Tips and tricks and shortcuts to solve alphabet series

June 23, 2019

Below mentioned are certain tips and tricks to solve alphabetic series:
To simplify it all the letter series problems have been bifurcated into 4 parts, which are explained briefly with the help of and example:

1.)General series of alphabet:

Here we will be given a statement in the question, specifying a position of any one alphabet. Now we will be asked to find the position of one specific letter in the series making sure, that letter follows the same order of the series.
For Example:

Question.1

Find the letter which is 6’th to the right of the 11’th letter from the left of a forward alphabet series?
Options:
A.)R
B.)K
C.)Q
D.)S

Explanation:

18’th letter of the forward series from the left hand = K

A1
B2
C3
D4
E5
F6
G7
H8
I9
J10
K11
L12
M13
N14
O15
P16
Q17

Now 6’th letter towards its right= Q
Special tip:
If the series follow same direction then “Subtraction”
If the series follow opposite direction then “Addition”
Here since the series is following opposite direction therefore = 11+6= 17

Correct Option: C

2.)Words in alphabetical order:

In such type of questions we will be given certain words and shall be asked to arrange them as per dictionary norms or in other words how will they appear in the dictionary.

Question 1 :

From the below mentioned words, which word will come at the 4’th position in the dictionary?
Options:
A.)Jack
B.)Jill
C.)John
D.)Jimmy

Explanation:

Position in the dictionary:
Jack – 1
Jill- 2
Jim – 3
John- 4
Therefore option C is the correct one.

Correct Option: C

3.)Problems of word pair formation:

In such type of questions we would be given a word and shall be asked find how many words can be formed by finding out the link in between the difference in each letters of the word.
For example:

Question 1.

How many letter pairs are there in the word “CONTRAVORSY” which has as many letters between it as the English alphabet?
Options:
A.)1
B.)2
C.)3
D.)4

Solution:
Here we have to solve it by dividing the word in 2 different sections by counting the letters from the right and the left hand side and

C O N T R A V O R S Y
RS RO, firstly write the position of Each alphabet
C O N T R A V O R S Y
3 15 14 20 18 1 22 15 18 19 25
Now we have to search for the numbers that are perpectual for example in the above series 19 comes after 18 which means there is no letter in between them.
And here also there is no letter in between R and S Hence one pair is RS .
Now 14 and 15 ie O and N therefore next pair is ON
Now come 15 and 18 since we can see that there is a difference of 2 between 18 and 15 and in the above series also two alphabets are coming between O and R hence next pair is OR
Therefore Option C is the correct one.

Correct Option: C

 

4.)Interchange of letters:


Here there is no rule of thumb, only practice can help in achieving perfection.
For Example:

Question 1. 

If C and E interchange their place and D and F change their places and E and G change their places then which letter will be 6’th to the left of O
Options:
A.)P
B.)N
C.)M
D.)T

Solution:

Here Since O has replaced R therefore 6’th letter will be N
Hence option B is the correct one.

Correct option: B