Word Connections and Analogies

In this lesson, you will learn how to solve word connection and analogy questions. These are a key part of CEM 11+ Verbal Reasoning. They test your ability to spot relationships between words and apply those relationships to new pairs.

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What Is a Word Analogy?

A word analogy asks you to identify a relationship between two words, then find another pair with the same relationship.

The pattern is:

A is to B as C is to ?

For example:

Dog is to puppy as cat is to kitten

The relationship is adult animal to young animal.

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Types of Word Relationships

There are many types of relationships you might see. Here are the most important ones for CEM exams:

1. Synonyms

Big is to large as small is to tiny

2. Antonyms

Hot is to cold as up is to down

3. Part to Whole

Petal is to flower as brick is to wall

A petal is part of a flower. A brick is part of a wall.

4. Whole to Part

Tree is to branch as body is to arm

5. Object to Function

Pen is to write as scissors is to cut

6. Worker to Tool

Carpenter is to hammer as surgeon is to scalpel

7. Animal to Young

Horse is to foal as cow is to calf

8. Animal to Group

Wolf is to pack as bee is to swarm

9. Degree or Intensity

Warm is to hot as cool is to cold

Both pairs show increasing intensity.

10. Material to Product

Flour is to bread as wool is to jumper

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CEM-Specific Word Connection Questions

CEM exams sometimes present word connections differently from GL exams. Instead of a classic "A is to B as C is to ?" format, you might see:

Type 1: Find the link between three words

Which word connects these: eye, needle, bottle?

Answer: They all have a hole (eye of a needle, neck of a bottle, but actually they all relate to having an opening — the common link word is that each can precede or follow a specific word).

Type 2: Complete the pair

hand : glove :: foot : ?

Answer: shoe (a glove covers a hand; a shoe covers a foot)

Type 3: Find two words that form an analogy from a list

From the words doctor, hospital, teacher, school, nurse, which pair has the same relationship as baker : bakery?

Answer: teacher : school (person who works in a place)

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Worked Example 1: Standard Analogy

Question: Author is to book as composer is to ?

A) instrument B) orchestra C) symphony D) stage

Step-by-step:

1. An author writes a book.
2. A composer writes a symphony (a piece of music).
3. The relationship is creator to creation.
4. Answer: C) symphony