Tips to solve Analogy (Verbal & Non Verbal) in Reasoning for RRB JE

Reasoning is the easiest portion of all four sections that come in AE & JE exams. You can master this topic only through practice as unlike numerical skill in reasoning section you don’t have to learn some formula and solve the question by applying that formula. But yes there are few tips and tricks for solving questions in Reasoning section. Here are some Important Tricks on Analogy (Verbal & Non-Verbal) in Reasoning Section which will surely help you to score better in Reasoning section of every Competitive Exam.

Non-Verbal Analogy Notes 

An analogy literally means ‘Drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some respect’. An analogy basically uses a relationship between two(or more) elements to show a similar relationship among another set of elements. So, these questions aim to test the overall logical understanding of the candidates and how coherently they understand the different kinds of relationships among various elements.
There are various types of relationships which are used in analogy-based questions. Below is one such list which shows the various relationships with one example each:

Let’s explore the various types of questions based on Analogy that are asked in SSC-CGL exams and the right way to solve them:

Types of Analogy:

I). Completing analogous pair. Such questions give the relationship between a pair; the first element of the second pair is given and we have to find the second element of the second pair based on similar relationship given by the first pair.

For example:
1) Oasis: Sand ∷ Island: ?
a) River

b) Sea

c) Water

d) Waves
Here, first pair is ⇒ “Oasis: Sand” and second pair is “Island:?”. And, “∷” sign means first pair and second pair share similar relationship.
‘Oasis’ is a mass of water amidst ‘Sand’ similarly ‘Island’ is a mass of land amidst ‘water’. Note: It’d be Island: Sea had the first pair been Oasis: Desert. We’re given the name of thing desert is made of i.e. Sand. So, we’ll use the name of thing Sea  is made of i.e. Water.
2) Annihilation: Fire ∷ Cataclysm
a) Earthquake

b) Flood

c) Emergency

d) Steam
Here, ‘Annihilation’ i.e. total destruction is the result of ‘Fire’. So, ‘Cataclysm’ i.e. the rising of a body of water and its overflowing onto normally dry land is the result of ‘flood’.

II). Simple Analogy. In such questions a simple statement is given where a relationship is given and we’re asked the second element for the term given in question, like the example below:
1) Sweet is to Chocolate as Book is to….?
a) Dictionary

b) Library

c) Encyclopedia

d) Atlas
Here, Chocolate can be sweet or bitter but ‘Sweet’ is the enlarged form of chocolate. Similarly, ‘Encyclopedia’ is an enlarged form of a ‘book’.

III). Choosing the analogous pair: In such questions, a pair is given in the question and we’ve to find a suitable pair from the options given that resembles the similar relationship as in the question like the examples below:
1) Borrow : Steal
a) Enter: Trespass

b) Tell: Speak

c) Ask: Beg

d) Hit: Kill
Here, for both ‘borrowing’ and ‘stealing’ we take someone else’s thing. The only difference being that the first thing we take is with the permission of another while second thing is taken without the permission of another. Similarly, among all the options, we see this option is seen in ‘Enter: Trespass’ where we ‘enter’ after taking permit while ‘trespassing’ is done without any permit whatsoever.
2) Cool: Frigid
a) Livid: Lurid

b) Pool: Placid

c) Tepid: Torrid

d) Lack: Abundant
Here, ‘Frigid’ means extremely cold. So, in Cool: Frigid, second is the extreme version of another. Let’s check the meaning of all options given:
a) Livid ⇒ Discolored beneath the skin: Lurid⇒ Ghastly pale  ⇒ This doesn’t give extreme version of paleness.
b) Pool⇒ A small lake : Placid⇒ a body of water free from disturbance by heavy waves  ⇒ This doesn’t give extreme version of pool.
c) Tepid⇒ Moderately warm: Torrid⇒ Extremely hot ⇒ Torrid is the extreme version of Tepid.
d) Lack: Abundant⇒ Present in great quantity ⇒ These two are opposite not extreme version.
We can see that only option c) fulfils the criteria.

