This topic is all about alphabets and different patterns used to form a new word.
Pre-requisites
It is very important to know the numeric position of each alphabet, in normal order starting from 1 as well as in reverse order i.e. starting from A=26, B=25…..
Tips:
Go through the following table and remember the positions of the alphabets.
| Letter | Position | Reverse Position |
|---|
| A | 1 | 26 |
| B | 2 | 25 |
| C | 3 | 24 |
| D | 4 | 23 |
| E | 5 | 22 |
| F | 6 | 21 |
| G | 7 | 20 |
| H | 8 | 19 |
| I | 9 | 18 |
| J | 10 | 17 |
| K | 11 | 16 |
| L | 12 | 15 |
| M | 13 | 14 |
| N | 14 | 13 |
| O | 15 | 12 |
| P | 16 | 11 |
| Q | 17 | 10 |
| R | 18 | 9 |
| S | 19 | 8 |
| T | 20 | 7 |
| U | 21 | 6 |
| V | 22 | 5 |
| W | 23 | 4 |
| X | 24 | 3 |
| Y | 25 | 2 |
| Z | 26 | 1 |
To quickly get the reverse position value of a particular letter you can subtract its original position’s numeric value from 27.
For Example: to get the reverse position numeric value of D.
So 27-4 = 23
Types
Coding and Decoding questions can be divided into following types:
- Letters
- Numeric
- Symbols
- Group of Words
1. Letters and Numeric
In letters and Numeric type, there can be many combinations but some expected and common types are explained with example.
Example
1. In a certain language, if SUNSHINE is coded as TVOTIJOF then how will MOON be coded:
a. NPPQ
b. NPPO
c. PPON
d. NQQP
Answer: NPPO
+1 in all the letters.
This is one type of question. In similar way for the same type there can be +2, +3 or there can be -2, -4, etc.
2. In a certain language, if WRONG is coded as GNORW then how will RIGHT be coded:
a. HIRGT
b. SJHIU
c. GHIRT
d. None of the above
Answer: GHIRT
If you observe carefully then the coded word GNORW has same letters as in the original word. So, if we go by elimination method then option b is eliminated here itself. Now if we look at the pattern of coding, it can be observed that all the letters of WRONG are arranged in Ascending Order. So, in the same way, RIGHT will be coded as GHIRT.
There can be same type of question asked but instead of ascending, the words can be in descending order.
3. If SNOW is coded as 7100, then WALL will be coded as
a. 5000
b. 4700
c. 4800
d. 4000
Answer: 4800
Here, Total of all the individual letters’ numeric position is done and just to add some more complexity 00 is appended at the end. S=19, N=14, O=15 and W=23. So 19+14+15+23= 7100.
4. If MOUSE is coded as ONUFT, then CLOCK will be coded as
a. MDOLD
b. MDPLD
c. NDOLD
d. MDOLE
Answer: MDOLD
Grouping. So here grouping of letters is done. First 2 letters- M and O are grouped and last 2 letters S and E are grouped. After grouping, +1 is added and the position of the letters is interchanged. Like in MO group, +1 is added so the result will be NP and then the letters are interchanged and so the result for 1st group will be PN. Same for the second group and the middle odd letter is as it is.
5. In a certain language, CAP is coded as 66, how will PEN be coded
a. 40
b. 66
c. 80
d. 46
Answer: 46
This is an interesting question and you will often get confuse. Because even if you try to add the numeric value you won’t get the answer. But here reverse numeric value concept is used. So, in this question the reverse numeric values are considered and added. C=24, A=26, P=11. 24+26+11=61 and the same logic for PEN. P=11, E=22 and N=13. Answer=46
6. If KEYS= MDAR, then LOCK= ?
a. NEJJ
b. NNEJ
c. JENN
d. JENJ
Answer: NNEJ
+2 Increment and -decrement in the next letter. So, K=M, E=D, Y=A and S=R.
2. Symbols Coding - Decoding
Example
If RADAR is coded as "*?*?#" and DOOR is coded as "?%%#" then DAM will be coded as
a. ?#%
b. *#?
c. *#/
d. ??#
Answer: *#/
In this question the coding of words is given in symbol form. So we need to first decode and understand which symbol represents which letter. Now RADAR is coded as *?*?#. There are 2 ‘R’ and ‘A’ in RADAR and in code also there are 2 ‘*’ and ‘?’. So it is very clear from this that D=#.
Now let’s take next word which is DOOR. So DOOR is coded as ?%%#. There are 2 ‘O’’s and 2 ‘%’. So, O=%. D is already decoded as #. So the remaining alphabet is R and its symbol is ?. So R=?. As R=? so from RADAR we can easily draw a conclusion t that A=*. So for DAM we know 2 symbols would be # and *. Now looking at the options we can easily eliminate options A and D. Now ? is for R and in the word DAM there is no R. So correct option would be c.
3. Group of Words
Example
In a certain language,
(A) ‘hu ma sam’ means ‘Water is life’.
(B) ‘sam na zo’ means ‘Glass of water’.
(C) ‘chi zo ma’ means ‘life of PI’.
Which of the following represents ‘PI’ in that language?
a. hu
b. ma
c. chi
d. sam
Answer: chi
Bucket Of Questions:
1. In a certain language, TEARS is coded as 18, so how will be WATER coded
a. 25
b. 22
c. 18
d. 20
View solution Correct Option: (b)
Numeric position of each letters is first added until it reaches to a single digit number and then all the numeric values are added.
T=20 so 2+0=2,
E=5
A=1
R=18, 1+8=9
S=19, 1+9=10, 1+0=1;
2+5+1+9+1=18
a. EROM
b. OREM
c. REMO
d. MERO
View solution Correct Option: (c)
1st letter’s position is interchanged with 3rd letter and vice versa. 2nd with 4 and vice versa.
(A) 321 means ‘Cup of Coffee’.
(B) 426 means ‘Coffee is Brown’.
(C) 796 means ‘Bears are Brown’.
Which of the following represents ‘is’ in that language?
a. 6
b. 7
c. 4
d. 2
View solution
4. If FIRE is coded as ‘#*?%’, then FREEZE will be coded as
a. #&%%?*
b. ??%%#*
c. %%%?^^
d. ???%#@
View solution Correct Option: (d)
Now this is a tricky question. You won’t be able to solve the question, so you have to follow "Options elimination" approach. Now one basic thing to be kept in mind is that FREEZE contains 3 E’s. and as per FIRE code we can assume that any one of the symbols can be for E and so it will be repeated 3 times in the answer. Option a and b are directly eliminated because there is no symbol repeating thrice. Now in option C if we notice, there is a new sign which is ^. So this sign can be for Z. but there is only one Z in FREEZE. So two ^^ are not possible. In option D there are ??? which can be for E. and @ which can be for Z. and rest % # for F and R.
a. BCARM
b. BMARC
c. RCEMB
d. None of the above
View solution Correct Option: (b)
The middle letter is a vowel. So, next Vowel in chain that is again A is replaced. Rest letters are written in reverse order.
