Alphabet Analogy

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One of the topics in the banking exam, that requires a lot of patience and has a habit of popping time and time again in the IBPS PO, SO, SBI Clerk and other exams is alphabet analogy. Normally there are two types of analogies asked in exams: Numerical analogy and Alphabet analogy. Here we are going to focus only on alphabet analogy.

As the word stands, analogy means a correspondence, a relationship between something and someone. In these questions, a group of two words is given we have to establish a relationship between them and then find the answer based on such relationship. In banking exams like IBPS PO, SSC, IBPS clerk, etc. these questions have a history of teasing the aspirants as there is no fixed method or the formula to solve it. You just need to have enough practice of different types of questions asked from this topic.

Alphabet analogy

To solve the questions easily assign a numerical value to each and every alphabet in forward as well as backward manner. If possible remember those numerical values or else when you are given the time before an exam is starting then note down this sequence.

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Solved Example

Q. CDEF : MNOP: : UVWX:?

A. DEFG B.EFGH

C. GHIJ D. ABCD

Answer: In this question, first, you need to establish a relationship between CDEF and MNOP. And then look for the same relationship for UVWX and the answer. Before starting to solve the question, first assign the numerical values to all the alphabets and make a table as given below:

A = 1	H = 8	O = 15	V = 22
B = 2	I = 9	P = 16	W = 23
C = 3	J = 10	Q = 17	X =24
D = 4	K = 11	R = 18	Y = 25
E = 5	L = 12	S = 19	Z =26
F = 6	M = 13	T = 20
G = 7	N = 14	U = 21

Now from the table you can note that THE gap between C and M is 10, the gap is similar between the following alphabets, so in the first group every alphabet is pushed forward by 10 spaces, similarly, the second group will also be pushed forward by 10 spaces. Thus, next group will be UVWX and EFGH. So the required answer is the option (2).

Another Example

Q. BDGK: PTYF :: TVYC:?

A. HLOW B. HLOX

C. HLOY D. FKLM

Answer: All the questions in this topic are not as straightforward as you think. There can be a slight twist in these types of questions as well. For this question to establish the relationship between the first group i.e. BDGK and PVAK assign them the numbers. The gap between B and P is 14 while the gap between D and V is 16 and between G and Y is 18.

Here you can see that the gap between the two alphabets is increasing by 2 spaces everytime we move forward towards the next alphabet. Based on this, for the given TVYC, the next group will be HLOW. So the correct answer is an option (1).

Practice Questions

Q. DFH : FHD :: MOQ:?

A. MQO B. VXZ

C. OQM D. NPQ

Ans: C) OQM

Q. LMN : QPO :: OPQ:?

A. MNL B. NML

C. ONM D. LMO

Ans: B) NML

Q. CEG : IJM :: NPR:?

A. YWU B. UWY

C. WUY D. UVY

Ans: D) UVY.

Q. ODEQ : PEFR :: _____ : NQSP

A. MPRO B. ORPM

C. PROM D. RPM

Ans: A) MPRO