SSAT Analogies Practice: 5 Strategies & 3 Drills
Bonus Material: SSAT Analogies Practice Drills
The SSAT Verbal section has 60 questions. The first 30 are SSAT Synonym questions, while questions 31-60 are SSAT Analogies.
The key to succeeding on Analogy questions lies in your capacity to identify specific relationships. Each question will provide students with two words that demonstrate a certain relationship.
Students must then select the choice that best reflects that relationship, thus completing the meaning of the sentence.
In this post, we walk students through our 5 strategies for approaching SSAT Analogies. We also give readers access to free SSAT Analogies practice, which you can download now.
Here’s what we cover:
5 Strategies for SSAT Analogies
Here’s our general strategy for approaching an Analogy question on SSAT Verbal:
- Identify the specific relationship between the two question words
- Search for the answer that shows the same relationship
- Eliminate accordingly
Sounds easy, right? Well, not necessarily. It can be really tough to identify a specific relationship, particularly between words you don’t know (or only have partial meanings for).
Those answer choices will also be chock-full of associative words, terms or pairs that might have a similar connotation but not necessarily similar relationship.
That’s where the following 5 strategies come into play.
#1: Start noticing Analogy categories.
Every SSAT Analogy question presents a specific relationship between the two ideas presented. As you continue to work with these questions, start noticing the various “categories” of these relationships, such as size (one word is smaller than another), time (one thing happens before another), or cause and effect (one thing causes another).
Take a look at this sample Analogy question and see if you can identify the “category” of the relationship presented:
| Gargantuan is to big as: |
| A) hot is to steamy |
| B) thirsty is to dry |
| C) pleasant is to melody |
| D) clumsy is to coordinated |
| E) ecstatic is to happy |
If you guessed a relationship of degree or size, you’re correct! Gargantuan is a larger or more extreme version of big. Their relationship is one of degree, making E the correct answer (ecstatic is a more extreme version of happy).
“Degree” is an example of just one “category” of relationships you will start to see in the Analogy section. Just as there isn’t a finite list of words on the Synonyms section, there is no complete list of categories for the Analogy section.
However, the list below gives some common relationship categories we’ve seen on SSAT practice tests:
- Location
- Time
- Size
- Material
- Part and Whole
- Example and General Category
- Cause and Effect
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Degrees
- Actor and Action
- Product and Producer
- Tool and User
- Tool and Use
This can be essential as an elimination strategy, too. Once you’ve identified the category of the relationship, you can eliminate any answer choices that fit other relationship categories.
Let’s apply this principle to the following questions. We’ve left the answer choices out here so that you can focus only on the relationship between the two question words.
- Lukewarm is to boiling as
____________________________________________________________________________
- Potable is to water as
____________________________________________________________________________
- Socks are to shoes as
____________________________________________________________________________
- Foreign is to domestic as
____________________________________________________________________________
- Botany is to plants as
____________________________________________________________________________
- Soldier is to military as
____________________________________________________________________________
- Tailor is to fabric as
____________________________________________________________________________
- Scene is to play as
____________________________________________________________________________
- Debris is to purity as
____________________________________________________________________________
- Limb is to body as
____________________________________________________________________________
#2: Create a specific relationship sentence for the question words.
Much as we encourage students to put Synonym words into their own sentences, we also recommend crafting a “relationship sentence” for SSAT Analogy question words. You can then eliminate answer choices that don’t “fit” the sentence.
When creating this sentence, try to be as specific as possible.
Using the above sample question, for example, a relationship sentence like “If you’re gargantuan, you’re big” is too broad – if you plug in the answer choices, they might all sound right! “Gargantuan is a stronger version of big” is more specific and will lead you to the correct answer.
Let’s apply this principle to the following questions. We’ve left the answer choices out here so that you can focus only on the relationship between the two question words.
- Clasp is to necklace as
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
- Teacher is to educator as
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
- Spectators is to audience as
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
- Disparage is to commend as
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
- Sad is to devastated as
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
#3: Eliminate answer choices that have no relationship or are “conditional.”
The right answer to an Analogy question will demonstrate the specific relationship of the question words. If you can’t establish a relationship between two words, that answer choice is automatically wrong! The same goes for any answer choices that may show a conditional relationship, one that is only true some of the time.
Here’s a sample question that proves this point:
| Insult is to offense as: |
| A) laugh is to joy |
| B) fabricate is to falsehood |
| C) injure is to prepare |
| D) innocent is to child |
| E) forge is to creation |
In choice C, “injure” and “prepare” have no relationship, so you can eliminate C immediately. Similarly, a “child” may be “innocent,” but not necessarily 100% of the time (it depends on the child, the definition of innocent, etc.). You can eliminate D as well.
Can you spot the answer choices in the following question that have no relationship or are conditional?
- Mindful is to ignorant as
- complete is to acceptable
- shack is to palace
- novel is to idea
- amiable is to friendly
- road is to highway
#4: Focus on relationships, not synonyms.
It can be really easy, especially if you tackle SSAT Synonym questions first, to start identifying synonyms for the Analogy words rather than relationships. As best you can, remind yourself that your task on this set is to classify the relationship between the words presented and select an answer choice that reflects a similar relationship.
On the plus side, those answer choices that contain synonyms to words in the question are most likely incorrect. So if you do spot some synonyms in the answers, be very skeptical.
#5: Think of all possible relationships.
You may find that some questions have multiple reasonable answers. If this is the case, try to think of additional possible relationships between the question words. Here is a sample question that demonstrates this:
| Carousel is to horse as: |
| A) hospital is to waiting room |
| B) anthology is to story |
| C) sun is to planet |
| D) bike is to wheel |
| E) fleet is to ship |
At first glance, you might feel stuck with this question. A “horse” is a “part” of a “carousel.” With this relationship in mind, don’t multiple answer choices here fit the “whole and part” category?
However, if you think of additional ways to specify the relationship, you could reach the correct answer by reasoning that the horses revolve around a carousel just as a planet orbits the sun. Correct Answer: C.
With these tips in mind, let’s work through this sample Analogy question mentioned earlier:
It will be easiest to craft a relationship sentence with these words. We might say that “an epidemic is the spread of disease.” Plugging in the answer choices, we can see that only (A) fits this sentence: “a famine is the spread of hunger.” Our answer is (A).
Download Our SSAT Analogies Practice Questions
Now it’s your turn to apply these awesome strategies to some SSAT Analogies practice questions. You can download three free practice drills right now if you’d like.
Here’s what you’ll get:
- 3 FREE SSAT Analogies Practice Drills
- Answers to every question
Kate
Kate is a graduate of Princeton University. Over the last decade, Kate has successfully mentored hundreds of students in all aspects of the college admissions process, including the SAT, ACT, and college application essay.