← SSAT® Middle Level

Verbal: Analogies

The SSAT's signature format, built on E3n's bridge sentence, with a topic for each of the ten official relationships from opposites to homonyms.

17 topics · 64 questions

Each topic is a path, not a menu: work down it in order and every question builds on the one above. Click any of them to watch the answer draw itself.

Anatomy of an SSAT Analogy

  1. How it worksHow does the connector between the first two words become a tool you carry to every answer choice?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't the answer simply the pair that talks about the same thing as the first pair?
  3. Worked exampleWalk me through solving puppy is to dog as kitten is to blank when cat, mouse and fur are offered.
  4. Going furtherWhat changes when the missing word is the FIRST word of the second pair instead of the second?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Analogy 21 of the 30 in your verbal section reads PUPPY is to DOG as KITTEN is to ___. Which choice completes it?

The Bridge Sentence Method

  1. How it worksHow do you build a bridge sentence that swaps X and Y in for the two words, like an X is not Y?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through solving devastate is to damage with the bridge to X something is to Y it on a large scale.
  3. Worked exampleWalk me through building a bridge for coward is to brave and then testing fool is to wise against it.
  4. Common mistakeWhy doesn't reading the answer choices before you build your bridge ever save you any time?
  5. Ties togetherHow does a bridge sentence turn a vocabulary question into a logic question you can actually check?
Your turnhard1 of 3
On analogy 21 you build the bridge to X something is to Y it on a large scale for DEVASTATE is to DAMAGE. Which pair fits that bridge?

Relationship: Opposites

  1. How it worksHow does an opposites bridge draw as two arrows leaving one point in exactly opposite directions?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through solving up is to down as short is to blank when tall, small, wide and quick are offered.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't a pair of words that are merely different the same as a pair that are opposites?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads UP is to DOWN as SHORT is to ___. Which choice completes it?

Relationship: Synonyms

  1. How it worksHow does a synonym bridge draw as two meaning regions sitting almost exactly on top of each other?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through solving big is to large as little is to blank when small, huge, young and loud are offered.
  3. Going furtherWhat do you do when two answer pairs are both synonym pairs and only one of them can win?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads BIG is to LARGE as LITTLE is to ___. Which choice completes it?

Relationship: Characteristic

  1. How it worksHow does a characteristic bridge read as an X is always Y, and what does that rule straight out?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through solving pillow is to soft as blanket is to blank when warm, bed, cold and thick are offered.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't a quality a thing only sometimes has, like a pillow being white, make a characteristic pair?
  4. Going furtherWhat changes when the quality is listed first, as in soft is to pillow?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads PILLOW is to SOFT as BLANKET is to ___. Which choice completes it?

Relationship: Part to Whole

  1. How it worksHow does a part-to-whole bridge draw as one small shape nested inside a bigger shape?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through solving trunk is to tree as stem is to blank when flower, root, leaf and garden are offered.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't a piece that comes off, like a hat on a person, the same as a part of a whole?
  4. Going furtherWhat happens when the whole comes first, as in tree is to trunk, and the answer pairs flip too?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads TRUNK is to TREE as STEM is to ___. Which choice completes it?

Relationship: Uses

  1. How it worksHow does a uses bridge read as an X is the tool you Y with, and what shape does that draw?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through solving broom is to sweep as pencil is to blank when write, paper, sharpen and desk are offered.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't the place a tool is stored, like a broom in a closet, fit a uses bridge?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads BROOM is to SWEEP as PENCIL is to ___. Which choice completes it?

Relationship: Users

  1. How it worksHow does a users bridge read as an X is the tool a Y works with every day?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through solving hammer is to carpenter as brush is to blank when painter, paint, wall and bristle are offered.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't anybody who has ever picked up a hammer the user that this bridge is pointing at?
  4. Ties togetherHow do you tell a users pair from a uses pair when both of them open with the same tool?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads HAMMER is to CARPENTER as BRUSH is to ___. Which choice completes it?

Relationship: Category

  1. How it worksHow does a category bridge read as an X is a kind of Y, and what does it draw as on screen?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through solving robin is to bird as shark is to blank when fish, ocean, teeth and whale are offered.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't shark is to whale work as a category pair when both of them live in the sea?
  4. Going furtherWhat changes when the bigger group is listed first, as in bird is to robin?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads ROBIN is to BIRD as SHARK is to ___. Which choice completes it?

