Select the word-pair that best represents a similar relationship to the one expressed in the pair of words given below. (The words must be considered as meaningful English words and must not be related to each other based on the number of letters/number of consonants/vowels in the word.) Horse : Mare
Bull : Cow
Understanding Analogies: Identifying Relationships
Analogies test your ability to identify the relationship between a given pair of words and then find another pair that shares the most similar relationship. The question asks us to find a word-pair with the same relationship as 'Horse : Mare'.
Analyzing the Given Pair: Horse : Mare
Let's look at the relationship between 'Horse' and 'Mare':
- A Horse is a common term for the species.
- A Mare is a female horse.
The relationship here is a male animal term to its female counterpart. Specifically, 'Horse' can sometimes refer to a male horse (stallion), or the species in general, and 'Mare' is strictly the female.
Evaluating the Options
Now let's examine the relationship in each option provided:
| Option Pair | Analysis | Relationship Type | Match with Horse : Mare? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bull : Cow | A Bull is a male bovine (cattle). A Cow is a female bovine (cattle). | Male : Female | Yes, this is a male-female relationship for the same animal species (cattle). |
| Duck : Chick | A Duck is an adult bird. A Chick is a young bird (specifically, often referring to young chickens, but also used for young birds in general, sometimes ducklings). | Adult : Young | No, this represents an adult-young relationship. |
| Dog : Calf | A Dog is a canine. A Calf is a young bovine (cattle). | Different Species, Adult : Young | No, this involves different animal species and an adult-young relationship. |
| Butterfly : Larva | A Butterfly is an adult insect. A Larva is an immature stage (e.g., caterpillar) of the butterfly's life cycle. | Adult : Immature Stage | No, this represents an adult insect and its developmental stage. |
Conclusion: Finding the Matching Relationship
Comparing the relationships, we see that the pair 'Bull : Cow' has the same male-female relationship as 'Horse : Mare'. A bull is a male cow (or bovine), and a cow is a female cow (or bovine). This mirrors the relationship between a male/general horse and a female horse (mare).
Therefore, the word-pair that best represents a similar relationship to 'Horse : Mare' is 'Bull : Cow'.
Revision Table: Animal Gender Terms
| Animal | Male Term | Female Term | Young Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horse | Stallion | Mare | Foal (male: colt, female: filly) |
| Cattle | Bull | Cow | Calf |
| Duck | Drake | Duck | Duckling |
| Dog | Dog (or Stud) | Bitch | Puppy |
| Butterfly | N/A (terms not common) | N/A (terms not common) | Larva (Caterpillar), Pupa (Chrysalis) |
Additional Information: Types of Analogies
Analogies can express various types of relationships. Understanding common relationship types helps solve analogy questions. Some common types include:
- Part to Whole: e.g., Finger : Hand
- Cause and Effect: e.g., Rain : Flood
- Synonyms: e.g., Happy : Joyful
- Antonyms: e.g., Hot : Cold
- Tool and User: e.g., Pen : Writer
- Action and Object: e.g., Read : Book
- Worker and Tool: e.g., Carpenter : Hammer
- Degree: e.g., Warm : Hot
- Category and Item: e.g., Fruit : Apple
- Male to Female: e.g., Lion : Lioness
- Adult to Young: e.g., Cat : Kitten
In this question, the relationship was primarily 'Male to Female' within the same species.
Important Questions from General Knowledge Based
Select the option that is related to the third word in the same way as the second word is related to the first word.
Dermatologist : Skin : Neonatologist : ?
Select the option in which the words share the same relationship as that shared by the given pair of words.
Horses : Neigh
Select the option in which the words share the same relationship as that shared by the given pair of words.
Raj Ghat : Mahatma Gandhi
Given below are four words out of which three are alike in a certain context and one of them is inconsistent. Select the corresponding word.
Four words have been given, out of which three are alike in some manner and one is different. Select the word that is different.
