Types of Alphabetic Series and Their Importance

The alphabetical series is a predominant segment of logical reasoning. The logical reasoning section is present in almost every competitive examination. As the name suggests, we have to form a logical alphabetic arrangement with the given letters from the jumbled English alphabets. The most commonly asked questions are related to the position of a letter in alphabets. The questions may differ on whether to find the position of the letter from the right or left of another letter position in alphabetical order. The questions may also ask the number of letters placed between two letters. The following sections will discuss the type of concepts that will help solve the alphabetic series. 

Basic Concepts of Alphabetic Series 

Numbering the Alphabets 

As we know, the alphabet in the English language has 26 letters. These 26 letters are assigned numbers from 1 to 26.

The first half consists of letters A to M (1 to 13).

The second half consists of the letters N to Z ( 14 to 26).

The EJOTY Concept 

With this concept, we can remember the positions of any letter without much difficulty. The following table is used. 

Let us say we have to find the 23rd letter from the left side of the English alphabet. From the table, we know the 25th letter is Y; hence two letters behind 25 will be 23 which is W. Hence, memorising this table will help answer the alphabetical series questions easily. 

Now we will take another example. We have to find the summation of the work ‘SAIL’. Hence, we get 19 + 1 + 9 + 12 = 41. 

The VQLGB Concept 

This is similar to the EJOTY concept but with reverse numbers.  

Right hand side concept-This concept helps us solve questions about the position of a letter from the right side. Let us take an example to explain this concept. Consider a row containing 8 people in which a person is standing 5th from the left side. Now we have to analyse the person’s position from the right.

If there were ‘n’ people in the row and the person’s current position is r, then his/her position from the right is given by (n + 1 – r). Thus, the answer for this question will be (8 + 1 – 5) = 4. 

Since this is the alphabetical series, alphabets will be given in place of the numbers. 

What is the Definition of Alphabetical Series in Reasoning?

The alphabetical series is described as questions that embody a series of letters that need to be arranged in a particular pattern. The alphabetical series section consists of a string of alphabets, either in single file or combination sequence. The logical sequence is attained after following the concepts of the series. The alphabetical series will  ask you to find the missing term in most cases. Many competitive examinations like UPSC, SSC, RBI, grade B,  SBI PO, etc. have alphabetical series as a part of their reasoning section. 

Types of Alphabetic Series 

In this section we will see the types of alphabetical series we will come across in competitive exams 

Positional Series

In the positional series, the terms of the series form a particular pattern based on the position of the letters in the English alphabet. 

Example: Analyse the next alphabet in the series A, C, E, G,…?

Solution: We can notice that every alphabet moves two places in the forward direction. Hence, after G, the following letter should be I. 

The continuous Pattern Series 

This type of question comprises a series of letters, which follow a certain pattern within which some letters are missing. Hence, here we have to find those removed letters such that the series starts following a prominent pattern.

Example: Complete the given series _a_ba_b_ab. 

We can see that a is followed by b and b is followed by a. So the possible answer could be ‘baab’ or ‘bbbb’. We have to pick one of the options provided.

Alpha-Numberic Series 

These questions are a mixed form of numeric and alphabetical series. Here, the letters and numerals combine in terms of the given series and move according to a set pattern.

Example: Analyse the next term in the series A2Z, C3X, E5V, G7T, I11R, K13P. 

It follows a +2 and -2 pattern and the series is formed by the prime number  2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17. Hence the term is MN17.

Commonly Asked Questions in Alphabetical Series 

1. What will be the next term in the given series 

SCD, TEF, UGH,… ? 

Ans: VIJ

2. Find the next term in the given series FAG, GAF, HAI, IAH,… ?

Ans: JAK 

Because the A in between is constant, so we have to look at the first and last letters. The first letters are in alphabetical order. 

3. abc_bc_abcc_a_cccc

Ans: The pattern for this is abc/abcc/abccc/abcccc 

The number of ‘c’ increases each time.

Conclusion 

In this article we have focused on the basic concepts of alphabetical series. The alphabetical series has four main concepts: the EJOTY, the VOLGB, the right-hand side concept, and numbering alphabets. The types of alphabetical series one comes across in exams are – positional series, continuous pattern series, and alphanumeric series. Each of them has an example to make you understand better. Many competitive examinations like UPSC, SSC, RBI, grade B, SBI PO, etc. have alphabetical series as a part of their reasoning section. The commonly asked questions in alphabetical series have also been discussed.