Alphanumeric Series Questions are an important topic in Reasoning Exam to be prepared for competitive exams be it for IBPS Clerk, PO, RRB, SO, or SBI Clerk or PO Exams. The number of questions and the complexity of questions vary from exam to exam every year.
Alphanumeric Series Questions are simple to understand but it can be made complex using Sequence. Alphanumeric Series questions can be classified into 4 types, which we’ll learn in this article.
Examples of Alphanumeric Series Questions and Practice Alphanumeric Series Questions are also given in this article.
Nowadays, questions in exams are mixed with multiple concepts and it requires practice and deep understanding of basic concepts along with quickly identifying patterns.
Table of Contents
What is Alphanumeric Series?
Alphanumeric Series, as the name suggests, it’s a series which is formed by combining both alphabets and numbers. These series can be classified into four types, based on which logic it’s using in repetition.
Types of Alphanumeric Series Questions
There can be many series but underling logic to make any series can be classified, based on positioning of Alphabets / numbers in series. Below are the types of Alphanumeric Series Questions:
Alphabet Numbering
Some series use the Alphabets position numbers in Ascending or Descending Order. Below is a quick look at Alphabets position numbers:
Ascending Order | Alphabet | Descending Order |
1 | A | 26 |
2 | B | 25 |
3 | C | 24 |
4 | D | 23 |
5 | E | 22 |
6 | F | 21 |
7 | G | 20 |
8 | H | 19 |
9 | I | 18 |
10 | J | 17 |
11 | K | 16 |
12 | L | 15 |
13 | M | 14 |
14 | N | 13 |
15 | O | 12 |
16 | P | 11 |
17 | Q | 10 |
18 | R | 9 |
19 | S | 8 |
20 | T | 7 |
21 | U | 6 |
22 | V | 5 |
23 | W | 4 |
24 | X | 3 |
25 | Y | 2 |
26 | Z | 1 |
Examples of Alphabet Numbering
Below are the examples of Alphanumeric Series Questions based on Alphabet Numbering:
Example 1: As per the below sequence find the next Alphabet:
A C E G I K?
Solution 1: As per the above series it’s clear that sequence is ascending order and we can say next alphabet is one plus the previous position or can be said of all Odd positions from above table.
As per Positions: A=1, C=3, E=5, G=7, I=9, K=11
Hence the next Alphabet will be of 13th Position, i.e.: M
Example 2: As per the below sequence find the next Alphabet:
B C E G K ?
Solution 2: As per the above series it’s clear that sequence is ascending order and we can say that series is following prime number series.
As per Positions: B=2, C=3, E=5, G=7, K=11
Hence the next Alphabet will be in 13th Position, i.e.: M
Midway Alphabet Number Reversing
Some series uses the Alphabets position numbers in Ascending or Descending Order, but in midway it reverse the sequence. Below is a quick look on Alphabets position numbers:
Ascending Order | First-Half Alphabets | Second-Half Alphabets | Descending Order |
1 | A | N | 26 |
2 | B | O | 25 |
3 | C | P | 24 |
4 | D | Q | 23 |
5 | E | R | 22 |
6 | F | S | 21 |
7 | G | T | 20 |
8 | H | U | 19 |
9 | I | V | 18 |
10 | J | W | 17 |
11 | K | X | 16 |
12 | L | Y | 15 |
13 | M | Z | 14 |
Examples of Alphabet Number Reversing
Below are the examples of Alphanumeric Series Questions based on Alphabet Number Reversing:
Example 3: As per the below sequence find the next Alphabet:
A N B O C ?
Solution 3: As per the above series it’s clear that sequence is ascending order and we can say that Odd positions are Alphabets from starting sequence. Whereas even positions are the Alphabets from mid-series.
As per Positions: A=1, N=14, B=2, O=15, C=3
Hence the next Alphabet will be of 16th Position, i.e.: P
Example 4: As per the below sequence find the next Alphabet:
B O C P E ?
Solution 4: As per the above series it’s clear that sequence is ascending order and we can say Odd Positions of the series is following prime number series. And so is the second half.
As per Positions: B=2, O=2, C=3, P=3, E=5
Hence the next Alphabet will be of 5th Position of Mid Series, i.e.: R
Numbers with Alphabets
Some series questions consist of Numbers along with Alphabets and question specify the numbers to be placed at which position in Alphabets series.
Based on number positions in the series corresponding positions will get affected and same needs to be consider at the time of solving it. Let’s understand with the help of an example:
Example 5: After every two Alphabets there’s a number placed starting from 0. If we break above series in 3 letter pair then find the third letter of third pair?
Solution 5: As per the question we need to form a series that will have a number starting from 0 after every two alphabets. Below are a few initial of the series: A B 0 C D 1 E F 3 …
If we break the above series into 3 letter pairs then pairs will be as below:
A B 0, C D 1, E F 2, …
Hence the third letter of the third pair is 2.
Custom Series
In few series questions, instead of using Alphabet series variance, question itself provide a series which may consist of symbols, alphabets and numbers.
From the given series in question, there will be some logic to form some questions and then to apply the same logic to find subsequent letters or pairs. Let’s understand this with the help of the following example:
Example 6: Consider the below series:
A B ! 0 C D @ 1 E F # 2 G H $ 3 I J % 4 K L ^ 5 M N & 6
Find the second letter of 3rd pair. If we break the above series into a pair of 4 letters.
Solution 6: If we break above series in 3 letter pair then pairs will be as:
A B ! 0, C D @ 1, E F # 2, G H $ 3, I J % 4, K L ^ 5, M N & 6
Hence the second letter of 3rd pair is F.
Important Terms
While solving Alphanumeric series questions related there are few important terms, whose correct meaning and interpretation is required to get correct answer. Below are some of the important terms:
- Vowel: There are 5 Vowels in English alphabets. They are: A E I O U
- Consonants: Letters other than vowels are known as consonants. Here remaining 21 letters are consonants.
- Preceded: before or ahead.
- Followed: opposite of preceded
Practice Alphanumeric Series Questions
Below are the Practice Questions on Alphanumeric Series Questions:
- As per the sequence find the next Alphabet: B D F H J L ?
- As per the sequence find the next Alphabet: E G K M Q ?
- As per the sequence find the next Alphabet: E R G T K ?
- As per the sequence find the next pair: ML ZY KJ ??
- After every two Alphabets, there’s a number placed in reverse order starting from 9. If we break the above series in 3 letter pairs then find the third letter of the third pair?
- In a pair of two alphabets and a number, if the pair consists of a vowel then the number will be squared. If the starting number will be 2, then find the third letter of the 5th and 6th pair?
- A B ! 0 C D @ 1 E F # 2 G H $ 3 I J % 4 K L ^ 5 M N & 6 -> In this series from the pair of 4 letters. If pair consist of Vowel then interchange vowel position with number. As per the new series forme, find 9th letter?
- A B ! 0 C D @ 1 E F # 2 G H $ 3 I J % 4 K L ^ 5 M N & 6 -> In this series form the pair of 4 letters and reverse every alternate pair. Find the 3 pair?
Final Words
Practicing the above Alphanumeric Series questions is not the end of your practice, but it’s the start of a new journey to apply logic on Alphanumeric Series Questions with multiple approaches in a right and faster way.
For cracking competitive exams one must practice more and more number of Alphanumeric Series questions. At last, during the exam, if a solution for the Alphanumeric Series Questions cannot be found easily then mark that question to revisit and move ahead instead of wasting time and energy.