Verbal Reasoning Related Words
The LINKED method in under four minutes — one real question, solved step by step.
A Related Words question gives you two words, each with a group of three words beside it. You pick one word from each group, so that both pairs are linked in the same way.
The link is a sentence, not a feeling, and it changes every question.
The video above and the worked example below take apart the same question.
The method
Six steps: link it in a sentence; in the second group, test it; no partner, next word; kind of word must match; exact link wins; decide on both words — and their first letters spell LINKED, because the two pairs are linked in the same way.
- Step 1 of 6
Link it in a sentence
Take a word from the first group. Say to yourself how it links to the first given word, as a short sentence: "a doctor uses a thermometer". Not "they go together". - Step 2 of 6
In the second group, test it
Say the same sentence about the second given word, and try each word in the second group in it. - Step 3 of 6
No partner? Next word
If nothing in the second group fits, that first-group word is out, even though its own link was true. Move on to the next one. The second group decides. - Step 4 of 6
Kind of word must match
Your two answers are the same kind of word as each other: two naming words, two doing words or two describing words. They need not be the same kind as the words they pair with. - Step 5 of 6
Exact link wins
If two pairs both seem to fit, make the sentence more exact. The closer, everyday link beats a loose one like "goes with" or "is found in". - Step 6 of 6
Decide on both words
One word from each group. Both must be right to score, so mark both.
About 30 seconds each. Some practice questions give an easier version, with only one word missing. Use the same steps.
Links to look for
In GL's practice papers the most common link is same or opposite meaning, like brave and fearless. Next comes what it is for: what it measures, or what you do with it. Others turn up once or twice: who uses it, where it is found, what it is part of. Every one is an everyday link you can say in a short sentence.
Our practice questions also use links of grammar, like write and wrote, and links of fact, like France and Paris. The same six steps work on them.
Watch for a second meaning. A given word can mean two things, and a wrong option may use the other meaning. The first pair shows which meaning the link needs.
Watch for these traps
We looked at all fourteen Related Words questions in GL's practice papers, and at every wrong word.
- It can fit, but have no partner. In 9 of the 14, a first-group word makes a true link on its own, but the second group has nothing to match it. Wood is to (tree, branch, chair) as wool is to (soft, knit, jumper). Wood comes from a tree, but wool comes from a sheep, and there is no sheep in the second group. So tree is out.
- Right topic, wrong link. Half of GL's wrong words are about the right thing in the wrong way: a place, a user, a part, or something true about it. Saw is to (wood, carpenter, blade) as needle is to (sew, cloth, pin). Carpenter and blade are both about saws, but the link here is the material it works on. A saw cuts wood, and a needle goes through cloth.
- Match your answers, not the given word. In 5 of the 14, an answer is a different kind of word from the word it pairs with. The two answers always match each other. Guitar is to (tune, strum, strings) as recorder is to (blow, notes, keys). Guitar is a thing, but its answer, strum, is a doing word. That is fine, because blow is a doing word too.
Don't know a word? Build the sentence from the pair you do know. Rule out anything with no partner or of the wrong kind, and take the most ordinary word left. Never leave a blank.
Try these yourself
Now have a go yourself — tap the two words that complete the analogy.
Related
- The complete 11+ question-type guide
- VR: Opposite Meaning — another two-group hunt, this time for opposites
- VR: Compound Words — one word from each group again, but the meaning is a trap there
All example questions come from the Brainblox question bank — practise this question type inside 25+ learning games, timed mock exams and focused practice. Brainblox is an independent app: not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by any exam board, school or assessment publisher, and it contains no past papers.