Verbal Analogies
Verbal Analogies on InView presents a pair of words with a specific relationship and asks you to complete a second pair with the same relationship. Order matters: A is to B as C is to D, so the direction from first to second must match exactly.
Make a bridge sentence
Write a sentence that links the first pair, for example “A thermometer measures temperature.” Replace the first term with the third and find the word that completes the same sentence: “A barometer measures ___” gives pressure. Keep the sentence's grammar and direction intact.
Common relationship types
Look for synonym and antonym pairs, category and member, part and whole, tool and user, cause and effect, degree, function, and characteristic. Also check part of speech: a noun-to-noun pair should not be completed by a verb.
Worked example
Thermometer : temperature :: barometer : ? The bridge is “A thermometer measures temperature.” Applying the same bridge gives “A barometer measures pressure,” so the answer is pressure. A distractor such as weather is associated with a barometer but does not fit the instrument-to-quantity relationship as precisely.
Traps that cost marks
Reversing the relationship is the most frequent error: “temperature measures a thermometer” is not the same bridge. Another trap is choosing a word merely associated with the third term. Matching a secondary association instead of the primary bridge also misleads. Test your answer by reading the full analogy in both directions; only one direction should sound correct.