SSC CGL Reasoning · Alphabet and Number Tests
Address and Data Matching
An address or a list of entries is compared character by character, and the copy that matches the original exactly, or the entries that match each other, is chosen.
Why this matters
Forty-four questions in the bank, every one from the 2025 shifts and every one EASY. They test the eye rather than the brain: each wrong option hides one small change, so a fixed order of checking gets the mark in about fifteen seconds and leaves time for harder questions.
Concept 1 of 2: Checking an address part by part
Definition
1. Split the given address into its parts at the commas. 2. Check the parts across all four options in this order: PIN code and state, then the house number, then the spellings of the names. 3. Strike an option the moment one part differs.
- What counts as a difference: a digit swapped (19 and 91) or changed; 'No.' or '#' missing; a hyphen or slash added or dropped (Block C and Block-C, 3/5 and 3-5); singular and plural (Tower and Towers); one letter spelt differently (Meadows and Medows); a full stop or comma dropped from an abbreviation (S.G. and SG); a short form (Road and Rd., Sector and Sec); a different name for the same place (Gurgaon and Gurugram, Bangalore and Bengaluru).
- What SSC's key does not count: a missing space after a comma, when the given line and the options differ only in that way throughout.
- Fast route: the PIN code and state settle about half these questions at once, because SSC often changes only one of them.
Worked example
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 1 · Alphabet and Number Tests · Address and Data Matching
Reading for meaning
Stopping after the first part that matches
Concept 2 of 2: Matching inside a numbered list
Definition
1. Take the given entry, or entry 1 if no entry is given, as the reference. 2. For each numbered entry, write the first difference you find beside it: a name shortened, a digit changed, a hyphen, a missing full stop or comma. 3. 'Identical to the given address': the entries with no difference. 'Identical to each other': entries that share exactly the same text, which may both differ from entry 1. 4. For roll numbers or codes, compare only the part the question names, such as the first three digits.
- Fast route: the options name only a few pairs, so check those pairs alone. If an option's first entry already has a difference, the whole option goes.
Worked example
Practice this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 2 · Alphabet and Number Tests · Address and Data Matching
Comparing every entry with entry 1 when asked 'to each other'
Overlooking a dropped full stop
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Watch out for (4)
- Reading for meaning→ Checking an address part by part
- Stopping after the first part that matches→ Checking an address part by part
- Comparing every entry with entry 1 when asked 'to each other'→ Matching inside a numbered list
- Overlooking a dropped full stop→ Matching inside a numbered list
Test yourself on Alphabet and Number Tests
20 past SSC CGL questions from this chapter, timed at 12 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.