Analogy & Classification: Crack the Hidden Rishta

Q: Complete the analogy: DE : 45 :: GH : ?

D is the 4th letter and E is the 5th, so DE is written as its positions: 45. Applying the same rule, G is the 7th letter and H is the 8th, so GH becomes 78. The rishta is simply 'replace each letter with its alphabet position.'

Learn a simple 4-step method to solve number, letter, and word analogies plus odd-one-out classification for RRB NTPC. Includes the EJOTY shortcut, fully worked examples, and common traps to avoid so you bank these easy Reasoning marks fast.

By the PadhoDost Team · 📖 7 min read · Updated 4 August 2026

Part of Railway Exams (RRB) prep

🧠 Every analogy is a rishta (relationship)

At a wedding, the moment someone tells you 'Ram is Sita's husband,' you instantly know how to describe every other couple in the room. Analogy questions work exactly like that. First you spot the rishta (relationship) hidden inside the first pair. Then you hunt for the option that carries the very same rishta. Classification is the flip side: four items walk in, three are 'family,' and your job is to catch the outsider.

In RRB NTPC CBT-1 you get 30 Reasoning questions inside a 100-question, 90-minute paper, with +1 for a correct answer and -1/3 for a wrong one. Analogy and Classification are among the friendliest topics here: 4 to 6 near-guaranteed marks that a trained eye can clear in under 30 seconds each. Learn the method once and these become free marks, not time-eaters.

How an Analogy Question is Built

A : B :: C : D is read as "A is to B, as C is to D." The single colon (:) means 'is related to' and the double colon (::) means 'in the same way as.' Your job: find the rule that turns A into B, then apply that exact rule to C to get D.

Type	Example	Hidden rule (rishta)
Number	4 : 16 :: 6 : 36	Square of the number (n squared)
Number	6 : 42 :: 7 : 56	n multiplied by (n+1)
Letter	AC : EG :: IK : MO	Skip one letter inside each pair; the whole group jumps +4
Word	Pen : Write :: Knife : Cut	Tool paired with its function
Word	Doctor : Hospital :: Teacher : School	Person paired with their workplace

The 4-Step Method for Any Analogy

Solve in four quick moves

1Read A : B and name the rishta out loud - is it a square, a plus/minus jump, a synonym, a function, or a category? Be specific.
2Fix the direction. Doctor to Hospital is 'works at'; do not flip it. The order A-to-B must match C-to-D.
3Apply the SAME rule to C to produce D. Do not change the rule midway.
4For letters, convert to positions using the EJOTY anchors (E=5, J=10, O=15, T=20, Y=25) and count forward or back from the nearest anchor - far faster than reciting A, B, C...

📝 Worked example 1 - Number analogy

Question: 6 : 42 :: 9 : ?

Step 1 - Find the rishta from 6 to 42. Is it +36? Or a product? Check 6 x 7 = 42.

Step 2 - Confirm the pattern: 6 x (6+1) = 6 x 7 = 42. Rule = n x (n+1).

Step 3 - Apply the same rule to 9: 9 x (9+1) = 9 x 10 = 90.

Answer: 90

📝 Worked example 2 - Letter analogy (EJOTY in action)

Question: BDF : HJL :: PRT : ?

Step 1 - Positions of BDF: B=2, D=4, F=6 (inside the group, each letter jumps +2).

Step 2 - BDF to HJL: H=8, J=10, L=12. Every letter increased by 6 (B+6=H).

Step 3 - Apply +6 to PRT. Using the anchor T=20: P=16, R=18, T=20.

Step 4 - 16+6=22 (V), 18+6=24 (X), 20+6=26 (Z).

Answer: VXZ

Classification: Catching the Odd One Out

How to spot the outsider

1Scan all options for a property shared by MOST of them - perfect squares, prime numbers, even numbers, a category (flowers vs fruit), or a fixed letter pattern.
2The single item that lacks that shared property is your answer.
3Watch the usual traps: perfect squares/cubes hidden among ordinary numbers, primes versus composites, and one animal sneaked in among birds.
4If two different rules seem possible, pick the one that leaves exactly one odd item - a valid classification always has a single outsider.

📝 Worked example - Odd one out

Question: Which is the odd one out? 16, 25, 36, 40

Step 1 - Look for a shared property: 16 = 4x4, 25 = 5x5, 36 = 6x6 - all perfect squares.

Step 2 - Test the last one: 40 is not a perfect square (6 squared = 36, 7 squared = 49, so nothing squares to 40).

Step 3 - Three of them are squares; 40 breaks the pattern.

Answer: 40 is the odd one out.

⚠️ Direction is everything in word analogies. 'Doctor : Patient' (treats) is NOT the same rishta as 'Patient : Doctor.' If your first pair reads person-to-workplace, the answer pair must also read person-to-workplace - never workplace-to-person. Flipping the order is the single most common way students lose an easy mark.

💡 Memorise EJOTY: E=5, J=10, O=15, T=20, Y=25. From any anchor you can count a letter's position in 2 seconds (e.g. R is 2 before T=20, so R=18). And remember the negative marking - if you truly cannot find a clean rule, skip rather than guess wildly, because -1/3 quietly eats your score.

Quick revision before the exam

✓Analogy = find the rishta in the first pair, then repeat it exactly for the second pair.
✓Number analogies usually hide squares, cubes, n x (n+1), or a fixed +/- jump.
✓For letters, convert to positions with EJOTY and check the constant jump between groups.
✓Classification = three items share one property; the fourth is the outsider.
✓Keep the A-to-B direction identical to C-to-D - order is not optional.
✓Target under 30 seconds per question; these are your bankable, high-accuracy marks.

⚡ Quick check

Complete the analogy: DE : 45 :: GH : ?

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