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Alphabetical Series for Bank Exams: Ultimate Guide to Tricks, Examples & Solved Questions

Alphabetical Series (or Alphabet Series) questions are crucial for Bank Exam Reasoning. This guide provides fundamental Concepts, effective Tricks, and fully Solved Problems to help you master this topic quickly.
authorImagePriyanka Dahima6 Nov, 2025
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Alphabetical Series For Bank Exam

Alphabetical Series For Bank Exam: Alphabet Series are a common component of reasoning exams, where you'll encounter questions involving the arrangement and manipulation of letters or words. Let's break down what Alphabet Tests entail and how you can excel in solving them.

An Alphabet Test involves arranging given letters or words that are either jumbled or in a specific sequence. The goal is to decipher patterns or determine the position of letters in relation to each other based on alphabetical order.

Understanding the Key Concepts of Alphabet Series & Tests

Here we have discussed the Key Concepts of Alphabetic Series

Different Types of Alphabetical Series Questions

  1. Number Series (Group Based):
  • This type includes sequences of numbers where operations like addition, multiplication, or digit interchanging are applied. For example, finding the highest number after specified operations.
  1. Alphabet Series (Group-Based):
  • Here, you'll work with a series of words and perform tasks such as arranging them in dictionary order or interchanging the first and last letters. For instance, identifying which word comes last after these operations.
  1. Mixed Series:
  • Mixed Series combines numbers, letters, and symbols in various arrangements:
    • Simple Series: Questions based solely on positions without any operations.
    • Operation-Based Series: Where specific operations mentioned in the question are applied to derive the result.
  1. Creating New Words:
  • In this test, you form meaningful words from given letters and determine how many can be formed without repeating any letter.
  1. Position of Letters and Numbers in a Word:
  • This type focuses on identifying the position of letters or digits in a sequence akin to alphabetical or numerical order.

Proven Tricks and Short-Cuts to Solve Alphabetical Series

  • Focus on Operations: Pay close attention to the operations mentioned in the question. Whether it's adding to digits or rearranging letters, understanding the operation is key.
  • Efficiency Tricks: Use shortcuts like checking only the last digit or identifying the lowest digit to save time and improve accuracy.
  • Understand Directions: Familiarize yourself with terms like "left" and "right" as they pertain to the sequence provided in the question.

Solved Examples: Step-by-Step Alphabetical Series Problems

Study the following series carefully and answer the questions accordingly.
P # K Y J & A 4 E  7 L O B 3 % C * 6 U M 8 X 0 F 2 H How many such consonants are there in the above arrangement, each of which is immediately preceded by a symbol and immediately followed by a consonant?
Ans : There is one such consonant "#KY"
Study the following series carefully and answer the questions accordingly. 438 549 376 528 579 417 If all digits are arranged in descending order within a number then which number will be the third highest number?
Ans: If all digits are arrange in descending order - 843   954  763   852   975   741
Study the following series carefully and answer the related questions: MARP   OLSW   TUOR   RACE   MRYA Note: The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th letters are taken from the left end. If the first and third letters of each word are interchanged within the word, then how many words will form a meaningful word after the rearrangement?
Given words: MARP OLSW TUOR RACE MRYA After interchanging the 1st and 3rd letters within the word, we get: RAMP SLOW OUTR CARE YRMA Hence, three words (RAMP, SLOW and RACE) are meaningful words after the rearrangement. So, three is the correct answer. Mains Level: Consider the alphanumeric string given below and answer the questions that follow based on certain steps.
Z 4 + X E 1 B G ? A 7 2 = M # P S O 5 I U 9 * 8 K & D N
Step I: The position of each letter which comes after 'Q' in the alphabetical order is exchanged with that of the element immediately succeeding it.
Step II: Each such number which is immediately preceded or immediately followed by a symbol is placed immediately after 'Z' in the same order as before.
Step III: Each such vowel which is immediately preceded by a symbol is placed at the right end of the line in the reverse alphabetical order.
Step IV: Each such symbol which is immediately preceded by a number and immediately followed by an alphabet is removed.
Step IV is the final output of the given string. How many such letters are there in the final output of the given string between X and U which come before 'K' in the English alphabetical series?

