Questions
4 questions per paper
Difficulty
Medium
Importance
High yield for SSC and Bank PO exams
Overview
Analogy and Classification are pillars of logical reasoning that test your ability to perceive relationships between words, numbers, or symbols. Mastery of these topics is essential for competitive exams like SSC CGL and banking as they reward candidates who can identify underlying patterns and logical mappings with high speed. Success hinges on recognizing semantic connections and mathematical progressions rapidly.
Word Analogy
This subtopic tests your vocabulary and knowledge of semantic relationships such as cause-effect, part-whole, or functional dependency. Questions require identifying the exact logic connecting the first pair and applying it to find the missing term in the second pair.
- Synonym/Antonym relationships
- Tool and Action pairings
- Product and Raw Material relationships
- Study and Subject area mappings
- Geographical or Scientific classification
Number Analogy
Number analogies involve detecting mathematical transformations or series logic between pairs of numbers. These are frequently solved using common arithmetic properties or operations like squares, cubes, and prime factorizations.
- Check for X^2 or X^3 relationships
- Look for addition/subtraction of a constant
- Identify prime number sequences
- Analyze digital sum or digital product patterns
- Check for geometric progression multiplication
Letter Analogy & Odd One Out
Letter-based logic requires converting alphabets into their numerical positions to identify shifts or coding patterns. Classification (Odd One Out) forces you to isolate the item that lacks a shared property common to the rest of the set.
- Use A=1, B=2, ..., Z=26 mapping
- Identify cyclic shift patterns
- Apply reverse alphabetical order logic
- Test for odd/even vowel-consonant groupings
- Check for consistent gaps between letter sequences
Formula Sheet
N^2 +/- k
N^3 +/- k
Letter position mapping (A=1...Z=26)
Digit Summation Logic
Exam Tip
If you cannot identify the pattern in 30 seconds, skip the question and move on; never get trapped in 'complex' calculations that are likely red herrings.
Common Mistakes
- Misidentifying the direction of the relationship, such as treating a 'part-to-whole' pair as 'whole-to-part'.
- Spending too much time on a single pattern while ignoring simpler alternatives like digit summation.
- Assuming only one logic exists when multiple patterns might initially seem plausible.
More Revision Notes
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