Overview: Alphabet Test

Table of Contents
1. What is the Alphabet Test?
2. Types of Alphabet Test
3. Solve Alphabet Test Reasoning Questions - Tips & Tricks
4. Alphabet Test Formulae
5. Alphabet Test Sample Questions
6. Points to Remember
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What is the Alphabet Test?

The Alphabet Test is a reasoning topic in which candidates are asked to work with English letters, words, numbers and symbols arranged in particular orders or patterns. Typical tasks include determining the relative positions of letters in the alphabetical order, counting letters between two given letters, rearranging letters or digits according to given rules, forming meaningful words from given letters, and applying prescribed operations on groups of letters, numbers or symbols.

• Alphabetic arrangement refers to putting letters or words in the correct order (dictionary order) or its reverse.
• Some problems combine two or more patterns (letters, numbers, symbols) that repeat or interact; such problems are treated as mixed series or mixed-pattern questions.
• Common questions require locating the position of a letter relative to another, counting letters between two letters, or producing new words/strings after applying a sequence of operations.

Types of Alphabet Test

The Alphabet Test appears in several formats. Each format uses a distinct method of reasoning. The main types are listed below with clear explanations and examples.

Number Series (Group Based)

Here a group of multi-digit numbers is given and candidates perform operations on digits of each number-such as adding to specific digits, interchanging positions of digits, arranging digits within each number, and so on-to obtain a required answer.

Given Series: 567 289 376 189 852

Example: If 1 is added to the 2nd digit of each number and then the position of the first and last digits are interchanged, which of the following will be the highest number?

Sol:

Given series: 567 289 376 189 852

By adding 1 to the 2nd digit of each number we obtain: 577 299 386 199 862

Now interchange the first and last digits of each modified number to get: 775 992 683 991 268

The highest number in this transformed list is 992, which originated from 289.

Alphabet Series (Group Based)

In this type, a group of words (each a short sequence of letters) is given. Candidates perform operations such as interchanging particular letters within each word, then arranging the resulting words in dictionary or reverse-dictionary order, or checking for meaningful words after transformation.

Given Series: DEW BIG RAW FAN DOG

Example: If the position of the first and last alphabets of each word are interchanged and the resulting words are arranged in dictionary order, which word comes last?

Sol:

Given words: DEW BIG RAW FAN DOG

On interchanging the first and last letters of every word we get: WED GIB WAR NAF GOD

Arranged in dictionary order this becomes: GIB GOD NAF WAR WED

So the word that comes last is WED.

Mixed Series

Mixed series contain a sequence composed of letters, digits and symbols. Questions ask for positions or ask to apply operations in the sequence. Common subtypes are:

(a) Simple Series
These questions are based purely on position; no operations (like substitution or arithmetic changes) are required-only careful counting from a specified end.

Given Series: A B 6 P 7 2 Z @ X ? V T W # & N S L %

Example: What is the element 6th to the left of the 12th element from the left end?

Sol: The 12th element from the left end is T (A B 6 P 7 2 Z @ X ? V T W # & N S L %).

The 6th element to the left of this T is 2. Therefore the required element is 2.

(b) Operation Based Series
These require applying a sequence of operations (given in the question) to letters, digits or symbols. The order of the operations is important-follow the steps exactly as stated to reach the final sequence and answer the question.

Creating New Words

Given a set of letters, candidates are asked how many meaningful English words can be formed without repeating letters, or to identify a particular word formed by selecting letters in specified positions.

Example: How many meaningful English words can be formed with the letters T, A, E such that no letter is missed and no letter is repeated?

Sol: All permutations of T, A, E are: TEA, TAE, ETA, EAT, ATE, AET. Among these, the meaningful English words are TEA, EAT and ATE. So the answer is 3.

Position of Letters and Numbers in a Word

These questions compare the distances (number of letters between two letters) in the given word and the English alphabetical order. Candidates often need to rearrange the letters of a word alphabetically and then count pairs that preserve the same interval as in the alphabet.

Example: How many such pairs are there in the word "INTERNET" after arranging the letters of the word in alphabetical order, each of which has as many letters between them in the word as they have between them in the English alphabetical series? (consider forward direction)

Sol: The word "INTERNET" arranged alphabetically and the required representation are shown below.

After checking the pairs, two such pairs are found: NT and IN.

Solve Alphabet Test Reasoning Questions - Tips & Tricks

The following practical tips help you solve alphabet-test questions more quickly and accurately.

• Tip #1: For number-group questions where a fixed operation applies to a particular digit (for example, "add 1 to the 2nd digit"), sometimes you can determine the final ordering (highest/lowest) by inspecting only the digit that affects ordering (for instance, the last digit after swaps). Avoid doing unnecessary full transformations when a shortcut is obvious.
• Tip #2: When asked for the lowest (or highest) number after arranging digits within numbers, compare the smallest (or largest) digits of each number first.
• Tip #3: For letter-replacement rules that affect vowels and consonants differently, focus on the letter that determines the asked property (for example, first letter if question counts words starting with vowels after replacement).
• Tip #4: Understand the direction terms. For example, "6th to the left of the 12th from the left" means find the 12th from the left, then move six places to its left. Always identify the reference point first, then move in the specified direction.

