Free guide · Abstract reasoning · 3 min read

How to solve figure analogies

A is to B — name the transformation

Figure analogies hide one transformation in the A→B pair. Say it in words before you look at C, and the answer is mechanical.

Updated 30 September 2026

'A is to B as C is to ?' is a transformation puzzle: something turned A into B, and the same something must turn C into your answer. The entire skill is naming that something precisely — 'it rotated 90° clockwise and its shading advanced one step' — before your eyes ever reach the options.

The transformation inventory

Figural analogies here use combinations of four changes: rotation (in 45° or 90° steps), size change, shading change, and dot-count change. The shape itself stays — attributes transform, identity persists.

The strategy

Study only A and B. State the full transformation aloud in words.
Test your sentence: does it explain everything that differs between A and B? If not, extend it.
Apply the sentence to C. Form the answer in your head.
Only now look at the options and match your prediction exactly.

Common traps

The unchanged-C option (forgot to transform).
The B-repeated option (transformed the wrong figure).
The double-transform option (applied A→B twice).
Partial transforms: right rotation, forgotten shading step.

Speed · ~35s/item: Predict-then-match is measurably faster and more accurate than comparing every option against A and B — one derivation instead of five comparisons.

Worked example

Made by the same generator and answer checker as the practice questions, at middling difficulty, but never served in a test. Commit to an option before you reveal — the pick is yours alone and is never recorded.

A is to B as C is to — which option?

Reveal the answer

The answer is F.

Show why — the worked reasoning

Name the transformation that turns A into B before looking at the options: advance the shading by 2 step(s) in the outlined→hatched→solid cycle. Apply exactly the same transformation to C. The shape itself never changes — only the attributes listed. Distractors repeat C unchanged, repeat B, or apply the transformation twice.

Try it yourself: 4 practice questions

Pick an answer, then reveal it. Nothing is recorded, there is no clock, and none of these questions is ever used in a test.

Question 1 · Easy

A is to B as C is to — which option?

Reveal the answer

The answer is E.

Show why — the worked reasoning

Name the transformation that turns A into B before looking at the options: add 1 top dot(s), wrapping after three. Apply exactly the same transformation to C. The shape itself never changes — only the attributes listed. Distractors repeat C unchanged, repeat B, or apply the transformation twice.

Question 2 · Easy

A is to B as C is to — which option?

Reveal the answer

The answer is B.

Show why — the worked reasoning

Name the transformation that turns A into B before looking at the options: add 3 top dot(s), wrapping after three. Apply exactly the same transformation to C. The shape itself never changes — only the attributes listed. Distractors repeat C unchanged, repeat B, or apply the transformation twice.

Question 3 · Easy

A is to B as C is to — which option?

Reveal the answer

The answer is A.

Show why — the worked reasoning

Name the transformation that turns A into B before looking at the options: change the size by 1 step(s) in the small→medium→large cycle. Apply exactly the same transformation to C. The shape itself never changes — only the attributes listed. Distractors repeat C unchanged, repeat B, or apply the transformation twice.

Question 4 · Easy

A is to B as C is to — which option?

Reveal the answer

The answer is D.

Show why — the worked reasoning

Name the transformation that turns A into B before looking at the options: add 2 top dot(s), wrapping after three. Apply exactly the same transformation to C. The shape itself never changes — only the attributes listed. Distractors repeat C unchanged, repeat B, or apply the transformation twice.

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Questions people ask

What is a figure analogy?

A puzzle in the form "A is to B as C is to ?", using shapes instead of words. You find what changes from A to B and apply the same change to C.

Should you look at the options first?

No. Describe the change from A to B in words, picture the answer, then find it among the options. Comparing every option against A and B is slower and easier to mislead.

Which wrong answers are most common?

C left unchanged, B copied, the change applied twice, or only part of the change applied (the right rotation with the shading forgotten).

Will figure analogies questions be on the free test?

Usually. The free test gives abstract reasoning 6 of its 20 questions and spreads them across the 6 abstract reasoning question types, so each type normally appears once.

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