Word Analogies — Mains Strategy

Mains Strategy

This is written reasoning practice rather than a descriptive CSAT paper. Introduce an analogy by stating the relationship in a complete sentence. A label such as 'association' is usually too broad to justify the answer. 'The first is a unit that forms part of the second' gives the reader a test that can be applied consistently.

In the body, apply that sentence to the selected pair and then examine the nearest competing pair. Explain whether the alternative reverses direction, changes the type of relation or relies on a different sense of a word. For a degree analogy, describe the ordering explicitly; for a function analogy, identify the roles of actor, tool and object rather than listing their shared setting.

Conclude with the relation that survives both tests. If the wording permits two equally strong mappings, identify the ambiguity and propose a minimal clarification, such as specifying a word's intended sense. The purpose is to make the inference transparent. A confident answer without a consistent relational sentence does not resolve an ambiguous question.