One of the types of vocabulary test question that frequently appears on examinations such as the SAT or GRE is the analogy question. This exercise is designed to test whether you know the meanings of words, and also whether or not you can understand the relationships between those meanings, and apply them to other word pairs.

Here’s an example of an analogy question you might find on a test:

DENIGRATE is to PRAISE as ___________ is to _____________:

(a) VAUNT, OBEY
(b) INTEGRATE, COMBINE
(c) DESTINATION, PILGRIMAGE
(d) EAGER, RELUCTANT
(e) DOG, CANINE

Which pair of words correctly completes the phrase? Keep in mind that you need to first determine the relationship between the initial word pair in order to discover the correct answer. In this example, denigrate and praise are both verbs; denigrate means to belittle or criticize, which is the opposite of praise. You’ll need to find the word pair where the two words are antonyms. If you look at the word pairs for answers (b), (c), and (e), you should notice that these pairs are all similar in some way:

• Integrate and combine have nearly the same meaning.
• Destination and pilgrimage are both nouns related to travel, and though one is the end point and the other the path, they are not antonyms, just describing different things.
• A dog is a member of the canine family of animals.

What about the pair in (a)? Vaunt is a verb that means “to praise or boast about.” Obviously, this word has no relationship to the word obey. That leaves us with (d). Eager and reluctant are antonyms, and have the same relationship as denigrate and praise.

Learning how to identify the relationship between the example pair on each question will help you quickly eliminate the incorrect answers. Here are some of the possible word relationships you’ll find on the examinations:

Synonyms (examples: reluctant/unwilling, confident/assured)

Antonyms (examples: valiant/fearful, affluent/indigent)

Components Included (examples: bunch/grape, pride/lion)

Components Missing (examples: desert/water, atheist/belief)

What Things Are Used For (examples: pencil/write, telephone/talk)

What Things Are Made Of (examples: ice/water, tablecloth/linen)

Look for sample tests in books and on line – the more you practice these analogies, the easier they’ll be.