Professional

Civil Service Exam analogy: name the relation, then test it.

Last reviewed May 2026

Analogy items are among the highest-leverage points on the Analytical Ability section. They reward one trick: name the relationship between two words, then test whether the same relationship holds for the candidate pair. You can learn that trick in an afternoon. Test-takers who haven't learned the method guess. Test-takers who have rarely miss.

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Quick facts

Primary subtest: Analytical Ability
Level: Professional only
Total items: 170 (Professional)
Difficulty to improve: Low (pattern-based)

The format and the one method that works

CSC analogy items follow the form A : B :: C : ?, pronounced "A is to B as C is to what?" You're given the first pair and the first word of the second pair. You pick the word from four options that completes the analogy with the same relationship.

The mistake most test-takers make is hunting for a word that "feels right" with C. That's not what the item is testing. It is testing whether you can identify the specific relationship between A and B, then apply the identical relationship to C.

The method is three steps. Take "DOCTOR is to HOSPITAL as TEACHER is to ?" The relationship is "works in." A doctor works in a hospital; a teacher works in a SCHOOL. The answer is school, not student, not principal, not chalk. Naming the relationship makes the wrong answers obvious instead of plausible.

1
Name it
Write the relationship between A and B as a complete sentence, like "A works in B" or "A is part of B."
2
Plug it in
Put each of the four options into that same sentence with C in the A slot.
3
Test the fit
Keep the option that makes the sentence true. The others should now read as obviously wrong.

Seven relationship types that cover most items

Most CSC analogy items use one of seven relationships. Learn these and you can name the pattern on sight. The watch column is where the wrong answers usually hide.

Relationship type	Example pair	What to watch
Synonym	HAPPY : JOYFUL	Same meaning. The candidate pair must be synonyms too.
Antonym	HOT : COLD	Opposite meaning. Near-synonyms in the option list are bait.
Part to whole	PETAL : FLOWER	Petal is part of a flower. Keep the same direction (part first, whole second).
Function or purpose	PEN : WRITE	A pen is used to write. KEY : OPEN follows the same pattern.
Agent to tool	CHEF : KNIFE	The person uses the tool, as in CARPENTER : HAMMER.
Cause and effect	RAIN : FLOOD	Cause first, effect second. FIRE : SMOKE works the same way.
Category to instance	BIRD : SPARROW	Broad category first, specific instance second. If the given pair runs instance to category, keep that direction.

The three traps

Most wrong answers fall into one of three traps. Each one looks reasonable until you say the relationship out loud.

Direction reversal. If the given pair is part-to-whole (petal : flower), an answer that is whole-to-part (forest : tree) is wrong even when it's a valid analogy. Always preserve the direction.
Same field, wrong relationship. "DOCTOR : NURSE" feels related to medicine, but the relationship isn't "works with" or "medical profession" in any useful sense, and CSC items rarely allow vague categorical relations. If you can't name the specific relationship in a sentence, you've picked wrong.
Degree differences. "WARM : HOT" is degree (same direction, greater intensity). "WARM : COLD" is antonym. The CSC separates these. "COOL : ?" with options like "warm," "cold," and "freezing" tests whether you can pick the right relationship type.

The tell If you can't write the relationship as one plain sentence, you don't have the answer yet. Vague topical links are the trap, not the answer.

How to drill: twenty minutes a day for one week

One week of focused drilling is enough to make the naming habit automatic. Build accuracy first, then add time pressure, then mix the topics.

Day	Plan
Day 1	30 items, untimed. Before looking at the options, write the relationship between the first pair as a complete sentence. Then check that the sentence applies to your chosen answer. This forces the naming habit.
Days 2 to 4	30 items per day with the sentence method. By day four the naming should be automatic and you should miss fewer than three per thirty.
Day 5	40 items under time, 30 seconds per item. The timed pressure tests whether you can name the relationship fast.
Days 6 to 7	Mixed-topic drills across science, government, and history. Vocabulary you've never seen is still solvable when the relationship is namable from context.

Worked examples

These items are written specifically for this guide. The actual practice bank pulls from a separate pool of original CSE-style items reviewed by passers.