Alphabet Test Formulae 

The following concise rules are useful while solving positional questions. Read them with the examples above to build familiarity.

Common positional interpretations and practical rule:

• If the instruction is of the form "Xth to the left of the Yth from the left", first locate the Yth element counted from the left end, then move X places to its left.
• If the instruction is "Xth to the right of the Yth from the left", first locate the Yth element from the left end, then move X places to its right.
• If the instruction refers to the Yth from the right, find that element by counting from the right end first, then move left or right as specified.
• When two words like "Left-Left" or "Right-Right" appear together in shorthand, treat the first direction as the reference end and the second as the movement direction; always work stepwise: locate reference → apply movement.

Formula for Operation-Based Series (example sequence of operations)

• Step 1: Replace each vowel by its next letter in the alphabet (for example, A → B, E → F, I → J, etc.), unless the question specifies a different mapping.
• Step 2: Replace symbols as instructed (for example, all symbols replaced by a fixed digit such as 8) exactly as stated by the question.
• Step 3: Modify digits as instructed (for example, increase each digit by 1).

Follow the sequence exactly as given. A different order usually produces a different result.

Alphabet Test Sample Questions

Q1: Given Series: 567 289 376 189 852, now if all the digits are arranged in increasing order within the numbers then which number will be the lowest? (Related to Number Series - Group Bases)
Sol: For Given Series: 567 289 376 189 852, if we arrange all the digits in an increasing order then we get: 567 289 367 189 258. 
As we can see here, 189 is the lowest number which comes from 189.

Q2: Given Series: 567 289 376 189 852, now if the position of the first digits of each number are replaced by its previous number, how many numbers will have minimum two same digits? (Related to Number Series - Group Bases)
Sol: For Given Series: 567 289 376 189 852, if the position of the first digit of each number are replaced by it's next number and last digits of each number are replaced by its previous number then it becomes like this: 
666 388 375 288 951

Q3: Given Series: DEW BIG RAW FAN DOG, now if the positions of first and last alphabets of each word are interchanged, then how many meaningful words are formed? (Related to Alphabet Series - Group Bases)
Sol: For Given Series: DEW BIG RAW FAN DOG, if we exchange the alphabets we get: WED GIB WAR NAF GOD, from the words 4 are meaningful words such as WED, GIB, WAR and GOD. 

Q4: Given Series: A B 6 P 7 2 Z @ X ? V T W # & N S L %, which element is 4th to right of the 11th element from the left end? (Related to Simple Series)
Sol: 11th element from the left end of the given series is V (A B 6 P 7 2 Z @ X ? V T W # & N S L %).
The 4th element to the right of the 11th element is & (A B 6 P 7 2 Z @ X ? V T W # & N S L %).

Q5: Given Series: A B 6 P 7 2 Z @ X ? V T W # & N S L %, which element is the 5th to the right of the 9th element from the right end? (Related to Simple Series)
Sol: 9th element from the right end is A B 6 P 7 2 Z @ X ? V T W # & N S L %, and 5th to the right of the 9th element from the right end is N (A B 6 P 7 2 Z @ X ? V T W # & N S L %).

Q6: Given Series: N P L B S % & 1 E 4 G 4 $ T G 2 I 0 U K @ 1 7 V A, how many 8 are there in the mixed series after completing step 2? ( Related to Operation based series)
Sol: 

• Step 1: First we need to exchange the vowels with its next letter and it becomes like this: N P L B S % 1 F 4 G 4 $ T G 2 J 0 V K @ 1 7 V B
• Step 2: Then the symbols need to be exchanged with 8 and we get series like this: N P L B S 8 8 1 F 4 G 4 8 T G 2 J 0 V K 8 1 7 V B
• Step 3: Then we need to increase the number by 1 and we get: N P L B S 9 9 2 F 5 G 5 9 T G 3 J 1 V K 9 2 8 V B
  So, as we can see there are four 8 in the series after completing Step 2.

Q7: How many meaningful English words can be formed with the help of 4th, 5th, 7th and 13th letter of INTERNATIONAL such that no letter is repeated?
Sol: E, R, A, L are the 4th, 5th, 7th and 13th letter of INTERNATIONAL so the meaningful words that can be formed are Real, Earl, Rale (3 words).

Q8: If it is possible to make only one meaningful English word with the 1st, 5th, 6th and 8th letter of the word INFORMATION, which of the following will be the fourth letter of that word? If no such word can be made then give "X" as the answer and if more than one such word can be made then give "Y" as the answer.
Sol: The 1st, 5th, 6th and 8th letter of the word INFORMATION is I, R, M, T. Observing the possible arrangements, only one meaningful English word is possible: TRIM. The fourth letter of that word is M, so the answer is "M".

Points to Remember

• "A preceded by B" means the sequence is B A.
• "A followed by B" means the sequence is A B.
• "A precedes B" means A B.
• "A follows B" means B A.
• The vowels in English are A, E, I, O, U.
• The consonants are B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z.
• Prime number: a prime number is a natural number greater than 1 that has no positive divisors other than 1 and itself. Examples: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23.
• Even numbers: integers divisible by 2. Examples: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16.
• Odd numbers: integers not divisible by 2. Examples: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17.