Analogy
🔒 Log in to trackAnalogy questions give you one pair (of words, numbers or letter clusters) and ask you to repeat its relationship on a second pair. CGL typically asks 3-5. The skill is naming the relationship precisely — as a one-line sentence or a shift tuple — and testing every option against it.
One page per subtopic: detailed notes, every question type, formulas, tricks and practice sets.
Every formula on one printable page, grouped by subtopic.
4 exam-level questions worked step by step.
83 questions — untimed practice or a timed test with analysis.
Track record in the exam
Questions per shift in recent SSC CGL papers.
Test difficulty mix (83 questions)
Question patterns exams keep repeating
Taken from previous-year papers. If a pattern is marked "very common", expect to see it in your exam.
Letter-cluster analogy with a constant shift
very commonThree letter clusters and a blank, such as 'EHKN : GJMP :: RUXA : ?'. Every letter of the second cluster is the same number of places away from the first.
How to solve: Write positions using EJOTY, subtract slot by slot and confirm the change is the same everywhere. Add that change to each letter of the third cluster, wrapping past Z.
Example: EHKN : GJMP :: RUXA : ?
Each letter moves +2 (E→G, H→J, K→M, N→P). RUXA + 2 = TWZC.
Letter analogy with a per-slot, opposite or reversal rule
commonThe shift is not the same for every letter, or letters pair to 27 (opposites), or the second cluster read backwards gives the first.
How to solve: Test in this order: backwards reading (reversal), 27-sum (opposites), then the full shift tuple. Copy the discovered rule exactly — the same tuple, the same order of steps.
Example: GOLD : TLOW :: IRON : ?
G + T = 27, so letters are replaced by opposites. IRON → RILM.
Word analogy from the standard relation bank
very commonA meaningful word pair (Mason : Trowel, Lion : Den, Newton : Force) and a third word with a blank.
How to solve: Say the link as one sentence (worker : tool, animal : home, unit : quantity) and test every option with it. Reject options from the same field that have a different link.
Example: Newton : Force :: Pascal : ?
The newton is the unit of force; the pascal is the unit of pressure.
Number analogy with one model pair
very commonPairs like '6 : 35 :: 9 : ?' or '9 : 40 :: 13 : ?'.
How to solve: Use the size test to choose the family (linear, square, cube, digit). Check the rule on the model pair, apply it, and if the answer is missing from the options move to the next family.
Example: 6 : 35 :: 9 : ?
35 = 6² − 1, so 9² − 1 = 80.
Number sets (triads) with a common rule
very commonTwo sets like (6, 13, 27) and (8, 17, 35), with the whole-number note; options are sets of three numbers.
How to solve: Try the chain rule, then 'third from the first two', then powers, then the middle-link family. Confirm on both model sets, then compute what each option's last number should be.
Example: Sets (4, 5, 41) and (3, 7, 58). Which follows the rule: (2, 6, 40) / (5, 4, 40)?
Third = a² + b² (16 + 25 = 41, 9 + 49 = 58). 4 + 36 = 40 ✓ → (2, 6, 40).
Select the pair with the same relation
commonA model pair of words or numbers followed by four complete pairs.
How to solve: Write the link of the model pair once and test all four pairs completely. For numbers, compute each pair exactly — traps miss by one or two.
Example: Select the pair related like Tailor : Needle: Painter : Brush / Doctor : Hospital.
Worker : tool. A painter uses a brush → Painter : Brush.
Mixed letter-number and word-number analogy
commonTerms such as 'C5 : F10 :: H8 : ?' or 'RAM : 32 :: SHAM : ?'.
How to solve: Split into a letter track and a number track, or compute the sum of letter positions for the word. Find one small rule per part and join the parts.
Example: RAM : 32 :: SHAM : ?
RAM = 18 + 1 + 13 = 32 (sum of positions). SHAM = 19 + 8 + 1 + 13 = 41.
Blank in another position, three-term and double-blank analogies
occasionalThe question mark is in the first or second place, there are three terms per side, or there are two blanks with pair options.
How to solve: Find the rule from the complete pair and run it backwards if the first term is missing. For double blanks, put each option into both places and keep the one where both pairs share the same link.
Example: ? : 64 :: 5 : 125
125 = 5³, so ?³ = 64 → 4.