(http://ibpshub.

com)

Alphabet series tricks

IBPS Study Material (http://ibpshub.com/category/ibps-study-material/) 41884

(http://ibpshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/hiu.jpg)

Like Share 24peoplelikethis.Bethefirstofyourfriends.

4.21(84.29%)28
votes

(http://af liates.hostgator.in/af liate.php?id=6065_0_1_59)

(http://af liates.hostgator.in/af liate.php?id=6065_0_1_65)

Alphabet series tricks

Introduction :
Almost every test on reasoning contains questions on alphabetical series. In such a question, if it
consists of a single series of alphabets/combination, the alphabets/combinations are arranged in a
particular manner and each alphabet/combination is related to the earlier and the following alphabets in
a particular way. The examinees is supposed to decode the logic involved in the sequence and then ll in
the space containing the question mark with a suitable choice out of those given. But before we proceed
to discuss the various types of questions related to alphabetical series, we will talk of some basic facts
which are essential to an understanding of these types of questions.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

I. THE ALPHABET: The normal English alphabet contains 26 letters in all, as shown above

(Usually, questions on alphabet are accompanied by this normal alphabet). From A to M, the alphabet
completes its rst half, while the other half starts from N and ends at Z.

A-M 1-13 (First Alphabetical Half)

N-Z 14-26 (Second Alphabetical Half)

II. EJOTY: For purpose of convenience, it is helpful to remember this simple formula called EJOTY, with
the help of which you can easily nd the position of any letter without much effort. But for practical
purposes, you need to learn by heart the positions of different letters in the alphabet.

E J O T Y

5 10 15 20 25

Now, for instance, we wish to nd the position of, say, the 17th letter from the left side. You already know
that the 15th letter from the left side is O, therefore, the only thing you have to do is to nd a letter which
is two positions ahead of O, which is Q (The Answer). Using this simple formula, you can quickly nd the
position of any letter from the left side without much brain-rattling. Remembering the positions of
different alphabets is basic to solving any question on alphabetical series. One of the best ways to
achieve it is to practice EJOTY. Simply write down the full names of any 200 people you can imagine and
do as follows:

For example, lets say the name of the person imagined is ZUBINA. Now from EJOTY, we know that Z
stands for 26, U stands for 21, B stands for 2, I stands for 9, N stands for 14 and A stands for 1. Now
add up all these positions (26+21+2+9+14+1). What you get on addition does not have any
signicance, but it can be a very good way to try to make out and remember the individual positions of
letters in the alphabet.

III. FINDING POSITIONS: Much more commonly, you get questions in the tests which provide you
alphabetical positions from the right side. Since we are used to counting from the left side i.e. A, B, C
and not Z, Y, X, the formula we discussed earlier will be applicable with a bit of modication. But
before we proceed to discuss it, it is essential to remember one simple mathematical fact.

*Lets say there is a row of 7 boys in which a boy is standing 3rd from left. We want to know his position
from the right side.

I I I I I I I

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

You can see for yourself that the boy who was 3rd from the left is placed 5th from the right side.

The sum of both the positions is 8 (3+5), while the total number of boys is 7. This happens because we
are counting a single boy twice in the calculation process. If we had subtracted 3 from 7 (as some of us
might do), we would have got 4, which is obviously not the correct position from the right side. An
important conclusion emerges from this discussion. If we are dealing with an alphabet and we have been
given the position of any letter from either side, we will add 1 to the total no. of letters and then subtract
its position from one side to get its position from the other side. For example, lets nd the position from
the right of a letter which is the 9th from the left side.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26

26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
1

As you can see for yourself, the 9th letter from the left side, I, comes out to be the 18th from the right
side. Their sum (9+18=27) is again one more than the total number of alphabets i.e. 26. We can do this
operation easily by adding one to the total number of letters (26+1=27) and then subtracting 9 from it. It
gives you the letter position 18th from the right, which you can verify yourself from the above alphabet.
The same procedure will be applicable if we are given an initial right position and are supposed to nd it
from the left side. Take for example, a letter which is placed 11th from the right side. If we want to locate
its position from the left side, we will add 1 to total no. of letters and then subtract the right position
from it to get its position from the left side. 27 11 gives you 16. Using EJOTY, you can easily conclude
that the letter is P (16th from left, 11th from right)

The same logic is applicable if we are dealing with a situation in which the position of an item from the
top is given to us and we want to nd it from the bottom side or vice-versa.

