The reasoning section of almost every 11 Plus examination contains questions on Alphabet Reasoning. In this topic, questions are asked relating to positions of English alphabets. This topic is very important from exam point of view. So you need to memorize the positions of the alphabets so that you can handle each and every question based on this topic. While teaching at Champs Learning, I try to discuss various types of alphabet reasoning as below:
1. THE ALPHABET:
The English alphabet contains 26 letters, as given below:
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
From A to M, the alphabet completes the first 13 letters that is the first half, while the second half starts from 14th letter that is it starts from N and ends at Z.
(First Alphabetical Half) A to M ⇒ 1 to 13
(Second Alphabetical Half) N to Z ⇒ 14 to 26
2. Concept of EJOTY:
The positions of alphabets can be remembered with the help of this simple concept, you can easily find out the position of any letter without much effort. But it is advisable that you learn the positions of different letters in the alphabet.
E J O T Y
5 10 15 20 25
For example, we are asked to find the 24th letter from the left side of the alphabet. We already know that the 25th letter from the left-hand side is Y, now we need to find letter before Y and that is X. By using this simple method, we can easily find out the position of any letter in the alphabet. Memorizing the positions & sequence of letters is a basic to solve any questions of this type, so you should try to memorize these positions. For this particular reason, you should practice EJOTY. Write down the names of ten of your friends & do as given below:
Let us take an example of name RAVI. With the help of EJOTY, we know that the letter R stands for number 18, A stand for 1, V stands for 22, I stands for 9. Adding all these numbers, we get (18+1+22+9). This is a very good way to remember the positions of all the letters in the alphabet.
3. Positions of letters from Right Hand Side (RHS):
Many a times we get questions in the tests that ask us the position of a letter from the right hand side. Although we are in a habit of counting from the left side of the alphabet & not from the right hand side of the alphabet. We are discussing this by taking an example and then we will make a mathematical formula.
Suppose there is a row of 8 persons in which a person is standing 5th from left. Let's find out his/her position from the right side.
I I I I I I I 1
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
You can see that the person who was standing fifth from the left hand side is placed fourth from the right side. Suppose there are ‘n’ persons, the order can be horizontal (from left to right) or vertical (from top to bottom) and if the position of a person is given which is rth from left then his position from right will be (n+1-r). Likewise this concept can also be used if their sitting order is vertical. Sum of positions from left and from right will always be (n+1). As given in the above mentioned example there are 8 persons, position of 5th person from left will be 4th (8+1-5)from right. Sum of both the positions is (4 + 5) = 9. If we are dealing with letters & we are given the position of any letter from either side, we need to add 1 more to the total number of letters & then subtract the position from left side to get its position from the right side.
For instance, let us find the position from right side of a letter, which is the 10th from left side.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z from LHS
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 from RHS
As you can see, the 10th letter from the left hand side of the alphabet is J, which is 17th letter (26+1-10) from the right hand side of the alphabet. We did this operation by adding 1 to the total number of letters (26 + 1 = 27) and then subtracting 10 from it. This same logic is to be applied if we have given an initial right position and we need to find the position from the left side, or we have given initial position from top and we have to calculate position from bottom and vice-versa
- Finding the central symbol/letter/digt
Many a times the question asks the middle letter/digit in the sequence given e.g. find the middle letter between the 12th letter and the 20th letter from the left hand side of the alphabet.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
→
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
→
You can see that there are 7 letters between these 2 positions i.e. M, N, O, P, Q, R and S. We know that the midpoint of 7 items is the 4th item from either of the sides, whether counted from the right hand side of the alphabet or the left hand side of the alphabet. It comes out to be P, which is the correct answer in this particular case. But so much effort is not needed in solving such questions. In these type of questions, if the two different positions are given from the same side (i.e. either both are from the left hand side of the alphabet or both are from the right hand side of the alphabet), we can simply add up the 2 different positions from the same side, get their simple average and thus, the correct answer. In this particular case, the two positions are 12 and 20 from the left hand side of the alphabet. Adding and then averaging them, we get 16. Recollecting the EJOTY formula that we discussed earlier, we come up with the letter which is 16th from left side (after O) is P. The same process can be applied if we are given a case in which both the positions are counted from the right hand side of the alphabet. Remember, the answer we get will be from the same from both sides. Let’s make this clearer by discussing an illustration.
Consider a scenario in which we have to find the mid-point between the 11th and the 17th letter from the right hand side of the alphabet. Adding the two positions, we get total as 28. The average of these two numbers is therefore 14. So, the mid-point is 14th from the right hand side of the alphabet (the same as the sides given in the question). Now we will convert this position into a position from the left hand side of the alphabet. Applying the logic which we had applied earlier, we will subtract 14 from 27 and get the answer- 13th from the left hand side of the alphabet, which is M. You can verify this answer by looking up the above alphabet.
- Fill in the blank Series
These types of series consist of small letters which follow a specific pattern or series. Some spaces are left blank in between the series given. We have to fill in the blanks from given options to make a pattern. This can be clearly explained by this illustration:
Illustration: pq_ _ qpp_ _ pq _
- ppppp2. ppqpp3. ppqpq4. qppqq
Sol: In order to solve these kinds of series, we should fill the given blanks by taking each option one by one & see where it forms a logical pattern. When you try to fill the first option, it becomes pqppqpppppqp. It does not result into any particular logical pattern. If you fill the second option you get pqp/pqp/pqp/pqp. It has been separated by the symbol “/” for your better understanding. Now, this becomes a pattern of writing pqp again & continously. So, the second option becomes the correct answer to this given question.
Q1. What will the 12th letter of the alphabet if the second half of the alphabet is written in reverse order?
