
- Shape
- Shading
- Size
- Outline
- A turn
- Dots or lines added
- Shape inside
- Corner mark
- Inside and outside swap
- Shading moves
Chapter 2
Solve it in 3 steps.
Here’s the question, one change at a time.
The question
Which shows the same change?
An NVR question from Rush, level 2.
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Step 1
List every change.
Compare the first two figures, one thing on the checklist at a time. The circle and the square swap: the square is outside now. The outline goes from one line to two, a double outline. The stripes and the dot stay the same.
→Two changes: swap, and a double outline.
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Step 2
Make those changes to the third.
The third is a large striped circle with a white square inside and no dot. Swap them and double the outline. Everything else stays: still large, still striped, still no dot.
→Picture the answer before you look.
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Step 3
Check each option against each change.
Option 5 hasn’t changed at all. Option 3 hasn’t swapped. Option 1 has swapped, but its outline is still one line. Option 4’s outline is dashed, and it has a dot. That leaves option 2.
12345
Three mistakes it sets
| The mistake | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| Stopping at the first change. Option 1 has the swap but not the double outline. It’s built for anyone who spots one change and stops looking. | List every change before you look at the options. |
| Near enough. Options 3 and 4 have a new outline, but it’s dashed. The second figure’s is double: two solid lines. | Say exactly what it became, not just that it changed. |
| Copying a detail from the second figure. Option 4 has a dot because the second figure has one. But the dot never changed, and the third figure has none. | Check every detail against the third figure. |
So it’s option 2. The circle and square swap, and the outline goes double. The stripes, the large size and the missing dot all stay.
Remember: Every change. Nothing more.
Chapter 3
The catches.
These are the traps Rush’s wrong options set. Each card has the rule, an example and the trap.
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answerwrong wayhalf turn
Which way did it turn?
Follow the point. Clockwise goes up, right, down, left.
The arrow’s point goes from up to right: a quarter turn clockwise. The heart points down, so it ends up pointing left. Trap: pointing right is a quarter the wrong way, and pointing up is a half turn.
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answerwrong waycopied
The corner mark moves round
Say the corners clockwise: top left, top right, bottom right, bottom left.
Bottom right to top right is one corner back: anticlockwise. So the hexagon’s goes from bottom left back to bottom right. Trap: top left (the wrong way) and top right (copied). Opposite corner is two steps.
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answerlost itno move
Shading moves. It doesn’t vanish.
One shape gives its shading to the other.
The black moves from the hexagon to the star inside. So the circle goes white and its triangle goes black. Trap: both shapes white, as if the shading had disappeared. It can move outwards too.
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answercopiedno change
One more, or one fewer?
Say the change, not the new number.
One dot became two: one more. The square has 3, so it gets 4. Trap: 2 dots, the second figure’s number. Lines on top count the same way. Check you add or take away, as the first pair did.
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answerthe secondsize copied
Start from the third, not the second
Change only what’s on your list.
White became black, so the pentagon goes black. The rest stays as the third figure has it: large, with 2 dots. Trap: the second figure itself, which Rush often offers, and a small pentagon, its size copied.
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still bigsmaller
Two options left? You missed a change
What differs between them is the change you missed.
Spot only the dotted shading, and two triangles fit. One is big and one is smaller, so check the size: the circle shrank. None left? Your list is wrong, so look again.
Chapter 4: In the exam
Three changes, and a flip.
Exam analogies work the same way, with five options. But they often change three things at once (17 of the 40 in GL’s practice tests), and some flip a shape over, which Rush never does.
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Step 1
List all three changes.
The flag flips over, as if in a mirror standing beside it: it pointed right and now points left. It turns black. It gets one more dot.
→Flipped, black, one more dot.
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Step 2
Turn or flip? Look at the top.
A half turn would point the flag left too, but it would hang from the bottom of the pole. In the second figure it’s still at the top, so it’s a flip. A turn never makes a flip.
fliphalf turn -
Step 3
Cross out change by change.
E hasn’t flipped. A is a half turn. D is still white. C has 2 dots, the second figure’s number: the third had 3, so one more is 4. That leaves B.
ABCDE
So it’s B. It’s flipped, black, and has 4 dots, one more than the third had. Its 2 lines on top stay, because nothing changed them.
Remember: A turn is never a flip.
Other ways the exam asks it
- Parts swap places. The big shape and the small one swap top and bottom, or the shading passes from one part to another. Follow each part: where did it go, and what did it take with it?
- Something added or taken away. A line, a small shape or half the shape appears or goes. Count the parts in both figures.
- Parts that turn on their own. The inside shape turns while the outside stays still, or each turns its own way. Check each part’s turn separately.
Chapter 5
Try it yourself.
Six real questions from Rush, easy to hard, 60 seconds on the clock.
Use the steps
- List every change.
- Make those changes to the third.
- Check each option against each change.
Remember: Every change. Nothing more.
For parents.
What parents ask us about analogies.
Questions parents ask
What is an analogy in non-verbal reasoning?
It's a pattern of the form 'A is to B as C is to ?', drawn with shapes. Something happens to the first figure to make the second. You do the same thing to the third figure and find the result among the options.
How many changes can there be?
In Rush, usually one at the first level and two at the harder levels. Exam papers often change three things at once. More changes don't need a new method: you just have a longer list, and you check every option against each change on it.
What if the third figure is a different shape from the first?
That's normal. The rule is about what changes, so the shape doesn't matter. A half turn is a half turn whether it happens to an arrow or a kite, and swapping inside and outside works on any pair of shapes.
How do you tell clockwise from anticlockwise quickly?
Picture a clock face over the box. Clockwise is the way the hands move: top to right to bottom to left. For a turned shape, follow one end; for a corner mark, say the two corners in order and see if you went forwards or backwards round the clock.
Rush: 11+ Practice & KS2 SATsPractise analogies in Rush.
- Shape Analogies as 100-second games, easy at first and harder as your child improves
- Every miss kept with the right answer and why
- Shape Analogies is in Premium, and six other games are free
On the App Store for iPhone and iPad
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