Word Analogies for Middle School: Crack the Relationship (Grade 6 to Grade 8 English)

Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. Bird is to fly as fish is to swim. That is an analogy. Analogies compare two pairs of words that share the same relationship. Today you will learn to crack them.

Analogies are often written with colons. One colon means is to, and two colons mean as. So hot, colon, cold, double colon, up, colon, down reads hot is to cold as up is to down.

The key strategy is to make a bridge sentence. Look at the first pair and say how the words connect. A bird uses its wings to fly. Then test the second pair with the same sentence.

Some common relationships. Synonyms: big and large. Antonyms: brave and fearful. Part to whole: page and book. Tool to user: brush and painter. Cause and effect: rain and flood.

Watch the order of the words. Petal is to flower as finger is to hand works, because each part belongs to a whole. But hand is to finger reverses it and does not match.

Let's solve one. Thermometer is to temperature as scale is to blank. Bridge sentence: a thermometer measures temperature. So a scale measures weight. The answer is weight.

Now it's your turn. Author is to novel as composer is to blank. Choices: piano, symphony or orchestra. Pause and try. An author creates a novel, so a composer creates a symphony.

Great job! To solve an analogy, find the relationship in the first pair, make a bridge sentence, and test each choice in the same order. Practice word analogies in the English Lab at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!