Analogies
Two pairs of words share the same link, and you finish the second pair. Here's how to find the link and use it exactly.
Chapter 1
What are analogies?
An analogy is two pairs of words with the same link. You’re given the first pair and the first word of the second. You pick the word that finishes the second pair with exactly the same link.
Papers write it in words: hill is to mountain as pond is to what? Rush shows it with arrows, like the question here.
The first pair. Two words with a link. Nobody tells you the link: finding it is the question.
The third word. The start of the second pair.
In the exam, analogies often come as two groups of words, and you pick one from each. Chapter 4 shows how.
hill → mountainpond → ?
Which word finishes the second pair?
- Option 1: lake
- Option 2: puddle
- Option 3: fish
- Option 4: duck
A Verbal question from Rush, level 1.
Chapter 2
Solve it in 3 steps.
Here’s the question, one step at a time.
The question
hill → mountainpond → ?
Which word finishes the second pair?
- Option 1: lake
- Option 2: puddle
- Option 3: fish
- Option 4: duck
A Verbal question from Rush, level 1.
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Step 1
Say the link as a sentence.
Before you look at the options, put the first pair into a sentence. A mountain is a much bigger hill. “They go together” isn’t enough: a sentence says exactly how.
A mountain is a much bigger hill.
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Step 2
Use the same sentence on the third word.
Swap pond in and leave a gap: a ___ is a much bigger pond. Fish and duck go with pond, but neither is a pond at all, so they’re out. Lake and puddle are both water, like a pond.
A ? is a much bigger pond.
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Step 3
Keep it the same way round.
Hill to mountain gets bigger, so pond to the answer must get bigger too. A lake is bigger than a pond. A puddle is smaller, so it goes the wrong way.
Two mistakes it sets
| The mistake | Do this instead |
|---|---|
| Picking a word that goes with it. A fish lives in a pond and a duck swims on one, so both feel linked. Most wrong options in analogies are like this. | Put it in your sentence. “A fish is a much bigger pond” is nonsense, so it’s out. |
| Turning the link round. A puddle is the right sort of thing, but it’s smaller than a pond. The first pair gets bigger. | Check the direction matches: small to big both times. |
So it’s lake. A lake is a much bigger pond, just as a mountain is a much bigger hill.
Remember: Say the link. Reuse it. Same direction.
Chapter 3
The catches.
Each of these is a real Rush question, with the trap it sets. Know the trap and it stops working.
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Opposite or same? Check which
Opposites and same meanings come up most.
Hot is the opposite of cold, so you want the opposite of rich: poor. Trap: wealthy. It means the same as rich, put there for anyone who mixes the two links up.
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Everything fits? Be more exact
“Goes with” is too loose. Say exactly how.
Lamb, wool and meadow all go with sheep. But a howl is the sound a wolf makes, and the sound a sheep makes is baa.
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Watch which way round
Young to grown-up stays young to grown-up.
A calf is a young cow, so a kid is a young goat. Trap: lamb. It’s young, so it goes the wrong way. Sheep goes the right way, but a kid isn’t a young sheep.
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Same word, right form
When the link is grammar, match the form.
Wrote is the past of write, so you need the past of ride. Say both: yesterday I wrote, yesterday I rode. Riding and rides are ride too, just the wrong form.
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Two meanings? Pick the one that fits
The link tells you which meaning you need.
A row can be rowing a boat, or a quarrel (said to rhyme with cow). Fight means the same as battle, so you want the row that’s a fight: quarrel. Boat and oar go with the other meaning.
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No link jumps out? Run the list
Try each usual link below on the first pair.
Attic and cellar aren’t opposites or kinds of each other. Ask where they are: the attic is the top of a house, the cellar the bottom. A summit is the top of a mountain, so the answer is its base. Trap: peak, which is still the top.
The usual links
If no link comes, say each of these with the first pair. The one that makes a true sentence is your link.
- Opposite
Wet is the opposite of dry.
- Same meaning
Large means the same as big.
- Young
A foal is a young horse.
- Part of
A petal is part of a flower.
- Kind of
An oak is a kind of tree.
- Works with
A painter works with a brush.
- Lives in
A fox lives in a den.
- Made of
A candle is made of wax.
- Group
A group of fish is a shoal.
- Sound
Quack is the sound a duck makes.
- Past tense
Swam is the past of swim.
- Female
A lioness is a female lion.
Chapter 4: In the exam
Two groups: one word from each.
Many exam papers set analogies this way. Rush asks one word at a time, and the same steps still work.
The questionPick one word from each group to finish the analogy. Bee is to (hive, buzz, sting) as dog is to (bone, kennel, lead).
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Step 1
Say a link for each word in the first group.
Each one makes a true sentence with bee. A bee lives in a hive. Buzz is the sound a bee makes. A bee can sting. So there are three links to test, not one.
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Step 2
Test each link on the second group.
A dog lives in a kennel: that one works. The sound a dog makes is bark, and that isn’t there. Nothing in the group is what a dog does. Bone and lead only go with dog.
So it’s hive and kennel. A bee lives in a hive, and a dog lives in a kennel. Mark both words, one in each group.
Remember: Every link, both groups.
Other ways the exam asks it
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Links made of letters
Some papers link the spellings, not the meanings. Hear is ear with an h in front, so the answer is heat. Trap: meat and seat. They add a letter too, but not h. Other spelling links take a letter away, change one or jumble them.
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On the paper: (bread bead) (flame fame) (plane ?)
Complete the third pair
Two pairs show a rule, and you use it on the third word. Bread loses its r and flame loses its l: both lose the second letter. So plane makes pane. Trap: lane, which loses the first letter instead.
Chapter 5
Try it yourself.
Six real questions from Rush, easy to hard, 60 seconds on the clock.
Use the steps
- Say the link as a sentence.
- Use the same sentence on the third word.
- Keep it the same way round.
Remember: Say the link. Reuse it. Same direction.
For parents.
What parents ask us about analogies.
Questions parents ask
How do I teach my child analogies?
Start out loud with everyday pairs: 'a cub is a young lion, so a young dog is a…?' Ask for the full sentence every time, then ask them to reuse it word for word. Each wrong option then has to pass that sentence, and none of them can.
What if more than one answer seems to fit?
The sentence is too loose. 'Goes with' fits nearly anything; 'is the young of' or 'is made from' fits one. Make the link more exact, then check the direction and the word type: the answer matches the first pair on all three.
Why do children find analogies hard?
They need two things at once: knowing the words and seeing the exact link. Most wrong options are linked to the third word in some way, so a child going on feel picks one of those. Saying the link as a full sentence before reading the options gives them something exact to test each one against.
Are there analogies in non-verbal reasoning too?
Yes. Shape analogies work the same way with pictures: the first pair shows a change, such as a turn or a colour swap, and you make the same change to the third shape. Saying the change in words helps there too.
Rush: 11+ Practice & KS2 SATsPractise analogies in Rush.
- Analogies as 100-second games, easy at first and harder as your child improves
- Every miss kept with the right answer and why
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