IV. Still another type of question concerns nding the midpoint between two letters in the alphabet. For
instance, lets talk of a case which requires us to nd the mid-point between the 11th letter and the 17th
letter from the left side.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26

26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
1

You can see that there are ve letters between these two positions i.e. L, M, N, O and P. Obviously, the
midpoint of 5 items is the third item from either side, whether counted from the left or the right. It comes
out to be N, which is the correct answer. But frankly speaking, so much labour is not exactly required in
solving such questions. Lets let the cat out of the bag. In such questions, if the positions are given from
the same side (i.e. either both are from left or both are from right), simply add up the two positions, get
their average and you have the answer. In this case, the two positions are 11 and 17 from left. Adding
them and averaging them gives you 14. Recollect the EJOTY formula and you immediately come up with
the letter which is 14th from the left side (preceding O). The same procedure will be applicable if you are
given a case in which both the positions are counted from the right side. Remember that the answer you
get will be from the same sides which you have been given. Lets make this thing clearer by taking a
practical example.

*Consider a case in which we have to nd the mid-point between the 13th and the 19th letter from the
right side. Adding the two positions gives us 32, the average of which is 16. So we get the mid-point,
which is 16th from the right side (the same as the sides given in the question). Now we have to convert
this position into a position from the left.

Applying the logic discussed earlier, we subtract 16 from 27 and get 11th from the left, which is
obviously K. You can verify this answer by looking up the above alphabet. In fact, for such questions, one
should have so much practice that one does not need to look up the alphabet, which proves to be time-
consuming.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26

26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
2 1

Now let us consider the third case in which we have to nd the mid-point between two alphabetical
positions, one of which is given from the left and the other from the right.

*Take, for instance, a case in which we have to nd the mid-point between the 6th position from the left
side and the 11th position from the right side. The rst thing we have to do is to convert the right position
into a left position to make the data comparable in nature. Doing so gives us 16. Now add up 16 and 6
(because now both are from the same side), average them, apply EJOTY and you get the correct answer.

IV. REVERSING: Many questions concerning reversing of the alphabet are a part of reasoning tests.

Alphabet series tricks :

Introduction :

A B C D E
1 2 3 4 5
F G H I
6 7 8 9

J K L M N
10 11 12 13 14

O P Q R
15 16 17 18

S T U V
19 20 21 22

W X Y Z
23 24 25 26

Just mug up all the numbers related with alphabet like when i say
Just mug up all the numbers related with alphabet like when i say
K you must quikly count it as 11. So you must byheard every number
associated with the alphabet .
So I will explain you with below example of alphabet series

AD::GJ::MP:: ?

So now we have to solve the question part. So if you have mug up the numbers
you can replace the alphabets as

AD :: GJ :: MP :: ?
1,4 :: 7,10 :: 13,16 ::

So now we have to only play with numbers like

there is difference between 4 & 7 i.e is 3 again if you see 10 & 13
its 3

So now we know that we have to add 3 in 16 so its 19 and 19 is S.

AD :: GJ :: MP :: S
1,4 :: 7,10 :: 13,16 :: 19

Now we need to nd second number again if you see between 1 & 4

the gap is 3 . So add in 19 so its 19 + 3= 22 and 22 is V

So now answer is SV

AD :: GJ :: MP :: SV
1,4 :: 7,10 :: 13,16 :: 19,22

TYPES ALPHABET SERIES COMPLETION IN REASONING ABILITY

TYPE-1 :- Alphabet series
a) Increasing by a de nite number
e.g i) IJKL? ( each letter increases by 1)
ii) AGMSY? ( each letter increases by 6 place to its right position)

b) Decreasing by a de nite number

e.g. i) ZXVTRP ? ( each letter decreases by 2 places to its left )

c) Increasing successively
e.g. DEGJNS? ( +1,+2,+3,+4,+5)

d) Decreasing successively
e.g.
i) ZYWTP ( -1,-2,-3,-4 ..)
ii) ZTOKHFE ( -6,-5,-4,-3,-2,-1)
e) Decreasing and Increasing by a constant value.
e.g. i) DFCEBDACZ (+2,-3,+2,-3,)

TYPE-II :- ALPHANUMERIC SERIES

EX-1: Z1A, X2D,V6G,T21J,R88M, P445P,?

