Word Analogies — Fundamental Concepts

Fundamental Concepts

State the relation as a sentence

In 'key : lock', a useful relation is 'the first is a tool used to operate the second'. An option connecting a painter with paint shares a broad association but changes the roles. The analogy requires a comparable relation, not merely two familiar words from the same setting.

Preserve direction and level

For 'chapter : book', the first is a component of the second. 'Forest : tree' reverses part and whole. 'Page : chapter' preserves the component-to-containing-unit direction, though the best answer still depends on the available alternatives and the precision of the stem.

Degree relations also require direction. 'Warm : hot' moves from a lower to a higher degree of temperature. A pair moving from intense to mild would reverse that ordering. An antonym pair instead expresses opposition and should not be accepted merely because both words describe one scale.

Compare close alternatives

Ask whether the relation is defining or incidental. A carpenter may use a pencil, but that observation is broader than a craftsperson's characteristic tool. Avoid treating a possible association as the intended relation when a more precise parallel exists.

If two options fit the same relation equally well, check whether a second property in the stem distinguishes them. Where no defensible distinction exists, acknowledge ambiguity in practice material. Do not invent a hidden cultural assumption to force a unique answer.