Greetings word detective!  

 

Which word from the set of brackets would best finish this sentence??

Ordinary is to normal as strange is to (surprise, familiar, odd).

 

First, we have to work out how the word ordinary is connected to the word normal.

Normal is another word which means the same as ordinary.

We call this a synonym.?

 

This means we have to select a word which is a synonym for strange in order to best complete the sentence.?

The correct answer is odd, as it is a synonym for strange.

 

In this type of question, you must always find the connection between the words first.

The connection isn’t always a synonym.

Here are some other connections to look out for:

 

Connection	Example
Synonyms (similar meaning)	Start is to begin...
Antonyms (opposite meaning)	On is to off...
What something is made of	Shirt is to cotton...
What something goes inside of	Tea is to teapot...

 

 

Now let’s try another question:

Oven is to kitchen as sofa is to (lounge, relax, recline).

 

First, work out how the word oven is connected to the word kitchen.

It refers to the room in the house where we would find an oven.?

This means we have to select a word that names the room where we would find the sofa.

The correct answer is lounge, because this is one of the words we can use for the room where a sofa would be. 

 

Now it’s your turn.

Remember to find those connections!