Item 01
SCISSORS : CUT :: PEN : ?
- Apaper
- Bink
- CwriteCorrect
- Dletter
Explanation. Relationship: a tool is used to perform an action. Scissors are used to cut; a pen is used to write. "Paper" is what you write on (different relationship). "Ink" is what's inside the pen (part-to-whole). "Letter" is what you produce. Only "write" matches the tool-to-action relationship.
Item 02
PETAL : FLOWER :: ROOM : ?
- Adoor
- BhouseCorrect
- Cwindow
- Dfurniture
Explanation. Relationship: part to whole. A petal is part of a flower; a room is part of a house. "Door" and "window" are other parts of a room (same level, not the whole). "Furniture" is something inside a room. House is the whole that contains the room, the correct part-to-whole match.
Item 03
RAIN : FLOOD :: SMOKING : ?
- Afire
- Bcigarette
- Clung diseaseCorrect
- Dhabit
Explanation. Relationship: cause and effect. Rain causes flooding; smoking causes lung disease. "Fire" is associated with smoke but the relationship is reversed (fire causes smoke). "Cigarette" is the instrument, not the effect. "Habit" is a category that smoking belongs to. Only "lung disease" matches cause-to-effect.
Item 04
ENORMOUS : LARGE :: TINY : ?
- Ahuge
- BsmallCorrect
- Cmedium
- Dinvisible
Explanation. Relationship: stronger degree of an adjective to its milder form. Enormous is a stronger version of large; tiny is a stronger version of small. "Huge" is on the wrong side (it's a synonym of enormous, not tiny). "Medium" is neutral. "Invisible" is too extreme, since tiny things are still visible. The correct mild form is "small."
Item 05
DOCTOR : HOSPITAL :: JUDGE : ?
- Alaw
- Bverdict
- CcourtCorrect
- Dlawyer
Explanation. Relationship: professional and their workplace. A doctor works in a hospital; a judge works in a court. "Law" is the field, not the workplace. "Verdict" is what a judge produces. "Lawyer" is a related professional but not the workplace. Court is the matching workplace.
Item 06
DROUGHT : WATER :: FAMINE : ?
- Arain
- BfoodCorrect
- Cdisease
- Dhunger
Explanation. Relationship: a crisis defined by the scarcity of something. A drought is a scarcity of water; a famine is a scarcity of food. "Rain" is what's missing in a drought, not a famine. "Hunger" is a symptom of famine, not what's scarce. "Disease" is unrelated to the defining scarcity. Food matches the scarcity relationship.
Item 07
AGHAM : AGHAMAN :: SINING : ?
- Amusika
- Bsinaunang
- CsiningananCorrect
- Dmanlilikha
Explanation. Relationship: salita-batayan sa lugar na pinaglalagyan o ginagawan. Ang "aghaman" ay lugar para sa agham (laboratoryo o paaralan); ang "sininganan" ay lugar para sa sining. "Musika" ay uri ng sining, hindi lugar. "Sinaunang" ay pang-uri. "Manlilikha" ay tao, hindi lugar. The morphological pattern, adding "-an" to mark a place, is the relationship to preserve. The officially English Analytical Ability subtest tests word analogy; this Filipino-vocabulary variant is included here only as extra morphology practice, not as a CSC-defined item type.

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Study tactics that actually move the score

01
Always name the relationship in a complete sentence before looking at the options. Try "X is used to Y," "X is part of Y," or "X causes Y." If you can't write the sentence, you don't understand the relationship yet.
02
Watch the direction. Part-to-whole and whole-to-part are different relationships; cause-to-effect and effect-to-cause are different. The wrong answer is often a correct analogy in the reversed direction.
03
Eliminate "same field" traps. Doctor-nurse, lawyer-judge, and teacher-principal are related, but the relationship isn't usually the specific one being tested. Look for a precise relationship, not a vague topical link.
04
When unfamiliar vocabulary appears, work from morphology and context. The suffix "-an" in Filipino often signals place; "-ize" in English often signals action. You don't need to know the word's full meaning to spot the relationship.
05
Drill for speed once accuracy is solid. Aim for 30 seconds per item under timed conditions. That's the pace the section assumes.

Frequently asked questions

How many analogy items appear on the Professional paper?

The CSC does not publish a per-subtest or per-topic item breakdown, so any specific count online is an estimate. What is official: the Professional paper has 170 items total, and word analogy is listed under the Analytical Ability subtest (Professional level only). Online figures about exactly how many are analogy items are not from the CSC.

Are Filipino analogies common?

The CSC does not publish how many items use Filipino vocabulary, so any count is an estimate. Note that only the Verbal Ability subtest is given in English and Filipino; Analytical Ability items are in English. When Filipino vocabulary does appear, the method is the same, but familiarity with Filipino morphology (affixes like "-an," "mag-," and "-um-") helps you spot the relationship when the word itself is uncommon.

What if two answers seem equally valid?

Re-name the relationship more precisely. Generic relationships ("both are X") rarely win on the CSC; specific ones ("X is used to do Y to Z") usually do. The more precise the relationship, the fewer options fit.

Should I memorize a list of analogy types?

Memorize the seven types listed in the guide above (synonym, antonym, part-to-whole, function, agent-tool, cause-effect, category-instance). That's enough to name most of the relationships you'll see. Beyond that, drilling beats memorizing.

Are there ever five or six relationship layers in a single item?

Rarely. CSC items use one clean relationship per item. If you find yourself stacking conditions ("X is to Y as Z is to W only if also Q"), you've overcomplicated it. The right relationship is almost always one clean sentence.

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Relationship type

Example pair

What to watch

Synonym

HAPPY : JOYFUL

Same meaning. The candidate pair must be synonyms too.

Antonym

HOT : COLD

Opposite meaning. Near-synonyms in the option list are bait.

Part to whole

PETAL : FLOWER

Petal is part of a flower. Keep the same direction (part first, whole second).

Function or purpose

PEN : WRITE

A pen is used to write. KEY : OPEN follows the same pattern.

Agent to tool

CHEF : KNIFE

The person uses the tool, as in CARPENTER : HAMMER.

Cause and effect

RAIN : FLOOD

Cause first, effect second. FIRE : SMOKE works the same way.

Category to instance

BIRD : SPARROW

Broad category first, specific instance second. If the given pair runs instance to category, keep that direction.

Day

Plan

Day 1

30 items, untimed. Before looking at the options, write the relationship between the first pair as a complete sentence. Then check that the sentence applies to your chosen answer. This forces the naming habit.

Days 2 to 4

30 items per day with the sentence method. By day four the naming should be automatic and you should miss fewer than three per thirty.

Day 5

40 items under time, 30 seconds per item. The timed pressure tests whether you can name the relationship fast.

Days 6 to 7

Mixed-topic drills across science, government, and history. Vocabulary you've never seen is still solvable when the relationship is namable from context.