Ans: The given string is, Z 4 + X E 1 B G ? A 7 2 = M # P S O 5 I U 9 * 8 K & D N Step I: The position of each letter which comes after 'Q' in the alphabetical order is exchanged with that of the element immediately succeeding it. Here, such letters are Z, X, S and U. We get, 4 Z + E X 1 B G ? A 7 2 = M # P O S 5 I 9 U * 8 K & D N Step II: Each such number which is immediately preceded or immediately followed by a symbol is placed immediately after 'Z' in the same order as before. Here, such numbers are 2 and 8. We get, 4 Z 2 8 + E X 1 B G ? A 7 = M # P O S 5 I 9 U * K & D N Step III: Each such vowel which is immediately preceded by a symbol is placed at the right end of the line in the reverse alphabetical order. Here, such vowels are E and A. We get, 4 Z 2 8 + X 1 B G ? 7 = M # P O S 5 I 9 U * K & D N E A Step IV: Each such symbol which is immediately preceded by a number and immediately followed by an alphabet is removed. Here, such symbols are '+' and '='. We get, 4 Z 2 8 X 1 B G ? 7 M # P O S 5 I 9 U * K & D N E A The final output is, 4 Z 2 8 X 1 B G ? 7 M # P O S 5 I 9 U * K & D N E A Three letters B, G and I come before K in the English alphabetical series. 4 Z 2 8 X 1 B G ? 7 M # P O S 5 I 9 U * K & D N E A Direction (1-5): Read the following information carefully and answer the questions given C E W M I J G F D G K U D M L Q O I F E L W C D A G X T D F Z
Step 1: If the vowels are preceded and succeeded by consonants, then the succeeded consonant is changed to the immediate successive alphabet in the English alphabetical series.
Step 2: After completing Step1, the first 15 alphabets are reversed.
Step 3: After completing Step2, If two vowels are adjacent to each other then interchange their positions.
Step 4: After completing Step3, the first thirteen letters of the series are changed to the immediate successive letters according to the english alphabetical series. How many such consonants are there in the series thus formed after step 3, which is/are immediately preceded by vowels and immediately followed by a consonant?
C E W M I J G F D G K U D M L Q O I F E L W C D A G X T D F Z

Step 1: If the vowels are preceded and succeeded by consonants, then the succeeded consonant is changed to the immediate successive alphabet.
C E W M I J G F D G K U D M L Q O I F E L W C D A G X T D F Z C E X M I K G F D G K U E M L Q O I F E M W C D A H X T D F Z

Step 2: After completing Step1,the first 15 alphabets are reversed.
C E X M I K G F D G K U E M L Q O I F E M W C D A H X T D F Z L M E U K G D F G K I M X E C Q O I F E M W C D A H X T D F Z

Step 3: After completing Step2, If two vowels are adjacent to each other then interchanged their positions.

L M E U K G D F G K I M X E C Q O I F E M W C D A H X T D F Z L M U E K G D F G K I M X E C Q I O F E M W C D A H X T D F Z
Step 4: After completing Step3, the first thirteen letters in the English alphabetical series are changed to the immediate next successive letters in alphabetical order.

L M U E K G D F G K I M X E C Q I O F E M W C D A H X T D F Z M N V F L H E G H L J N Y E C Q I O F E M W C D A H X T D F Z 4th Step is the final one. Therefore, from the step 3, consonants are there in the series thus formed after step 3, which is/are immediately preceded by vowels and immediately followed by a consonant L M U E K G D F G K I M X E C Q I O F E M W C D A H X T D F Z Hence, the consonants are ( K, M, C, M, H ) No. of consonants are five.

Practice Questions for Alphabetical & Number Series with Answers

1. Directions: Analyze the data carefully and answer the questions accordingly.

681 702 430 351 581 If all the digits in each number are arranged in ascending order within the number then, which of the following numbers will become the second lowest?

2. Following questions are based on the five numbers given below, Study the given information and answer the following questions. 525 627 169 256 569 What is the sum of the 3rd digit of second number from left and 2nd digit of third number from right?

3. Read the following series given below carefully and answer the questions accordingly. M B @ L 6 A © S Z C F 7 K 8 3 5 R # * 1 P J ? 4 V 0 Q ! Y 2 9 How many numbers are there which are immediately preceded and immediately followed by letters?

