50 Examples of Verbal Analogies

The verbal analogies comparing the similarities between two pairs of words. For example: The sap that runs through trees. / The blood that runs through the veins. This verbal analogy compares the similar way sap and blood circulate.

An analogy is a phenomenon of language that has the peculiarity of comparing two things or two facts with each other. Understanding verbal analogies implies certain knowledge on the part of the reader since two different realities are compared.

For example: The youth is the spring of life. Youth is often compared to spring. If we take the words youth and spring in isolation, they may not have any relation to each other, but by placing them in the sentence and previously knowing that youth is compared as the flowering of life, it is possible to understand the verbal analogy.

• It can help you: Types of analogies

Non-literal meaning

Verbal analogies do not present a literal definition and, for this reason, many cannot be understood in another language or in a different dialect . The verbal analogy requires the verbal reasoning of the interpreter.

Characteristics of verbal analogies

• They are characterized by structure and not by content.
• They try to discern the relationship between two words.
• There are three types of possible relationship in verbal analogies: synonymy, antonymy, and logical relationship analogies.

Types of verbal analogies

Verbal analogies can be:

• Continuous or horizontal . The relationship is established between the first and the second word. For example: green is grass like yellow is banana
• Alternatives . They alternate the relationship between the words, that is, the relationship is established between the first word of each sentence and the second word of the first sentence along with the solution. For example: glass is to glass , like water is to wine .
• Incomplete . They are continuous analogies but with two missing parts, which the receiver must complete. For example: … is image like radio is… In order to complete the sentence, different options are offered: television – sound / graphics – sound / image – words / pixels – speaker. In this case, the correct answer is the first: Television is to image as radio is to sound .

Examples of easy verbal analogies

1. Weapon is at war as an argument for debate .
2. White is to black as day is to night .
3. Hot is to cold as light to darkness .
4. Footwear is at the foot as a glove is at hand .
5. Captain is to ship as mayor is to city .
6. Driver is to car as president is to country .
7. Doctor is to disease as peace treaty is to war .
8. The article is to the constitution like the verse to the Bible .
9. The car is to the garage as the plane is to the airport .
10. The shaman is to the tribe as the doctor to his patients .
11. The champagne is liquor such as milk is food.
12. The writer is to a book as a painter is to a painting .
13. The hunger is to food as thirst is to drink .
14. The lemon is sour as the sugar to glucose .
15. The oil is oyster as well to Pearl . (Alternating analogy)
16. The fish is to the water as the bird is to the air .
17. The rector is to the university as the principal to the school .
18. The clock is to time like the thermometer to heat .
19. The river is to the canoe as the road is to the car .
20. The sun is to the day like the stars to the night .
21. Chicken is to eggs as cow is to milk .
22. Left is to right as horizon is to vertical .
23. The bottle is to the wine like the pool to the water .
24. The fever is infection and stench of putrefaction .
25. The milk is the cow as the wool is the sheep .
26. The key is to the door like books to knowledge .
27. The morning is for breakfast as night is for dinner .
28. The skin is to the animal as the bark is to the tree .
29. The chair is a dining room as an armchair is a cinema .
30. The tortoise is hare like slow to fast . (Alternating analogy)
31. Tear is to sadness like smile to happiness .
32. The musical notes are to score as rhymes to poetry .
33. The clouds are the rain and the fire is the smoke .
34. The wheels are to car like the legs to the animals .
35. The keys are piano like the pieces to the puzzle .
36. The colors are to the painting like the words to the book .
37. The leukocytes are the soldier as a body to the war . (Alternating analogy)
38. The minutes are to the hours like the months to the years .
39. The ears are to listen as eyes to eyes .
40. Driving is by car as riding is on horseback .
41. Mountains are to sea as day is to night .
42. Dad is a man as Mom is a woman .
43. Umbrella is to the rain as an umbrella is to the sun .
44. Dog is to pack like bee to hive .
45. Pilot is to plane as machinist is to train .
46. Schumacher is at Formula 1 racing like Maradona is to soccer .
47. saw is a carpenter as a pot is a cook .
48. One hit is a bruise like sunshine is a heatstroke .
49. A thief is to robbery as a policeman is to arrest .
50. A vertebra is to the column like the mountain to the mountain range .