First letter: ZXVTRP (-2,-2,-2,..)

Second letter: ADGJMP ( +3, +3,+3,)
Series of numerals: 1,2,6,21,88,445 ( x1+1, x2+2, x3+3)
So next term is N2676S.

EX.2:- 2Z5,7Y7,14X9,23W11,34V13,?

First numeral- 2,7,14,23,34 (+5,+7,+9,+11..)

Second letter- ZYXWV ( decreases by 1 each time)
Third numeral- 5,7,9,11,13 ( increases by 2 each time)

EX-3 :- W-144 , U-121, S-100, Q-81,?

First letter- decreases by 2 each time
Second numeral- square of 12,11,10,9,8..

Type-III :- Continuous patterns series

Ex-1 : ab_ _ baa_ _ ab_
options i) aaaaa ii) aabaa iii) caabab iv) baabb

solution: our answer is ii) . Here series aba is repeated

Ex-2 :ab_aa_bbb_aaa_bbba
options i) abba ii) baab iii) aabb iv) abab

Solution- our answer is ii) . The series is abb/aaabbb/aaaabbbb/a. Thus the letter are repeated twice , then thrice , then four
times and so on .

Ex.3 _bc_ca_aba_c_ca
Options i)abcbb ii)bbbcc iii)bacba iv)abbcc
Solutions- our answer is i) . The series is abc/bca/cab/abc/bca. Thus the letter change in cyclic order .

Ex.4- _c_bd_cbcda_a_db_a
Options i) adabcd ii) bdbcba iii) cdbbca iv)daabbc
Solutions- our answer is i). The series is acdb/dacb/cdab/acdb/da. Each group of four letters contains the letters of the
previous group in the order third , rst , second and fourth.

Ex.5:- a_bb_baa_bbb_aa_

Options i) aabba ii) bbaab iii)abaaa iv)baabb

Solutions:- our answer is iii). The series is aabbbb/aaabbb/aaaa. At each step , the number of as increases by one while the
number of bs decrease by one.

Ex.6- _aba_cabc_dcba_bab _a
Options i) abdca ii) bcadc iii) abcdb iv) cbdaa
Solutions- Our answer is i) . The series is aababcabcd/dcbacbabaa. The letters equidistant from the beginning and the end
of the series is same .

Ex.7- mnonopqopqrs_ _ _ _ _
Options- i) mnopq ii)oqrst iii)pqrst iv) qrstu
Solutions- our answer is iii) . The series is mno/nopq/opqrs

1.Inthefollowingalphabetseries,onetermmissingasshownbyquestionmark(?).Choose

missingtermfromoptions.

U,O,I,?,A

Options:

(A.)E(B.)C(C.)S(D.)G
Answer:A.E

Justi cation:
The series consists of vowels A, E, I, O, U written in a reverse order.

2. In the following alphabet series , one term missing as shown by question mark . Choose missing term from options.
A, C, F, H, ?, M

Options:

(A.) L (B.) K (C.) J (D.) I

Answer: B . K

Justi cation:
The letters are alternately moved two and three steps forward to obtain the successive terms.

3. In following alphabet series , one term missing as shown by question mark . Choose missing term from options.

W, V, T, S, Q, P, N, M, ?, ?

Options:

(A.) I, J (B.) J, I (C.) J, K (D.) K, J

Answer: D . K, J

Justi cation:
The letters are alternately moved one and two steps backward to obtain the successive terms.

4. In the following alphabet series , one term missing as shown by question mark . Choose missing term from options.Z, L,
X, J, V, H, T, F, ?, ?

