Alphabet questions for SSC GD, positions, opposites and letter pairs

Alphabet questions ask about the positions of letters: which letter is 8th from the right, which letter sits midway between two others, how many letters lie between F and P. They carry the same 2 marks as a hard puzzle, but take a prepared candidate ten seconds.

The whole topic rests on one skill: knowing the position of every letter without counting on your fingers. Spend three or four days making that automatic and the rest is simple addition and subtraction. The same skill also powers coding-decoding and letter series, so the effort pays three times.

Step 1: learn the positions

Read the table both ways. The left half gives A to M; the right half, read from the bottom up, gives N to Z.

The EJOTY memory aid. E = 5, J = 10, O = 15, T = 20, Y = 25. From these anchors you are never more than two steps from any letter. M is two before O, so M = 13. W is three after T, so W = 23.

Step 2: the 27 rule

The alphabet has 26 letters, so:

• Position from the right = 27 − position from the left.
• Opposite letters add up to 27. A (1) + Z (26) = 27. G (7) + T (20) = 27.

Example 1. Which letter is 5th from the right?

1. 27 − 5 = 22.
2. The 22nd letter is V.

Example 2. What is the position of D from the right?

1. D = 4.
2. 27 − 4 = 23rd from the right.

Example 3. What is the opposite of G?

1. G = 7.
2. 27 − 7 = 20, which is T.

Step 3: moving left and right

In the normal alphabet, A is on the left and Z on the right.

• To the right of a letter means towards Z: add.
• To the left of a letter means towards A: subtract.

Example 4. Which letter is 4th to the right of the 10th letter from the left?

1. The 10th letter from the left is J.
2. 10 + 4 = 14, which is N.

Example 5. Which letter is 7th to the left of the 18th letter from the right?

1. Convert first. The 18th from the right is 27 − 18 = 9th from the left, which is I.
2. 7th to the left of I: 9 − 7 = 2, which is B.

Step 4: between and midway

Letters between two letters = difference in positions − 1.

Example 6. How many letters are there between D and K?

1. D = 4, K = 11. Difference = 7.
2. Letters between = 7 − 1 = 6 (E, F, G, H, I, J).

Midway letter = (first position + second position) ÷ 2.

Example 7. Which letter is exactly midway between H and P?

1. H = 8, P = 16.
2. (8 + 16) ÷ 2 = 12, which is L.

If the sum is odd, there is no single middle letter. Between H (8) and O (15) there are six letters, I to N, and the middle two are K and L.

Step 5: the reversed alphabet

Some questions write the alphabet backwards, Z to A. Then the nth letter from the left of the reversed alphabet is the nth letter from the right of the normal one.

Example 8. If the alphabet is written in reverse order, which letter is 6th from the left?

1. 6th from the left in reverse = 6th from the right in normal order.
2. 27 − 6 = 21, which is U.

Step 6: letter pairs in a word

A common question: "How many pairs of letters in the word have as many letters between them in the word as in the alphabet?"

Method: take each letter and check it against every letter after it. Count the letters between them in the word, then in the alphabet. Check in both directions.

Example 9. How many such pairs are in DEPTH?

1. D and E sit next to each other in the word, and next to each other in the alphabet. Pair.
2. D and H have three letters between them in the word (E, P, T), and three in the alphabet (E, F, G). Pair.
3. E and H have two letters between them in the word (P, T), and two in the alphabet (F, G). Pair.
4. No other pair matches.
5. Answer: 3.

Vowels and consonants

• Vowels: A, E, I, O, U, five letters, at positions 1, 5, 9, 15 and 21.
• Consonants: the other 21 letters.

A typical question: how many vowels are in EXAMINATION? E, A, I, A, I, O: 6.

Practice set

1. What is the position of R from the left?
2. Which letter is 8th from the right?
3. What is the opposite of K?
4. Which letter is midway between C and K?
5. Which letter is 3rd to the left of the 15th letter from the left?
6. How many letters are there between F and P?
7. If the alphabet is written in reverse order, which letter is 10th from the left?
8. Which letter is 5th to the right of the 12th letter from the right?
9. What comes next: CX, DW, EV, ?
10. How many pairs of letters in MOTHER have as many letters between them in the word as in the alphabet?

Answers:

1. 18. Two before T (20).
2. S. 27 − 8 = 19.
3. P. 27 − 11 = 16.
4. G. (3 + 11) ÷ 2 = 7.
5. L. 15 − 3 = 12.
6. 9. 16 − 6 − 1.
7. Q. 27 − 10 = 17.
8. T. 12th from the right = 15th from the left; 15 + 5 = 20.
9. FU. Each pair is a letter and its opposite, moving one step on.
10. 1. M and R: four letters between in the word (O, T, H, E) and four in the alphabet (N, O, P, Q).

What to do next

• Write A to Z with positions from memory every morning for five days.
• Write the 13 opposite pairs in under 30 seconds.
• Solve 15 mixed position questions, converting "from the right" first every time.
• Use this skill straight away in coding-decoding and series.
• Next, try dictionary order and word formation.