EduTest Year 7 verbal analogies: 12 practice questions

Quick Answer

A verbal analogy asks your child to find the relationship in one word pair and apply it, in the same direction, to a second pair. This page from Braintree Coaching Australia has twelve original analogies for children preparing for an EduTest test for Year 7 entry, grouped into four relationship types. Every answer names the relationship, its direction, and why each wrong option fails. It is free and needs no sign-up.

Who is this analogy practice for?

This set suits a Year 5 or Year 6 child preparing for a school scholarship or entrance test run by EduTest for Year 7 entry. It is skill practice for verbal reasoning. We do not claim these items match questions on a real EduTest paper, and each school decides which EduTest sections it uses, so check your school's letter.

EduTest's own practice tests page lists four areas in its practice sets: Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and Mathematics. Our EduTest exam format guide explains how the sections fit together.

How do you solve an analogy? The bridge sentence

Before looking at the options, join the first pair with a short sentence. We call it a bridge sentence.

Example: glove is to hand as sock is to ?

1. Build the bridge. "A glove is worn on a hand."
2. Keep the order. The clothing comes first, the body part second.
3. Carry the bridge across. "A sock is worn on a ____." The answer is foot.
4. Test the tempting option. If shoe is offered, try it in the bridge: "A sock is worn on a shoe." That is false, so shoe is out, even though socks and shoes go together.

Words that simply "go together" are the most common wrong answers. The bridge sentence is how you tell them apart from the right one.

The questions

Say the bridge sentence for each one before you choose.

Part and whole

Question 1. Petal is to flower as page is to:

• A. book
• B. paper
• C. word
• D. library

Question 2. Orchestra is to violinist as team is to:

• A. coach
• B. player
• C. game
• D. league

Question 3. Chapter is to novel as scene is to:

• A. actor
• B. stage
• C. play
• D. audience

Tool, user and purpose

Question 4. Thermometer is to temperature as scales are to:

• A. heavy
• B. kitchen
• C. balance
• D. weight

Question 5. Author is to pen as sculptor is to:

• A. statue
• B. chisel
• C. stone
• D. gallery

Question 6. Key is to unlock as scissors are to:

• A. sharp
• B. paper
• C. cut
• D. blade

Degree

Question 7. Warm is to hot as cool is to:

• A. cold
• B. mild
• C. warm
• D. ice

Question 8. Furious is to annoyed as terrified is to:

• A. petrified
• B. brave
• C. angry
• D. uneasy

Question 9. Whisper is to shout as stroll is to:

• A. amble
• B. sprint
• C. path
• D. shoes

Cause, effect and category

Question 10. Drought is to famine as spark is to:

• A. match
• B. water
• C. fire
• D. cold

Question 11. Tired is to yawn as cold is to:

• A. shiver
• B. winter
• C. blanket
• D. ice

Question 12. Sparrow is to bird as salmon is to:

• A. river
• B. trout
• C. scales
• D. fish

Answers and worked explanations

Question 1: A, book. Bridge: a petal is one part of a flower. Direction: part to whole. A page is one part of a book. Paper is what a page is made of, which is a material relationship. Word is a part of a page, so it runs the wrong way. Library is a collection of books, one step too far.

Question 2: B, player. Bridge: an orchestra is made up of members such as a violinist. Direction: whole to part. A team is made up of players. League is the trap: a team belongs to a league, which is part to whole, the reverse of the first pair. A coach directs a team (like a conductor) and is not one of the members playing. Game is what a team does.

Question 3: C, play. Bridge: a chapter is a section of a novel. Direction: part to whole. A scene is a section of a play. Actor, stage and audience all belong in a theatre, so they "go with" scene, but a scene is not a section of any of them.

Question 4: D, weight. Bridge: a thermometer measures temperature. Direction: instrument to the thing measured. Scales measure weight. Heavy is a describing word, and the first pair ends in a naming word (temperature, not "hot"). Kitchen is a place scales might be kept. Balance is another kind of scales.