IV). Multiple word analogy: These are the type of questions discussed above with the only difference being that here three elements are given in a pair instead of two and we have to select the suitable option. Like the example below:
1) Music: Guitar: Performer
a) Dance: Tune: Instrument

b) Food: Recipe: Cook

c) Patient: Medicine: Doctor

d) Trick: Rope: Acrobat.
In, Music: Guitar: Performer, ‘Performer’ plays ‘Music’ on ‘Guitar’. So, III element is playing/doing I element on II element.
From options, we can clearly see that this pattern is followed only in option d) i.e. Acrobat (An athlete who performs acts requiring skill) performs ‘Tricks’ on a ‘Rope’.

V). Number-based analogy: Till now, we saw the analogy based on words now we’ve questions based on numbers too like shown below:
1) Completing analogous pair.
25: 37 ∷ 49: ?
a) 41

b) 56

c) 60

d) 65
Here, in 25: 37 the pattern can be explained as  where  is the first element as 25 = 5^2 and  is the second element as 36 = (5+1)2 + 1.
For 49, we know that 49 = 72 so second element = = 65 which is option d).

2) Choosing the analogous pair.
Q. 7: 24
a) 30: 100

b) 23: 72

c) 19: 58

d) 11: 43
In 7: 24, 24 = 7×3 + 3 i.e. the relationship can be shown as
Similar relationship can only be seen in option b) 23: 72 where 23×3 + 3 = 69 + 3 = 72.
3) Multiple number analogy: It’s just like multiple-word analogy:
Q. (9, 15, 21)
a) (10, 14, 21)

b) (7, 21, 28)

c) (5,10,25)

d) (4, 8, 12)
In (9, 15, 21) the pattern given is  as 15 =  = 15 where 9 and 21 are 1^st and 3^rd numbers respectively.
Similar relationship can only be seen in so option d) where 8 (second no.) =  = 8

VI). Alphabet based analogy. In these types of questions, two words that are a group of random letters are related to each other in some way. We’re supposed to complete the analogous pair based on that relationship:
FJUL: BOQQ∷ LHRX: ?
a) BKPR

b) MNCC

c) HRYY

d) HMNC
The relationship between FJUL: BOQQ can be illustrated as:

If we do a similar operation on LHRX we can see following:

Hence, option d) is the answer.

VII). Mixed analogy: These types of questions mixed alphabet and number as shown below:
Q. 
a) 2

b) 3

c) 23/7

d) 4
Here, in , T is 20^th element in the alphabet series while J is 10^th so Similarly, X is 24^thelement in alphabetical series while H is 8^th so  So,

Non-Verbal Analogy Notes 

TYPE 1 -   ROTATION OF FIGURE

• In this type of question, we have to find similarity in the rotation of figure. Two figures are related to each other through a specific rotation of the same figure.
• Like in the above question figure (A) is rotated 180 degrees to obtain figure (B).
• Now we have to apply the same logic in the next two figures to obtain the answer figure.
• As we can see when we rotated the figure (C) by 180 degrees we get the figure shown in figure (2) of answer figures given.

ANS- (B)

TYPE 2 -   DISLOCATION OF FIGURE

• In these types of questions, we have to see how the first figure is getting dislocated or is getting combined to get our answer figure.
• Like in the above question figure (A) is 3 dots connected with 3 straight lines but in figure (B) the dots are getting dislocated from the lines and lines get inverted.
• We have to apply the same logic to get our answer figure.
• So in our answer figure, the dots and lines must need to be disjointed from each other and line gets inverted.

So figure (C) follows this pattern hence our answer will be C

ANS- (C)

 TYPE 3 -   INTERCHANGE OF IMAGES

• In these types of questions, images get interchanged from one another to get the other image.
• Like in the above question, in figure (A) circle is at the corner of the square and in figure (B) circle takes the position of the square and vice versa.
• So we have to apply the same logic to get our answer figure.
• Figure (C) is the combination of triangle and three line
• So in our answer figure, the position of lines and triangle must be interchanged. This can be seen in figure (1)

ANS- (A)

Further questions are framed using these three concepts or the combination of any two mostly.

But still, if any question is asked apart from these 3 conditions try to figure out the similarity in the given two figures and apply the same logic in the next two to get your answer.

All the best!
Team BYJU'S Exam Prep