"Dog is to puppy as cow is to ?" These analogy questions look tiny on the page, yet they trip up more Year 5 children than almost any other Verbal Reasoning task. The reason is simple: the child rushes to the third word and starts guessing, instead of first naming the exact relationship between the first pair. This guide teaches the relation-mapping method that turns analogies from a gamble into a reliable point-winner, and shows you how each type maps onto the real GL Assessment paper your child will sit.
What the GL paper is actually testing
Word analogies are one of the 21 named Verbal Reasoning question types GL Assessment draws from (Bond labels them Type A to U). GL never tells you in advance which types appear in a given paper, so the skill you need is not memorising answers but recognising a small set of recurring relationship categories. The question format is nearly always multiple-choice, with answers marked A to E on a separate answer sheet, and the paper is tightly timed at roughly 50 seconds a question. That timing matters: naming the relationship in one clean step is faster than trying every option, so the technique below is also a pacing strategy. Since the withdrawal of CEM's separate 11+ tests around 2022-2023, GL has become the dominant provider across most regions, which makes these named types the exact currency of the modern exam.
The technique: name the relationship first
Before your child even glances at the options, they should say (in their head or under their breath): "What is the relationship between A and B?" Turning that relationship into a short sentence — a "bridge" — is the whole trick. Once the bridge is built, you simply carry it across to the third word.
- Adult to young: dog to puppy. So cow to calf.
- Object to its use: knife to cut. So pen to write.
- Object to location: car to garage. So plane to hangar.
- Whole to part: car to wheel. So tree to branch.
- Synonyms (closest in meaning): happy to joyful. So sad to sorrowful.
- Antonyms (opposite in meaning): hot to cold. So fast to slow.
- Cause to effect: rain to puddle. So fire to smoke.
- Degree or intensity: warm to hot. So cool to cold.
Notice that synonyms and antonyms appear both as their own standalone VR question types and inside analogies. That overlap is deliberate: the vocabulary work your child does for one type quietly boosts the other.
Worked examples
Example 1: maker to product
BAKER is to BREAD as POTTER is to ? The bridge is "person to the thing they make". A baker makes bread, so a potter makes pottery. Answer: POT (or POTTERY). The trap option here is often a tool the potter uses, such as CLAY — close, but it fails the bridge, because clay is the material, not the product.
Example 2: thing to its property
ICE is to COLD as FIRE is to ? The bridge is "object to the property it has". Ice is cold; fire is hot. Answer: HOT. A vaguer child might pick RED (fire can be red) but the specific bridge is temperature, not colour.
Common 11+ relationship patterns
Keep this reference list on the wall by the desk. When your child meets an analogy, they scan it for the bridge that fits.
| Relationship | Example pair | Carried across |
|---|---|---|
| Adult / young animal | cat / kitten | horse / foal |
| Profession / product | author / book | artist / painting |
| Object / material | window / glass | tyre / rubber |
| Object / function | scissors / cut | ruler / measure |
| Cause / effect | germ / illness | spark / fire |
| Category membership | whale / mammal | sparrow / bird |
| Country / capital | France / Paris | Italy / Rome |
| Tool / user | saw / carpenter | whisk / baker |
| Degree / intensity | drizzle / downpour | breeze / gale |
Common mistakes and traps
Analogy questions are built around near-misses, so the wrong answers are chosen to catch a lazy bridge.
- Being too vague. "Dog to puppy" is not "animal to animal" — it is specifically "adult to young". A vague bridge lets a trap option in.
- Reversing the direction. If A to B goes big to small, C to ? must go big to small too, not small to big.
- Answering by sound, not meaning. Focus on what the words mean, never on rhyme or shared letters.
- Ignoring a second relationship. Sometimes two things change at once (adult to young and larger to smaller); make the bridge cover both.
How analogies feed the Standardised Age Score
GL papers are not marked on raw score alone. Each child's raw mark is converted into a Standardised Age Score (SAS), age-adjusted to the exact age in months, so a younger child in the year group is not disadvantaged. The scale runs roughly from 69 to 141, with 100 as the average; many grammar schools look for about 111 or higher, though exact pass marks vary by area and year. Because harder question types carry the same one mark as easy ones, teaching your child to convert every analogy reliably is one of the cleanest ways to lift the SAS. For a fuller picture of how the process fits together, see the 11+ process guide and the key dates page.
Practise little and often
Vocabulary is the engine under every VR type, so build it in short daily bursts rather than long weekend sessions. Flashcards of synonym and antonym pairs, a "word of the day", and quick timed drills all compound quickly. Quest Arena's free VR worksheets include analogy drills sorted by relationship type, and you can pressure-test the skill against the clock with our free mock papers. When your child is ready to see how the whole GL format hangs together, the GL papers hub and the revision hub pull the reasoning strands into one plan.
Frequently asked questions
How many Verbal Reasoning question types are there?
GL Assessment draws from 21 named types, which Bond labels Type A to U. Word analogies are one of them, closely related to the synonym and antonym types.
Does GL tell you which types appear in the paper?
No. GL does not disclose in advance which of the 21 types a given paper will use, which is why recognising relationship categories matters more than memorising answers.
What score does my child need?
Marks are converted to a Standardised Age Score, roughly 69 to 141 with 100 as average. Many grammar schools want around 111 or above, but exact pass marks vary by region and year, so always check the local admissions details.