Letter and Symbol Series Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Correct answer: V5

The letters run backwards from the end of the alphabet - Z, Y, X, W, then V - while the numbers count up 1, 2, 3, 4, then 5. So the next term is V5.

Answer: D

Correct answer: V32

The letters advance one place at a time - R, S, T, U, then V - while the numbers double: 2, 4, 8, 16, then 32. So the next term is V32.

Answer: A

Correct answer: U

The gaps between the letters grow by one each time: A \( \xrightarrow{+2} \) C \( \xrightarrow{+3} \) F \( \xrightarrow{+4} \) J \( \xrightarrow{+5} \) O. The next gap is 6, and six letters on from O (the 15th letter) is the 21st - U.

Answer: B

Correct answer: ^

These are the characters on the number keys, taken with the shift held down: ! over 1, @ over 2, # over 3, $ over 4, % over 5. The next key, 6, gives ^.

Answer: C

Correct answer: 9i

The numbers count up in odds - 1, 3, 5, 7, then 9 - and the letters keep step with them, A being the 1st letter, C the 3rd, E the 5th and G the 7th. The 9th letter is I, so the term is 9I.

Answer: D

Correct answer: J

Every letter is two places further on than the one before it: B to D, D to F, F to H. Two places past H is J. The series is simply the even-numbered letters of the alphabet - positions 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. The trap is I, which is the very next letter but only one step on; the gap here has been two throughout and there is nothing in the series to suggest it changes. Series built on a single constant gap are the foundation of this topic, and every harder pattern here is a variation on one: alternating gaps, growing gaps, or two such series interleaved.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Q

The step is four places each time: A(1) to E(5), E to I(9), I to M(13). Four beyond M(13) is position 17, which is Q. Counting positions rather than reciting the alphabet is the quicker check here, because a four-step gap is easy to miscount by one when read aloud. N would be a single step and P a three-step, neither of which matches the pattern already established. A four-step series covers the alphabet in six terms and then wraps, so questions of this shape rarely run long enough for the wrap to be needed.

Answer: B

Correct answer: T

Positions 4, 8, 12, 16 - each four more than the last. The next is position 20, which is T. These are the letters at every fourth place from D, so the run would continue T, X and then wrap. S sits at 19 and U at 21, one either side of the answer; both are tempting if the count is started from the wrong letter, so it is worth fixing the position of P as 16 before adding. Series with a gap of four divide the alphabet into four independent strands, and D, H, L, P, T all belong to the same one.

Answer: C

Correct answer: N

The gap is three places throughout: B(2), E(5), H(8), K(11). Three beyond 11 is position 14, giving N. A useful check is that every term leaves the same remainder on division by three, so the series picks out one letter from each group of three. M at 13 and O at 15 bracket the answer and are the two errors a miscount produces. The three-step gap is the most common in this topic because it produces a long series - nine terms - before the alphabet runs out.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Y

Each letter is five places beyond its predecessor: E(5), J(10), O(15), T(20). Five past 20 is position 25, which is Y. The positions are the multiples of five, which makes the series easy to verify without reciting the alphabet. Z sits at 26 and is the last letter, so it attracts a guess from anyone who assumes the series must finish at the end. Once the positions are written down, a five-step series is just counting in fives, and the only real risk is mistaking the position of the starting letter.