- H2. G3. L4. X
Answer: Option 3
Sol:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
→
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
→
The most essential thing to note in a question like this is to find out where exactly the required position falls, i.e. in the second half of the alphabet or the first half of the alphabet. So, the answer falls in the first half. Now, even if the second half of the alphabet is written in reverse order, it will have no effect on the position of our 12th letter. So in this particular case, we have to simply decide the 12th letter from the left hand side of the alphabet, which is L, by using the EJOTY method discussed earlier.
Q2. What will be the 11th letter from the right side if the first half of the alphabet is written in reverse order?
- L2. O3. M4. P
Answer: Option 4
Sol:
M L K J I H G F E D C B A
→
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
→
Now examine this illustration carefully. It is exactly similar to the first question that we discussed. If we want to count from the right hand side of the alphabet & the answer falls in the first half from right hand side (the actual second half of the alphabet is now the first half of the alphabet as you start counting from this side). So, reversing the first half of the alphabet of a normal alphabet will have no effect on the correct answer. So the question can be rephrased like finding the 11th letter from the right hand side of the alphabet. The correct answer as you can find is P.
Q3. Which letter in the alphabet will be 16th from the left hand side if the second half of the normal alphabet is reversed?
- S2. X3. J4. R
Answer: Option 2
Sol:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
→
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
→
Your answer will fall in the second half of the alphabet (as the first half of the alphabet is complete when you are at 13th position from the left hand side of the alphabet). So the letters A to M remain the same while the letters N to Z are written from Z, Y, X till N. So, we can count 13 letters from A to M & then add three letters from the behind of the alphabet. You can see that the third letter from back side is X, which is the correct answer to the given question. So, we have solved this particular question by looking at the above alphabet. Let us solve it in a faster way without looking up the alphabet given above.
Now, since only the second half of the alphabet is to be reversed, we can easily skip the first half that is the first 13 letters of the alphabet, which should be assumed to have been counted in a completely normal way. Now, the question remains as how to find the 16th letter from the left hand side of the alphabet with the reversed second half of the alphabet. Simply, you can count the 3rd letter from the right hand side of the alphabet (which is obviously the 24th from the left hand side of the alphabet), which if added to the number 13, makes it the 16th from the left hand side of the alphabet. Refer to the above figure for clarity. Applying the earlier process, the third letter from right hand side of the alphabet is X, so we get the same answer to the given question.
Q4. What would be the 14th letter from the left side if the normal English alphabet was written in reverse order?
- M2. C3. J4. None of these
Answer: Option 1
Sol: For better understanding of the EJOTY rule, let us write the alphabets in the reverse order.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
→
26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14
←
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
→
13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
←
So, the alphabet will look like Z, Y, X… from left hand side if we reverse the whole of the alphabet. Imagine that what was on the left hand side of the alphabet earlier is on the right hand side of the alphabet now. Then, A will go on the extreme right hand side, followed by B and so on. Practically, what was 14th from the left hand side of the alphabet earlier is the 14th from the right hand side of the alphabet now. So if this 14th letter from right hand side of the alphabet can be converted to left hand side of the alphabet i.e. 13 and we know from EJOTY rule that the 13th from left hand side is M.
Q5. Which is the 4th letter to the right of the 8th letter from the left side?
- J2. S3. B4. L
Answer: Option 4
Sol: We should see the latter part of the question. If we start counting from the left side, we will arrive at the 8th letter which is H. Starting from H, you have to find the 4th letter to its right, which is L. Practically, L is placed at the 12th position from the left side which you can get by adding the numbers given in the question (8+4).
Rule: Whenever you are given 2 opposite directions to count from, i.e., left- right or right-left, you should add up the 2 numerals & should count from the direction that is given at the end of the question.
Q6. BEI : NTA : : IRB : ?
- JPW2. PCR3. MYL4. SJE
Answer: Option 3
Sol: The components of all these given sequences are related to their preceding and following components in a particular manner. To ease the subject, we shall assign the respective alphabetical positions to the letters.
Series Alphabet Reasoning
You can see in the above example that the difference between successive components is increasing by 1 position every time. This question asks you to determine the next 3 letters working with the similar logic. It is here that EJOTY formula will prove very handy. Applying that formula, you can easily find the correct answer i.e. +11, +12 and then +13, which turns out to be MYL.
Q7._xx_ yx _ yy _ xy _ xxy
- xxxyy2. yxyxy3. yyxxy4. yyyxx
Answer: Option 3
Sol: Here applying the same logic as explained above, when you fill the third option in the blanks you get yxxy/yxxy/yxxy/yxxy. This becomes a valid pattern and hence the answer is option 3.
Q8. xz _ zxy _ yxzx _ xyx _ xzxz.
- xxzy2. xzyz3. yxyy4. yzyy
Answer: Option 1
Sol: Applying the same logic as explained above, when you fill the first option in the blanks you get xzxz/xyxy/xzxz/xyxy. Thus xzxz and xyxy is repeated alternatively. Thus first option is the answer.
Q9. APZLT, BQYMR, CRXNP, DSWON, ?
- KVIUJ 2. JUUVK 3. ETVPL 4. KUUVJ
Answer: Option 3
Sol: First letter in every group of words is in ascending order of ABCDE. The second letter in every group of words is also in the ascending order of PQRST, the third letter in every group of words is in the descending order of ZYXWV, fourth letter in every group of words is in the ascending order of LMNOP and the last letter in every group of words is in the descending order with a gap of one letter, i.e., ETVPL.
Q10.Which of the following will come in place of the question mark (?) in the following letter series?
BXF, DVI, FTL, HRO,?
- JPL2. KPL3. JOL4. None of these
Answer: Option 4
Sol: First letter moves +2 steps. Second letter moves – 2 steps. Third letter moves + 3 steps. JPR replaces the ‘?’. Hence answer is option 4.