SSC CGL Reasoning · Analogy
Letter Rearrangement
Here the letters of the word are moved rather than changed: the word is reversed, cut into blocks, or its letters swap places. Harder codes move the letters and then shift them.
Why this matters
Thirty-seven questions in the bank, seventeen EASY and twenty MODERATE, ten of them from the 2025 shifts. Seventeen of the twenty MODERATE ones are a move followed by a shift, which is why this page comes after the shifts: the first check, 'are these the same letters?', tells you which half of the rule you are looking at.
Concept 1 of 3: Reversed words and reversed blocks
Definition
- First check: are the code's letters the same letters as the word's? If yes, look only at order.
- Read the code backwards. If that gives the word, the rule is a full reversal.
- If not, cut the word into two halves (or blocks of three) and reverse each block, or swap the blocks.
- In a word of odd length, see what happens to the middle letter: it may stay put, or the cut may fall at 4 and 3.
- Fast route: the option must start with the letter the rule puts first. Strike out the rest before reading further.
Worked example
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 1 · Analogy · Letter Rearrangement
Reversing the whole word when only the halves turn
Cutting a word of odd length in the wrong place
Concept 2 of 3: Swapped pairs and numbered positions
Definition
- Pair swap: letters 1 and 2 change places, then 3 and 4, and so on. An odd last letter stays.
- First and last swap: the middle letters stay where they are.
- Numbered order: write 1, 2, 3, ... under the word and read off the order the code uses, for example 3, 1, 4, 2. The code's first letter is the word's third letter, its second is the word's first, and so on.
- Use a given word with no repeated letters to read the order; a double letter hides which copy went where.
Worked example
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 2 · Analogy · Letter Rearrangement
Reading the order the wrong way round
Reading the order from a word with a double letter
Concept 3 of 3: A move and a shift together
Definition
- Order of checks: same letters? Then it is a pure move (see above). Gaps all equal? Then it is a pure shift. Neither? Reverse the word and write the gaps again.
- Common SSC pairs: reverse, then shift every letter the same; reverse, then shift by +1, +2, +3, ...; swap the halves, then shift; swap pairs and replace the middle letters by their opposites.
- For one fixed shift the order of the two steps does not matter. For rising gaps it does, so copy the order of steps from the given pair.
- Fast route: find the first letter of the answer from the LAST letter of the word as well as the first. One of the two usually matches only one option.
Worked example
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 3 · Analogy · Letter Rearrangement
Shifting before reversing when the gaps rise
Giving up on random-looking gaps
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 (6)
- Reversing the whole word when only the halves turn→ Reversed words and reversed blocks
- Cutting a word of odd length in the wrong place→ Reversed words and reversed blocks
- Reading the order the wrong way round→ Swapped pairs and numbered positions
- Reading the order from a word with a double letter→ Swapped pairs and numbered positions
- Shifting before reversing when the gaps rise→ A move and a shift together
- Giving up on random-looking gaps→ A move and a shift together
Test yourself on Analogy
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.