Verbal - Verbal Analogies and Word Knowledge
Relationship first, vocabulary second
Verbal analogies reward naming the exact bridge between the first pair before looking at the choices. Common relationships include synonym/antonym, category-member, part-whole, function, cause-effect, worker-tool, degree, and order. Keep the bridge directional: 'A ___ is a type of ' is not the same as ' includes ___.' Check grammatical consistency (noun:noun, adjective:noun), and beware choices that are merely associated with the topic rather than matching the relation. Near-synonyms often differ in intensity or connotation, so choose the pair with the same shade of meaning. For word knowledge, use context and word parts-prefixes, roots, suffixes-and eliminate choices that are too broad, too narrow, or wrong in tone.
Worked example: CARPENTER : SAW :: surgeon : ___. Bridge: a carpenter uses a saw as a characteristic tool. Among scalpel, hospital, patient, operation, the match is scalpel. Hospital is a workplace, patient is an object of care, and operation is a procedure-each changes the relationship.
Trap: reversed order. If the stem is tool : user, an answer of user : tool is wrong even if the words are related. Another trap is choosing a synonym for one stem word instead of completing the analogy.
Rule of thumb: write a short sentence for the stem pair, then test every choice in the same sentence. If more than one fits, tighten the sentence with a more specific relationship.