Question 5: B, chisel. Bridge: an author works with a pen. Direction: person to tool. A sculptor works with a chisel. Statue is what a sculptor makes, which would match "author is to book". Stone is the material. Gallery is where the work is shown.

Question 6: C, cut. Bridge: a key is used to unlock. Direction: tool to its action. Scissors are used to cut. Sharp describes scissors. Paper is what they act on. Blade is a part of them.

Question 7: A, cold. Bridge: hot is a stronger form of warm. Direction: mild to strong. Cold is a stronger form of cool. Mild is no stronger than cool. Warm is on the other side of the scale. Ice is a thing, not a degree of temperature.

Question 8: D, uneasy. Bridge: annoyed is a weaker form of furious. Direction: strong to mild. Uneasy is a weaker form of terrified. Petrified is the trap: it is on the right scale but even stronger, so it runs the wrong way. Brave is an opposite. Angry belongs to the first pair's scale, not the second.

Question 9: B, sprint. Bridge: a whisper is a very quiet way of speaking and a shout is a very loud way. Direction: gentle to forceful, in the same activity. A stroll is a very slow way of moving on foot and a sprint is a very fast way. Amble means nearly the same as stroll. Path and shoes go with walking and say nothing about speed.

Question 10: C, fire. Bridge: a drought can cause a famine. Direction: cause to effect. A spark can cause a fire. Match is the trap: a match can cause a spark, so it runs effect to cause. Water and cold are things we connect with putting fires out.

Question 11: A, shiver. Bridge: being tired makes you yawn. Direction: feeling to the body's reaction. Being cold makes you shiver. Winter is a cause of feeling cold, the wrong direction. Blanket is a fix for it. Ice is another cold thing.

Question 12: D, fish. Bridge: a sparrow is a kind of bird. Direction: example to category. A salmon is a kind of fish. Trout is another example at the same level, like answering "sparrow is to bird" with "robin". River is where a salmon may live. Scales are a part of a fish.

What mistake patterns should we look for?

Pattern	Seen in	What to practise next
Right relationship, wrong direction	2 (league), 8 (petrified), 10 (match), 11 (winter)	Say the bridge sentence aloud and keep the word order
Chose a word that only "goes with" the third word	3, 5 (statue, stone), 9, 12 (river)	Put the option into the bridge sentence and check it is true
Wrong type of word	4 (heavy), 6 (sharp), 7 (ice)	Check whether the first pair ends in a naming, doing or describing word
Same-level word instead of the category	12 (trout), 9 (amble)	Ask "is this a kind of it, or just like it?"

Can my child try the skill on a new task?

Write your own analogy for each relationship below, then swap with someone and solve theirs.

1. Part to whole
2. Person to tool
3. Mild to strong
4. Cause to effect

Self-check: for each one, say the bridge sentence for the first pair and then for the second. If the same sentence fits both pairs without changing the word order, the analogy works. Then write one wrong option that uses the right relationship backwards. Spotting those in your own questions makes them easier to spot in a test.

What should we do after this set?

• If direction errors came up more than once, redo Questions 2, 8 and 10 tomorrow and explain each trap aloud.
• For practice across all EduTest areas, open the EduTest practice resources guide.
• The free mock tests need a free classroom account. Use one when your child is ready for a timed sitting.
• If you want a structured set of full tests after that, see what the Year 7–8 entry EduTest course includes. Confirm your child's entry year and your school's test provider before buying.

Sources and review

Official source (checked 2026-10-05): EduTest, practice tests: practice sets cover Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and Mathematics for Years 4 to 11.

Where the questions came from: all twelve analogies, the worked example and the transfer task are original Braintree Coaching Australia material written for this page. None is taken from an EduTest or third-party paper.

Author: James Rush, content writer, Braintree Coaching Australia.

Answer check: every answer was solved a second time, independently of the author, before publication. A named teacher review has not yet been recorded for this set. If you find an error, please tell us.

Last updated: 2026-10-05.