Tricks to learn Ranks of Alphabets for Reasoning Section

We all know that there are 26 letters in the alphabet series. 

Now let us have a look at the tricks to learn the ranks of alphabets

First 4 letters A to D`s, rank is 1 to 4 and no trick is required to learn them.

Now comes the letter E. For this, you have to learn one-word "EJOTY"                                                                                                 

• Learning this word helps you to learn the rank of 5 letters which are the multiple of 5.
• Coming to next letter it is "F". You know F for Fix and synonym of Fix is "Six".  You can also learn it as "F" for "FRIENDS". FRIENDS is of 6 letters. So, the rank of "F" is "6".
• Then it is "G". Everybody knows G-7 Nations. Rank of letter G is 7.
• After that, it is "H". Now if we join the 2 lines of H, it will become 8 or you can say H looks like 8. Thus Rank of letter "H" is 8.
• Coming to next letter, it is "I", if you write "I" in cursive writing, it looks like 9. Hence, Rank of the letter "I" is 9.

• Then, the letter is "J". Remember the term "EJOTY". Rank of J is 10. 
• Here it comes the letter "K". K for Kelvin and which is similar to "Eleven" in pronunciation or K`s rank is 11.
• Now, the letter is L. Speak together "L Twelve" Sounds like Homonyms. Rank of L is 12.
• Next letter is "M". Total letters in Alphabet series is 26. Half of 26 is 13 or the middle most letter in the series is "M". Rank of letter "M" is 13.
• After letter M, it is "N", N for November and November 14 is Children`s Day. Thus, Rank of Letter "N" is 14. 
• Here it comes "O", again the term "EJOTY". Rank of O is 15. 
• Next two letters are P and Q. Learn them together as P16 and Q17. Also, you can learn them with the help of reverse method which will be explained later. 
• Here the turn of R and S comes, pronounce "ATTARRAHH" and "UNISSSS" they are the ranks of R and S respectively.
• Again, it is "EJOTY" the letter is T. Rank of the letter T is 20. You can also remember it as T-20 matches. 
• Coming to next letter, it is "U". From U, the country is USA which stands for "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA". Counting all the letters of "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", it is 21. Rank of U is 21. You can also remember it as "U are a graduate(21)". Usually, a person completes his/her graduation at the age of 21.
• Next letter is V. V for Victory. A person requires two fingers to represent Victory. Rank of letter "V" is 22. 
• Now, if we reverse letter "W", it looks like 3, its rank is "23".
• In X, it is being divided into four parts. Rank of letter "X" is 24. 
• Coming to "Y", it is again "EJOTY". Rank of letter "Y" is 25.
• The last letter is Z or its rank is 26. 

Let's have a quick look at the trick to learn the rank of letters:

Example of questions on Alphabet Series:

Example 1. Which element is 8th to the right of 15th letter from the left of alphabet series?

Sol. In case of same directions i.e, right to right or left to left, we subtract the numbers and in case of opposite directions i.e, right to left or left to right, we add the numbers. Here, directions are opposite, so we have to find (8 + 15)th letter from the left end i.e, 23rd letter. And we know the rank of 'W` is 23. 

The answer is W.

Now, in some questions, you generally asked to find out the rank of the letter from the reverse side or right side of the alphabet series. Now, you can find the rank of letters from the reverse side in the way (27 - Rank of the letter from the left side).

Example 2. If the alphabet series is reversed, then which letter is 6th to the right of the 9th letter from the left side?

Sol. Here, there are opposite directions, so, the addition will be there i.e, (6 + 9)from the right side or 15th from the left side. Now we know the 15th letter from the left side is O and as this series is reversed, so we will find the 15th letter from right side i,e. 27 - 15 = 12 i.e, Letter L.  

Example 3. If the first half of the English alphabet is reversed and the second half of English alphabet is reversed so as 'A' takes the position of 'M' and 'N' takes the position of 'Z' then which letter will be 5th to the left of 19th letter to the right of 9th letter from the left?

Sol. In the new series, 5th to the left of the 19th letter to the right of the 9th letter from the left = 5th to the left of (19+9) 28th letter from the left = (28-5) 23rd letter from the left.

In the new series, it is letter Q.  

Example 4. Which letter is the ninth letter to the right of the letter which is the eighth letter to the left of the last but one letter of the alphabet series?

Sol. Last but one letter of the alphabet series is Y.

8th letter to the left of Y or 25th letter is 17th letter i.e, Q 

Now, 9th letter to the right of Q is Z i.e, 26th letter.

Important Rank-based Examples

Here are some questions which are asked in banking exams and requires the use of ranks of letters.

Q1. If "TEACHER" is coded as "WHDFKHU", then how the word "MANAGER" will be coded?

Sol. At first, let us write the ranks of all the letters of word and code.

Here we can see that from word to code there is an increase of 3.

This way, MANAGER will be coded as 

Q2. If "TO" is coded as 35 and "COMB" is coded as 33. What is the code of "BLUE"?

Sol. From the term "EJOTY" we know T`s rank is 20 and O`s rank is 15. So, (T + O)rank = 35

Then, in COMB, C is 3, O is 15, M is 13 and B is 2. Adding them, 3 + 15 + 13+ 2 = 33.

So, code of "BLUE" will be the sum of the rank of B, L, U and E i.e, 2 + 12 + 21+ 5 = 40.

Q3. How many pairs of the letter are there in the word "SEQUENTIAL" which has as many letters between them in the word as in the alphabet in both directions?

Sol. Four pairs. Let`s see how ranks help to get the answer quickly. 

1. 19 _ 17 or S R Q

2. 19 _ _ _ _ 14 or  S R Q P N M 

3. 5 _ _ _ 1 or E D C B A

4. 17 _ _ 14 or Q U E N

Q4. Fill the series: TAI , UCL, VEO, _____,  XIU

Here if we see the series, the first letter is incremented by 1, the second letter is incremented by 2 and the third letter is incremented by 3. You can easily analyze the pattern by just knowing their ranks. 

The answer is WGR.

Q5. If ADVERSITY is coded as XACUOGAQK, then how would "GENERATOR" be coded as?

Sol. If we analyze the pattern: