Learn the 3-Step Method
1Build the bridge sentence.
‘A puppy is a baby dog.’ The relationship is baby → adult.
2Reuse the exact bridge.
‘A kitten is a baby ___’ → cat. Same sentence, new pair.
3Keep the direction.
hand → glove is body-part → its covering; so foot → sock, never sock → foot.
Worked Example
Bird is to nest as bee is to: sting, hive, honey, wing?
Watch Out! Common Mistakes
Related isn’t the relationship! Bees make honey, but the bridge was LIVES IN → hive.
Keep the arrow! Body part → covering: hand → glove.
‘They go together’ isn’t a bridge! Force a precise sentence — lives in, is a baby, is used to cut — before touching the options.
⬇ Cheat Sheet
- Say the first pair's relationship as a full sentence.
- Reuse the exact sentence on the second pair.
- Keep the direction of the arrow.
- Beware associations that ignore the bridge (bee→honey).
📖 Continue Your Journey
Quick summary
- State the first pair's relationship as a precise sentence.
- Apply the identical sentence to the second pair.
- Preserve the direction: hand→glove means foot→sock.
- Reject associations that ignore the bridge (bee→honey when the bridge is 'lives in').
Frequently asked questions
How do you solve analogy questions?
Turn the first pair into a bridge sentence ('a bird lives in a nest'), then apply the same sentence to the second item — 'a bee lives in a hive'.
What's the most common analogy mistake?
Choosing an associated word instead of the one matching the relationship — honey relates to bees, but the lives-in bridge demands hive.
What bridges appear most in the 11+?
Baby→adult, part→whole, object→its user, tool→its job, word→synonym and word→antonym cover most questions.
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