CAT 2025 Lesson : Analogies - Common Relations

1. Common Relations

Understanding the relationship between the pair (or triplet) of words is the most important aspect. Please read the two words carefully to infer the relationship. The most common relationships are covered below.

1.1 Cause & effect

Here one event (cause) leads to another (effect). Such a relationship comes up in several questions. The question itself will have two words that signify a cause and an effect (e.g. rain : drenched, spendthrift : penniless), and you will be asked to choose the words which have a similar connect from the options.

Examples

Cause	Effect
Eclipse	Darkness
Fire	Heat
Heat	Sweat
Rain	Wet/drenched
Storm	Destruction of property
Food	Satisfaction
Sleep	Rested
Travel	Tired/jet lagged
Tectonic plate shift	Earthquake/tsunami
Smoking/bad habit	Disease
Water	Hydration
Meritocracy	Progress, upliftment
Bureaucracy/red tape	Corruption/delays

Cause	Positive Effect	Negative Effect
Factories	Manufacturing, jobs	Pollution
Greenhouse gas	Warmth, life	Global warming
Cars	Transportation, convenience	Traffic, pollution
Material	Robust, long lasting (if strong)	Fragile, breakable (if weak)
Kind ruler	Prosperity	Crime (if laws are not strict)
Diversity	Innovation, ideas	Miscommunication
Globalisation	Increased trade, access to international capital, access to markets, specialisation	Dependence on other countries, job losses, economic disparity
Democracy	Freedom, quality of life, respect for law, accountability	Corruption, inefficient administration, vote bank politics, suppression of minorities
Dictatorship	Efficient administration, low crime rates, lower corruption, stable government	Abuse of power, tyranny, lack of justice,negative impact of wrong policies, reduced checks and balances

Example 4

Select the option which expresses a relationship similar to the one expressed in the capitalised pair.

TREND : VIRAL ::

(1) Develop : deploy
(2) Disturb : Balance
(3) Sweltering : oppressive
(4) Challenge : insurmountable

Solution

There is a cause and effect relationship in the word pair given in the question. A trend (meaning tendency or fashion), used in its second meaning, becomes viral (meaning something circulated rapidly, usually on the internet).

Similarly, sweltering (meaning uncomfortably hot) heat is oppressive (meaning harsh and dictatorial or close and sultry) in its second meaning.

The other options do not have the same cause and effect relationship. Something is developed and then deployed, but development is not the cause. Thus, option (1) can be eliminated.

Balance can disturbed, but the order is inverted.
Challenges can be surmountable or insurmountable – but that would be a characteristic, not an effect. Therefore, options (2) and (4) can be eliminated. Therefore, option (3) is the correct one.

Answer: (3) Sweltering : oppressive

Example 5

Select the option which expresses a relationship similar to the one expressed in the capitalised pair.

Rain : sodden ::

(1) Transient : ephemeral
(2) Maceration : juice
(3) Eradication : poverty
(4) Lax : dispute

Solution

There is a cause and effect relationship in the word pair given in the question. Rain will ensure that the ground is sodden (meaning soaked with water).

Similarly, maceration of fruits will result in juice. So, option (3) is the correct choice.

Option (1) can be eliminated, as transient and ephemeral are synonyms (both words mean fleeting, lasting for a short time).

Option (3) provides a necessary action - poverty should be eradicated (meaning eliminated).
There is no relationship between lax (meaning not sufficiently strict) and dispute (meaning disagreement). So, option (4) can also be eliminated.

Answer: (2) Maceration : juice

1.2 Degree of intensity

Sometimes, both words could be similar, but not synonyms – they might differ in the degree of intensity. Knowing the degree of a word is then imperative to choosing the correct alternative. This is a common type of question which occurs in Analogy questions, typically as a test of your vocabulary with difficult words.

The degree could be:
- Increasing (e.g. warm : scalding; cold : freezing). Scalding is more intense than warm; freezing is more intense than cold.

- Decreasing (e.g. fever : cold; tree : shrub). A cold is less serious than a fever; a shrub is usually smaller than a tree.

We can classify adjectives and adverbs as Positive, Comparative and Superlative (e.g., rich, richer, richest). Some examples are provided below. Please read through the Parts of Speech lesson for more examples. However, you will probably get different words (e.g., angry : furious instead of angry : angrier).

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Angry	Angrier	Angriest
Big	Bigger	Biggest
Beautiful	More beautiful	Most beautiful
Good	Better	Best
Much	More	Most

Examples of intensity:

Aspect	Lower degree	Higher degree
Anger	Angry, irate, piqued	Enraged, infuriated, furious, livid, apoplectic, seething, incensed
Amount	Very	Extremely
Big	Large, sizeable, substantial	Huge, massive, mammoth, immense, colossal
Beauty	Pretty, charming, enticing, alluring, elegant	Radiant, bewitching, dazzling, gorgeous, angelic, exquisite, divine
Destruction	Dismantle, Demolish	Raze, Wreck
Happiness	Cheerful, contented, delighted, joyful, lively, merry, chirpy	Jubilant, overjoyed, exultant, intoxicated, on cloud nine
Heat	Warmth, sultry, hot, sweltering, tropical	Fiery, burning, blazing, blistering, piping, scalding, scorching
Irritation	Irritated	Exasperated
Importance	Weighty, substantial, significant	Colossal, life-altering
Sadness	Upset, gloomy, pessimistic, , sorrowful, sombre, doleful, dejected, melancholic, mournful, downcast, lugubrious, grieving	Bereaved, heartbroken, down in the dumps, disconsolate, despondent, suicidal, morbid
Wealth	Rich, affluent, well-off, prosperous, well-heeled	In clover, flush, loaded, filthy rich, rolling, stinking rich

Example 6

Select the option that expresses a relationship least similar to that expressed in the capitalised pair.

OPULENT : GRAND ::

(1) Gourmet : epigram
(2) Fervour : zest
(3) Profitable : viable
(4) Affluent : moneyed

Solution

The word opulent means ostentatiously costly and luxurious, and the word grand means magnificent and imposing in appearance and style. Opulent has a higher degree of intensity of luxury.

Therefore, we need to find an option which either has the opposite trend (increasing intensity) or no such relationship.

Fervour (meaning intense and passionate feeling) has a higher degree of intensity than zest (meaning enthusiasm and energy), profitable (meaning something which will yield a profit) has a higher degree of intensity than viability (meaning something which will be successful) and affluent (meaning having a great deal of money) has a higher degree than moneyed (meaning rich).

Gourmet (meaning a connoisseur) is unrelated to epigram (meaning witty saying). Epicure (meaning someone who takes a keen interest in food and drink, foodie) would have been a similar pair.

Thus, option (1) is the correct choice.

Answer: (1) Gourmet : epigram

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