In verbal analogies, the student is given one pair of related words and another word without its pair. The student must find a words that has the same relationship to the word as the first pair. For example: fire is to hot, as ice is to cold.
Pairs of words in verbal analogies can be related in many ways, including the following types:
| Type of Analogy | Examples |
|---|---|
| things that go together | bat/ball, bow/arrow, salt/pepper, bread/butter, fork/knife |
| opposites | big/small, stop/go, hot/cold, tall/short, wide/narrow, early/late, graceful/clumsy, laugh/cry, dark/light, sharp/dull |
| synonyms | big/large, stop/halt, cold/icy, thin/slim, small/tiny, sad/unhappy, show/reveal, hide/conceal, hint/clue |
| object and classification | green/color, ants/insect, rabbit/mammal, table/furniture, pants/clothing, 3/odd number, apple/fruit, lunch/meal, uncle/relative, sandal/shoe, spring/season |
| object and group | whale/pod, kitten/litter, bird/flock, cow/herd, lion/pride, wolf/pack |
| object and related object | plant/sprout, butterfly/caterpillar, cat/kitten, mother/baby, dog/puppy |
| object and a characteristic | grass/green, sponge/porous, marshmallow/soft, elephant/big, desert/dry, gold/shiny, party/happy, skunk/smelly, ball/round |
| object and location | car/garage, stove/kitchen, tub/bathroom, fire/fireplace, lion/zoo, eraser/pencil |
| object and part of the whole | hand/fingers, book/pages, foot/toes, fireplace/bricks, year/month, turtle/shell |
| object and function | pen/write, knife/cut, shovel/dig, book/read |
| performer and action | teacher/teach, movie star/act, artist/paint, fish/swim, bird/fly |
| verb tenses | eat/ate, win/won, buy/bought |
| cause and effect | plant/grow, fire/burn, trip/fall, spin/dizzy |
| problem and solution | hungry/eat, thirsty/drink, itch/scratch, broken/repair, tired/sleep |
| degrees of a characteristic | big/enormous, cold/freezing, hot/burning, wave/tsunami, small/miniscule |