Alphabetical Series in Reasoning

A series of alphabets, either in a single file or in combination, make up the Alphabetical Series section. There is a particular rule to how this sequence comes together. The candidates must recognise this rule to answer correctly on the test. Most of the time, there will be alphabetical order, and you will need to fill in the blanks. You may also be asked to locate the incorrect phrase or term that doesn’t fit with the sequence in other cases. 

Alphabet series questions tend to carry a lot of weightage when it comes to competitive exams. Hence, this article will help you understand what Alphabetical Series is in reasoning, how logical reasoning and alphabetical series relate to each other and the key aspects of Letter and Symbol Series examples. 

What is the Alphabetical Series in Reasoning?

Alphabetical Series questions include the letters of the English alphabet organised in various ways, such as reverse alphabetical order, skipping letters, etc. 

The best trick to solve Alphabetical Series questions is to correlate the English alphabet to the numbers, as shown below. 

Questions asked in the Alphabetical Series section are a literal example of how logical reasoning and Alphabetical Series are related to each other as it takes proper logical explanations to solve these questions. They consist of either one-lettered, two-lettered or three-lettered series following a set pattern, and we must determine the subsequent term. 

The questions under this section can be classified into three types: 

• One-lettered Series – Each term in the one-lettered series has a single letter and maintains a specific pattern. And we must determine the subsequent term using that pattern.

Example: What is the next letter in the series C, G, K, O, _______?

1. a) R
2. b) T
3. c) Q
4. d) S

Answer: d) S

Explanation: C = 3, F = 7, J = 11, N = 15 . Here the difference between the letters is 4. So the answer is 15 + 4 = 19, which is S. (refer to the table above).

• Two-lettered Series – Two-lettered series questions consist of terms containing two letters that follow a particular pattern. Our task is to determine the next term of two letters following the same pattern. 

Example: What is the next set of letters in the series DN, EO, FP, GQ, _______?

1. a) GR
2. b) HU
3. c) HQ
4. d) HR

Answer: b) HU

Explanation: D = 4, E = 5, F = 6, G = 7

N = 14, O = 15, P = 16, Q = 17

The first and second letters of the series are appearing consequently. So, the next term is HQ because H = 8 and Q = 18 (refer to the table above)

• Three-lettered Series – Each term in the three-lettered Series has three letters and follows a certain pattern. According to that pattern, we must determine the following term.

Example: What is the next letter in the series CNL, BLI, AJF, ZHC, _______?

1. a) XDY
2. b) YFZ
3. c) YFA
4. d) XFY

Answer: b) YFZ

1st letter of each term – C = 3, B = 2, A = 1, Z = 26 (decreasing by 1). The next letter will be Y = 25

2nd letter of each term – N = 14, L = 12, J = 10, H = 8 . ( Decreasing by 2 ). So, the next letter is 6, which is F.

3rd letter of each term – L = 12, I = 9, F = 6, C = 3 . ( Decreasing by 3 ) So, the next letter is 26, which is Z.

How Logical Reasoning and Alphabetical Series are Related to Each Other?

The student’s ability to comprehend the structure of relationships and make inferences from that understanding is tested through logical reasoning problems. Since we have already seen what is alphabetical series in reasoning, we know that it is all about figuring out and understanding the relationship between consecutive terms and making inferences from that. Thus, we can say that the Alphabetical Series is a subset of Logical Reasoning. 

Key Aspects of Letter and Symbol Series Examples – EJOTY Concept

It is critical to keep track of the alphabet’s placement when working on the problems of letters and symbols. Remembering the exact location of each letter might be a challenge. But it is possible to learn the alphabet’s locations by applying the EJOTY concept. 

Using this basic technique, you may memorise the alphabetic locations and solve problems quickly and simply. However, it’s good to familiarise yourself with the letter placements:

For example, our task is to locate the 24th letter from the left side of the alphabets. Now that we’ve established that Y is 25th, we need to discover the letter preceding Y, which is X. This can simply be done by subtracting one from Y’s placement, and the answer we get is 24. We may quickly determine the location of any letter in the alphabetical series by utilising this straightforward approach. 

Conclusion

Alphabetical reasoning questions may be included in nearly every competitive examination’s reasoning portion. Because of this, you’ll need to know the letters’ placements to answer all the questions. In this article, we talked about what is Alphabetical Series in reasoning, how logical reasoning and alphabetical series are related to each other and the key aspects of Letter and Symbol Series examples. Keep practising the same because it’s easy to score the right answers from this section.