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GRE Verbal Analogies Insights and Summary and Tips

 

Common Analogy Types
The only kind of relationship between words in GRE analogies is a clear and necessary one. This is a tight, solid, logical relationship based on the meaning of the words. It is the kind of relationship that exists between a word and its dictionary definition.

In analogy questions, the relationship between the words is more important than the meanings of the words themselves. The analogy section of the GRE is one of the easiest parts of the test to improve on. The most common analogy relationships include:

Test Tips
  • Learn to recognize common types of analogies. Get familiar with the above common types.

  • Before you look at the answer-choices, think of a short sentence that expresses the relationship between the two words.

      Sample: ORCHESTRA : MUSICIAN ::
        ο story : comedian
        ο band : singer
        ο garden : leaf
        ♦ troupe : actor
        ο government : lawyer

      Explanation: Paraphrase: "An ORCHESTRA is comprised of MUSICIANS." Now, a STORY is not comprised of COMEDIANS. Eliminate (A). A BAND may have a SINGER, but a BAND is not comprised of SINGERS: there may be a drummer, guitarist, etc. Eliminate (B). Similarly, a GARDEN is comprised of more than just LEAVES. Eliminate (C). But a TROUPE is comprised of ACTORS. The answer, therefore, is (D).

  • If more than one answer-vhoice fits your paraphrase, make your paraphrase more specific.

      Sample: CLUB : GOLF ::
        ο type : book
        ο ball : soccer
        ο glove : baseball
        ♦ racket : tennis
        ο board : chess

      Explanation: Paraphrase: "A CLUB is used to play GOLF." However, this paraphrase eliminates only answer-choice (A). A more specific paraphrase is: A CLUB is used to strike a ball in the game of GOLF. Similarly, a RACKET is used to strike a ball in the game of TENNIS. The answer is (D).

  • Eliminate answer-choices that do not have a clear and reasonably necessary relationship.

    You can automatically eliminate any answer choice containing a triangular nonrelationship. In a triangular nonrelationship, the two words are related to a third word, but not directly to each other. For example: WEIGHT : AGE

    Educated guessing is a very useful technique on the GRE. If you can eliminate one or more answer-choices, you will probably increase your score by guessing.

      Sample: CORROSION : IRON ::
        ο sloth : energy
        ο disease : vision
        ♦ atrophy : muscle
        ο neighbor: bonus
        ο draft: poker

      Explanation: In choices (A) and (C) there are clear and reasonably necessary relationships between the words of each pair: a SLOTHFUL person lacks ENERGY, and ATROPHY means "the wasting away of MUSCLE." But in choice (B) there is no necessary relationship between the words: most DISEASES have no effect on VISION. Hence, eliminate choice (B). Choices (D) and (E) have the same reasons. The correct answer is (C) since CORROSION is the wasting away of IRON, just as ATROPHY is the wasting away of MUSCLE.

  • Never initially eliminate a choice if you are uncertain of the meaning of either word in it.

    You can’t be positive that two words are unrelated if you have no idea what one of the words means.

  • Watch out for eye-catchers. Beware of obvious answers! They may be there only to mislead you.

    Unfortunately, the ETS often sets traps by offering an answer-pair that reminds you of the original pair but has a different relationship. The correct answer-pair, of course, will have the same relationship as the original pair, but the words in the answer will typically be in an entirely different category.

      Sample: EXCERPT : NOVEL ::
        ο critique : play
        ο review : manuscript
        ♦ swatch : cloth
        ο foreword : preface
        ο recital : performance

      Explanation: Notice how in answer-choice (B) MANUSCRIPT reminds you of NOVEL: a manuscript could be an unpublished novel. However, a REVIEW is not part of a manuscript. Whereas, an EXCERPT is part of a NOVEL. (What is the other eye-catcher in this problem?) The answer is (C).

  • In hard problems, eliminate any answer-choice that reminds you (however vaguely) of the original pair.

    Eye-catchers are sometimes the answer to easy problems; rarely are they the answer to medium problems; and virtually never are they the answer to hard problems. When an average student guesses on a hard problem he chooses an answer that reminds him of the original pair. But if the eye-catcher were the answer, then the average student would get the problem correct and therefore it would not be a hard problem.

      Sample: EXORCISM : DEMON ::
        ο matriculation : induction
        ♦ banishment : member
        ο qualm : angel
        ο heuristic : method
        ο manifesto : spirit

      Explanation: This is a hard problem. Hence, eliminate any answer-choice that reminds you (however vaguely) of DEMON. A DEMON is a SPIRIT. So eliminate choice (E). Next, choice (C) is not strictly speaking an eye-catcher. But an ANGEL does remind one of a DEMON, and this is a hard problem. So eliminate choice (C). Now, to EXORCISE a DEMON means to drive it away. Similarly, to a BANISH a MEMBER of a group means to drive him or her away. The answer is (B).

  • When you don’t know the meaning of one of the words in the stem, work backwards from the choices.

    You can improve the effectiveness of working backward by using information in the problem to decode the unknown word in the stem.

  • Do not choose an answer with a reversed relationship.

    This is perhaps the most common error in the section. If the question is BOY: MAN, the answer cannot be WOMAN: GIRL. The relationship would be one of progression; a boy grows into a man. A woman does not grow into a girl; the relationship is reversed.

  • Do not choose answers based on the meanings of the words.

    If the questions are about computers, the answers may very easily be about chocolate cake. The meanings themselves are irrelevant; you are only concerned with the relationships between the pairs of words.

  • Consider alternative meanings of words, as well as alternative parts of speech.

  • If you don't know the meaning a word, try to recall if you've ever heard it in an expression. The context of the expression may suggest the meaning of the word.



 
 
 

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