SSC CGL Reasoning · Alphabet and Number Tests

Letter Position and Alphabet Test

Questions about where a letter sits in the alphabet, how far apart two letters are, how a word changes when its letters are shifted, and which item stands at a given place in a word, sentence or series.

All Alphabet and Number Tests notes

Why this matters

Nineteen questions in the bank: 11 from the 2025 shifts, 5 from the 2023 shifts and 3 from the 2024 shifts, with 11 EASY and 8 MODERATE. Each one needs letter positions you can recall without counting on your fingers, and the habit of numbering a word or sentence once before you answer.

Concept 1 of 3: Letter positions, reverse positions and opposite letters

Every letter has a number: A is 1 and Z is 26. Once you know the numbers by heart, questions about gaps, middles and reverse codes turn into small sums you can do in your head.

Definition

Forward position: A1, B2, C3 up to Z26. Learn the anchors EJOTY: E5, J10, O15, T20, Y25. Any other letter is one or two steps from an anchor.
Reverse position (Z = 1, A = 26) is 27 minus the forward position. M is 13, so its reverse position is 14.
Opposite letters are pairs whose positions add to 27: A and Z, B and Y, C and X, D and W, E and V, F and U, G and T, H and S, I and R, J and Q, K and P, L and O, M and N. A letter's opposite is the letter with its reverse position as its forward position.
Letters between two letters leave out both ends: between positions p and q there are |p minus q| minus 1 letters.
The middle letter of two letters sits at (p + q) ÷ 2. It exists only when p + q is even.
Fast route: the reverse positions of k letters add to 27k minus their forward positions, so you never need a second table.

Positions in the alphabet

\text{reverse} = 27 - n \qquad \text{letters between} = |p - q| - 1 \qquad \text{middle} = \frac{p + q}{2}

na letter's forward position, A = 1 to Z = 26
p and qthe forward positions of the two letters compared

Worked example

Using the reverse code (Z = 1, A = 26), what is the sum of the reverse positions of M and W?

Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps

The same idea in a real exam question:

SSC CGL · 2025 · Tier I, 23 Sep 2025, Shift 1 · Q1Easy

Example 1 · Alphabet and Number Tests · Letter Position and Alphabet Test

Using the reverse code (Z=1 to A=26), what is the sum of the reverse positions of the first and last letters of "KNOWLEDGE"?

Counting the end letters as 'between'

The letters between H and P are I to O: seven letters, not nine. 'Between' in an alphabet gap leaves out both named letters, so subtract one from the difference of the positions.

Using 26 minus n for the reverse position

Z is 1 in the reverse code and A is 26, so the reverse position is 27 minus the forward one. With 26 minus n, Z would come out as 0.

Drill 3 more on letter positions, reverse positions and opposite letters

Concept 2 of 3: Shifting vowels and consonants, then counting a gap

These questions change every letter of a word by one step, vowels one way and consonants the other, and then ask about the gap between two letters of the new word. Each letter changes on its own and keeps its place, so you only ever need the two letters the question points at.

Definition

1. Mark the vowels A, E, I, O, U. Every other letter is a consonant. 2. Read the rule twice: 'following' or 'next' means one step forward, 'previous' or 'preceding' means one step back. 3. Find the two places asked for. In a word of n letters, the kth from the right is the (n minus k + 1)th from the left. 4. Shift only the letters at those two places. Remember the wrap: A one step back is Z, and Z one step forward is A. 5. Count the letters between the two new letters: their positions' difference minus 1.

Fast route: steps 3 and 4 skip writing the whole new word. This is safe because the shift never moves a letter to a new place; it breaks only if the question also reverses or sorts the word, and then you must write it all out.

Worked example

Each vowel in the word PLANET is changed to the following letter in the alphabet and each consonant to the previous letter. How many letters lie in the alphabet between the 2nd letter from the left and the 1st letter from the right of the new word?

Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps

The same idea in a real exam question:

SSC CGL · 2024 · Tier I, 12 Sep 2024, Shift 2 · Q21Moderate

Example 2 · Alphabet and Number Tests · Letter Position and Alphabet Test

Each vowel in the word ‘STAMINA’ is changed to the preceding letter in the English alphabetical order and each consonant is changed to the following letter in the English alphabetical order. How many letters are there in the English alphabetical order between the letter which is the third from the right and the fourth from the left in the group of letters thus formed?

Counting places in the old word after a sort

A vowel and consonant shift keeps every letter in its place, so the old word's places are the new word's places. If a question also arranges the letters in order, the places change, and the full new word must be written first.

Forgetting the wrap at A and Z

In CAPSULE, with vowels moving back, the A becomes Z, not to a blank. A one step back is Z, and Z one step forward is A.

Drill 7 more on shifting vowels and consonants, then counting a gap

Concept 3 of 3: Counting places in a word, a sentence or a series

Some questions hand you a word, a sentence or a row of mixed letters, digits and symbols, and ask what stands at a certain place. Write a small number under each item once, then every question about that row is a lookup.

Definition

Number once: write 1, 2, 3 under the items from the left. In a row of n items, the kth from the right is the (n minus k + 1)th from the left.
Moving from a place: '2 to the right of the 7th from the left' is the 9th from the left; '3 to the left of the 8th' is the 5th.
The middle item of an odd count n sits at place (n + 1) ÷ 2. An even count has no single middle item.
'Every 2nd word' means the 2nd, 4th, 6th and so on: start at the 2nd, not the 1st.
'Between' inside a word: in an alphabet gap it leaves out both ends. One question from the 2025 shifts, counting the letters of a word 'between the 2nd and 7th letter', was keyed with both ends counted, so when a stem could go either way, work out both counts before you choose.
Fast route: when options are close, count only the stretch the question names, and count it twice in the same direction.

Worked example

In the sentence 'Every student must finish the test early', the 2nd letter of every 2nd word is written in order. What word is formed?

Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps

The same idea in a real exam question:

SSC CGL · 2025 · Tier I, 15 Sep 2025, Shift 1 · Q1Easy

Example 3 · Alphabet and Number Tests · Letter Position and Alphabet Test

Sentence: "The quantum universe expands silently into infinity."If the

3^{rd}

letter of every

2^{nd}

word is written in order, what word is formed?

Starting 'every 2nd word' at the first word

Every 2nd word is the 2nd, 4th and 6th word. Taking the 1st, 3rd and 5th gives a different set of letters, and SSC usually prints that wrong word among the options.

Counting from the wrong end

A row read from the right starts at its last item. Turn every 'from the right' place into a 'from the left' place with n minus k + 1 before you look anything up.

Drill 6 more on counting places in a word, a sentence or a series

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.

Formulas (1)

Letter positions, reverse positions and opposite letters
Positions in the alphabet
$\text{reverse} = 27 - n \qquad \text{letters between} = |p - q| - 1 \qquad \text{middle} = \frac{p + q}{2}$

Watch out for (6)

Counting the end letters as 'between'
→ Letter positions, reverse positions and opposite letters
Using 26 minus n for the reverse position
→ Letter positions, reverse positions and opposite letters
Counting places in the old word after a sort
→ Shifting vowels and consonants, then counting a gap
Forgetting the wrap at A and Z
→ Shifting vowels and consonants, then counting a gap
Starting 'every 2nd word' at the first word
→ Counting places in a word, a sentence or a series
Counting from the wrong end
→ Counting places in a word, a sentence or a series

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.

Take the Alphabet and Number Tests chapter test Drill all 19 questions