4. Directions: Study the following data carefully and answer the questions accordingly. 1 3 4 6 4 5 5 9 5 8 2 9 3 9 4 5 3 2 8 2 5 1 4 8 2 7 5 5 9 1 3 5 6 4 8 Step 1: When 1 is subtracted from each odd number digit and 1 is added to each even-number digit, given in the above arrangement. Step 2: We get the final result if all even digits are eliminated in step 1. How many even numbers digit in step 1, which are immediately preceded and followed by an even number?

5. Directions: Study the following data carefully and answer the questions accordingly.1 W E 3 $ R T % M 9 4 L S C & F J 2 @ U P 7 D 5 * 0 Z C ?  Which element will be the 10th to the left of the 15th from your right?


6. Directions: Study the following data carefully and answer the questions accordingly. 5 4 ◇ M N E # 7 * F H 8 U A 1 T 3 $ O 2 % @ Q C 9 P 6 R P S How many symbols are there in the series, which are immediately followed by a letter and immediately preceded by a number?

7. Directions: Study the following data carefully and answer the questions accordingly. 6 7 7 1 9 2 4 1 5 6 4 9 2 3 4 1 2 5 8 5 8 4 8 3 1 2 7 5 2 6 7 3 9 5 3 How many such 7’s are there in the above arrangement each of which is immediately followed by a digit that has a numerical value of more than four
8. Directions: Study the following data carefully and answer the questions accordingly. 8 5 7 3 5 3 2 0 4 3 8 5 9 5 3 4 9 2 1 0 3 5 Which number will be the 12 th to the left of the 18th from your left?

9. Directions: Study the following data carefully and answer the questions accordingly. & 3 B * 7 2 9 Z & 1 T 0 4 # 3 C W 4 5 * ! 6 K # 1 @ 4 3 D ^ 7
Step 1: The numbers followed by consonants are interchanged with each other.
Step 2: After completing step 1, the symbols that are followed by odd numbers are written first, according to their occurrence in the series.
Step 3: After completing step 2, even numbers are multiplied by 2. How many symbols are succeeded by consonants in step 2?

10. Directions: Study the following data carefully and answer the questions accordingly. @ N 3 6 Q % 9 L T R 5 D $ 8 A # 7 D S * G 2 X Z Step: 1 – Those Numbers which are immediately preceded by the symbol and immediately followed by an Alphabet are written at the right end in ascending order. Step: 2 – After completing the step -1, interchange the Odd number with the previous element in the series to form the step -2 Step: 3 – After completing the Step - 2, Alphabets which are immediately followed by a symbol are written between sixth and seventh elements from the right end; in alphabetical order from left to right. How many Symbols are immediately followed and immediately preceded by an alphabet in step -2?

Banking Reasoning Related link
Alphanumeric Series Data Sufficiency
Syllogism Box Puzzle

Alphabetical Series for Bank Exams FAQs

Q1. What is an Alphabet Test?

Ans. An Alphabet Test is a type of reasoning exercise where you arrange letters or words that are either jumbled or given in a specific order. The goal is to understand patterns or the order of letters in relation to each other based on alphabetical sequence.

Q2. What are the different types of Alphabet Tests?

Ans. Alphabet Tests come in various types: Number Series (Group Based): Involves sequences of numbers with operations like addition or digit rearrangement. Alphabet Series (Group Based): Requires arranging words in dictionary order or changing their letter positions. Mixed Series: Combines numbers, letters, and symbols in different patterns. Creating New Words: Forming meaningful words using given letters. Position of Letters and Numbers: Finding specific positions of letters or digits in a sequence.

Q3. How can I solve Alphabet Test questions effectively?

Ans. To solve Alphabet Test questions: Understand the operation or rule mentioned (like adding numbers or changing letter positions). Use shortcuts to save time, like checking only specific digits or letters. Familiarize yourself with terms like "left" and "right" in relation to the sequence provided.

Q4. What skills do Alphabet Tests help develop?

Ans. Alphabet Tests help develop skills such as: Logical thinking and problem-solving. Pattern recognition and sequencing. Attention to detail and following instructions accurately.

Q5. How can I prepare for Alphabet Tests?

Ans. To prepare for Alphabet Tests: Practice different types of questions to understand the patterns and rules. Use study materials and practice tests to build familiarity with the format. Focus on improving speed and accuracy by regularly solving sample questions.
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