Relationship: Product to Producer

  1. How it worksHow does a product-to-producer bridge read as an X is made by a Y, and which way does the arrow run?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through solving poem is to poet as statue is to blank when sculptor, marble, museum and carve are offered.
  3. Common mistakeWhy isn't the stuff a thing is made out of, like marble, ever the producer of it?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads POEM is to POET as STATUE is to ___. Which choice completes it?

Relationship: Degree

  1. How it worksHow does a degree bridge draw as two marks on one strength scale instead of two separate ideas?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through solving snow is to blizzard as rain is to blank when hurricane, cloud, drizzle and puddle are offered.
  3. Worked exampleWalk me through solving warm is to scorching as cool is to blank when freezing, mild, wet and breezy are offered.
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't a degree pair the same as an opposites pair when the two ends of a scale feel so far apart?
  5. Going furtherWhat changes when the stronger word comes first, as in blizzard is to snow?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads SNOW is to BLIZZARD as RAIN is to ___. Which choice completes it?

Relationship: Homonyms

  1. How it worksHow does a homonym bridge throw meaning away entirely and listen for two words that sound alike?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through solving four is to for as see is to blank when sea, look, eye and hear are offered.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't a pair that only rhymes, like cat and hat, count as a homonym pair?
Your turneasy1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads FOUR is to FOR as SEE is to ___. Which choice completes it?

When a Bridge Is Too Vague

  1. How it worksHow does tightening a loose bridge knock out the pairs that were only sliding underneath it?
  2. Common mistakeWhy isn't a bridge that lets more answers through a safer bridge to build?
  3. Worked exampleWalk me through tightening they are both cold, built from snow and blizzard, until one pair survives.
  4. Going furtherWhat do you do when even your tightest possible bridge still lets two answer pairs through?
Your turnhard1 of 3
On analogy 21 your bridge reads they both have to do with water, and three of the five answer pairs still fit. What has gone wrong?

The Order of the Pair Matters

  1. How it worksHow does a bridge sentence keep its direction, so X and Y can never trade places without a rewrite?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through why teacher is to school and school is to teacher need two different bridges.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't a correct answer pair stay correct once somebody reads it backwards?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads DOCTOR is to HOSPITAL. Which answer pair fits the bridge an X works in a Y?

Tightening and Loosening a Bridge

  1. How it worksHow do you loosen a bridge one notch at a time without letting the wrong pairs back underneath?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through loosening a bridge for knife is to cut after a bridge about kitchens fits no answer pair.
  3. Going furtherWhat happens when loosening a bridge lets two pairs in and tightening it lets none in at all?
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't picking the pair that simply sounds nicest ever the right move on a stuck analogy?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads KNIFE is to CUT, and your bridge a knife is a kitchen tool used to cut fits none of the five pairs. Which loosened bridge is the right next step?

The Trap That Copies the Subject, Not the Relationship

  1. How it worksHow does a subject-matching trap answer slide under your bridge without ever truly fitting it?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through why shark is to ocean is a trap when the stem pair is robin is to bird.
  3. Common mistakeWhy doesn't matching the topic of the first pair earn a choice anything at all?
  4. Ties togetherHow does a subject trap on an analogy match the choice that shares a stem word's topic but not its meaning?
Your turnmedium1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads ROBIN is to BIRD, and SHARK is to OCEAN is one of the five pairs. Which choice is the answer?

When You Do Not Know One of the Stem Words

  1. How it worksHow do you work backwards by bridging the five answer pairs first and seeing which bridge repeats?
  2. Worked exampleWalk me through attacking gossamer is to spiderweb using only the answer pairs and their bridges.
  3. Going furtherWhat happens when three of the five answer pairs share one bridge and the other two share another?
  4. Common mistakeWhy isn't an unknown word a reason to skip an analogy on a test that punishes wrong answers?
Your turnhard1 of 3
Analogy 21 reads GOSSAMER is to SPIDERWEB and you do not know the first word. Working from the answer pairs alone, which one is the answer?

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