Word Relationship (Analogy) Questions
How do you solve word analogy questions like "firm is to solid as quiet is to"?
Define precisely how the first pair of words relate — synonym, antonym, cause-and-effect, part-to-whole — then apply that exact relationship to the third word to find the fourth. If the relationship description allows more than one option to fit equally well, it isn't precise enough; rewrite it until only one answer satisfies it.
Why this is worth extra attention
This question type is usually worth a genuinely large share of the total mark relative to how few questions it takes up — often over a fifth of a verbal reasoning section from a small number of questions. That makes it one of the highest-value places to build a reliable method, because the questions themselves are answered quickly once the relationship is correctly defined.
Worked example
Firm is to solid as quiet is to:
A. Silent B. Soft C. Mute D. Voiceless E. Dumb
Firm and solid are synonyms, so the answer must be the option most similar to quiet — not just related to it. Silent, Mute and Voiceless all describe a complete absence of sound, which is a stronger, more absolute idea than "quiet." Dumb, in this context, describes an inability to speak rather than the volume of a sound.
Soft is the only option describing some sound, just at a low level — which is the precise shade of meaning "quiet" carries. Option B is correct.
The technique that resolves close calls
For harder pairs, rewrite the relationship as a full sentence rather than a single word. "Dentist is to teeth" isn't just "uses" — a dentist uses their hands too. The precise relationship is "is a doctor who treats." Once the relationship is written out fully and specifically, testing it against the third word and each option usually leaves only one survivor. If your rewritten relationship still allows two options to fit, it isn't specific enough yet.
Steps
- Write the exact relationship between the first pair of words as a full phrase, not a single word
- Test that same phrase between the third word and each option in turn
- If more than one option satisfies the relationship, restate it more precisely and re-test
- Rank remaining options by how closely, not just whether, they satisfy the relationship
This is one chapter of the Scholarship & Entrance English Assessment Guide. The complete guide — every technique, collected in one document — is available as a free PDF from the guide's main page.