Letters based Classification

When solving such questions, always keep handy the alphabet sequence (in natural and reverse order) and their position below
it on a piece of paper. Described below are some important patterns seen among questions from this topic in NTSE.
These are mentioned in the decreasing order of their importance
Jumping in Natural Order
Letters appear in the natural order but some letters are skipped in between e g ACE, natural order sequence skipping 1 letter in
between
The number of letters skipped have its own pattern e g 2 each, 3 each or 1,2, 3... (i e increasing natural numbers) or 1,3,5,7...
(i e increasing odd numbers)

Ql. Pick the odd one out

(a) ACE
(b) LOR
(c) GIK
(d) VXZ Solution:
(d) isthe answer. The sequence in each group is+2. Only option B has sequence in +3, ie,
ABCDE

LMNOPQR

IIII

I_____II_____I I__________II__I I_________II___I

+2 +2

+3 +3

GHIJK

VWXYZ

+2 +2

+2 +2

Q2. Pick the odd one out

(a) BdfH
(b) FHJL
(c) RTvX
(d) uVwX
(d) is the answer. In each group, the sequence of the alphabet, irrespective of the case, is +2; i e,

BD f H; F H J L;RTvX I__II__II I I

II

II

II

II

II

+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2

Only in option (d) the sequence is in natural order (+1), i.e,

uVwX

I___II___II___I
+1+1+1
Jumping in Reverse Order
This is same as above only skipping happens in reverse order. L e ECA, skips 1 letter in reverse order.
Sometimes some common letters are placed and the above mentioned pattern is seen around those eg JOPK, BOPC, QOPR

Sample questions:

Ql. Pick the odd one out

(a) EF LM
(b) KJSR
(c) XW HG
(d) ED YX Solution:
(a) is the answer

Two consecutive alphabet in each group are in reverse sequence (-1), i.e,
K J S R; X W H G ; E D Y X
-1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1

l|

II

II

II

I|

Only in option (a) the sequence is in natural order (+1), L e,

EFLM

L-J LJ

+1+1

Q2. Pick the odd one out

(a)

MKGA

(b)

PNID

(d) VTPJ Solution:

(b) is the answer
The sequence of alphabet in each group follows the reverse pattern of -2, -4, -6, i e,
II____II____I____I
-2 -4 -6

MKGA;RPLFI
-2 -4 -6

V T P J I___II_
_II
-2 -4 -6

II

II

In option (b), the pattern is

P N I D l- -II____ll
-2 -5 -5

The correct pattern should be- P N J D

I__ll__ll_I
-2 -4 -6

Repetition

In the given sequence of letters, some letters repeat themselves and that is a distinguishing pattern Sample Question:

Q. SSTU, MM NO, AABC, KLMN Odd one out is KLMN

Here for all others the first two letters are repeating and the following is a sequence of consecutive letters
Miscellaneous
Vowels and Consonants- Letter series can be made of vowels and consonants arranged in a certain pattern e g first letter is a
vowel followed by three consecutive letters, or a group contains one consonant and two repeating vowels
Letter Patterns - Letters can be defined by their pattern e g Between CS, EV, OU only EV is formed by straight lines Between TVL,
FEH, KCW only KCW has one letter that is curved
1.

Pick the odd one out

(a) CS

Learnt
Yo i r bd d er to M T S E s u c ce s s | w wv v l ei r ut c o m

(b)

QU

(c)

EV
(d)

QO Solution:

(c) is the answer

Only this group has letters made by straight lines
1.

Pick the odd one out

(a)

EFGH

(b)

IRST

(c)

ULMN
(d)

(a)

JKLO Solution:

is the answer
In ail other groups the first letter is a vowel followed by three consecutive letters

2.

Pick the odd one out

(a)

SC

(b)

FT

(c)

MK
(d)

HV Solution:

(a) is the answer

Only this group has letters made by curved lines