Options:
(A.) R, D (B.) R, E (C.) S, E (D.) Q, D
Answer: A . R, D

Justi cation:
The given sequence consists of two series Z, X, V, T, ? and L, J, H, F, ?, both consisting of alternate letters in a reverse
order.

5. In following alphabet series , one term missing as shown by question mark . Choose missing term from options.

AZ, GT, MN, ?, YB

Options:

(A.) KF (B.) RX (C.) SH (D.) TS

Answer: C . SH

Justi cation:
The rst letter of each term is moved six steps forward while the second letter is moved six steps backward to obtain the
corresponding letter of the next term.

6. In following alphabet series , one term missing as shown by question mark . Choose missing term from options.

AZ, CX, FU, ?

Options:

(A.) IR (B.) IV (C.) JQ (D.) KP

Answer: C . JQ

Justi cation:
The rst letter of the rst, second, third, . terms are respectively moved two, three, four, steps forward to obtain the
rst letter of the successive term.

The second letter of the rst, second, third. terms are respectively moved two, three, four, steps backward to obtain the
second letter of the successive terms.

Like Share 24peoplelikethis.Bethefirstofyourfriends.

Related Posts:

Number Ranking Coding Decoding Data suf ciency : Syllabus for Bank
tricks Tricks & Techniques PO: Reasoning
(http://ibpshub.com/
(http://ibpshub.com/ coding-decoding/) (http://ibpshub.com/ (http://ibpshub.com/
number-ranking- data-suf ciecy-tricks- syllabus-bank-po-
tricks/) techniques/)
PREVIOUS ARTICLEreasoning/)
 Direction Sense questions-answers (http://ibpshub.com/direction-sense-questions-answers/)

NEXT ARTICLE
Number Ranking tricks (http://ibpshub.com/number-ranking-tricks/)

3Comments Sortby Oldest

Addacomment...

AfnanRaufPAFKIET
Itsgood,,,,foracadmictest
LikeReply29June201516:18

AmitDesai
InacertaincodeTRILOGYiswrittenasHQSMXFN.HowisCREDITSwritteninthatcode?
howtosolvethis
LikeReply18July201519:48

ShriyaBajpaiRajKumarGoelInstituteofTechnology
DQBCRSH
LikeReply28July201511:51

VikasSinghGJUHisar,Haryana
awesome
LikeReply14September201514:35

FacebookCommentsPlugin

Newspaper is your news, entertainment, music & fashion website. We provide you with the latest breaking news and
videos straight from the entertainment industry.

We are your all-access pass to all the A-List stars around the globe.

Contact us: contact@ibpshub.com (mailto:contact@ibpshub.com)

FEATURED

IBPS Exam : Last minute tips and tricks | IBPS Exam Tips and Tricks (http://ibpshub.com/ibps-exam-tips-and-tricks/)

Marketing & Computer Aptitude Test (http://ibpshub.com/marketing-computer-aptitude-test/)

(http://ibpshub.com/computer-general-knowledge/)
Computer General Knowledge (http://ibpshub.com/computer-general-knowledge/)

IBPS Study Material For all Bank Exams (http://ibpshub.com/ibps-study-material-bank-exams/)

(http://ibpshub.com/banking-awareness/)
Banking Awareness (http://ibpshub.com/banking-awareness/)

POPULAR CATEGORIES

IBPS Study Material (http://ibpshub.com/category/ibps-study-material/) 90

Reasoning shortcuts (http://ibpshub.com/category/ibps-study-material/reasoning-shortcuts/) 1

Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation (http://ibpshub.com/category/ibps-study-material/quantitative- 1

aptitude-and-data-interpretation/)

IBPS Online Test (http://ibpshub.com/category/ibps-online-test-series-sample-test-papers-mock-tests/) 0

General knowledge (http://ibpshub.com/category/ibps-study-material/general-knowledge/) 0

Aptitude Shortcut Tricks (http://ibpshub.com/category/ibps-study-material/aptitude-shortcut-tricks/) 0

Number Ranking tricks (http://ibpshub.com/category/ibps-study-material/aptitude-shortcut-tricks/number- 0

ranking-tricks/)

2014 IBPS Hub. All Rights Reserved.