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Letter Pairs with Equal Alphabet Gap

This topic asks a precise, mechanical question: for a pair of letters in a word, does the number of letters separating them IN THE WORD match the number of letters separating them IN THE ALPHABET? Here’s the exact rule, six fully worked examples, and a few to try yourself.

Written by Mahesh Srivastava, Founder of Pariksha Saathi. Published: 2026-10-05. Editorial standards & corrections

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The approach, quickly

  • For any two letters in the word, "letters between them in the word" = (their position gap in the word) − 1. For two letters three spots apart in the word, that’s 2 letters between them.
  • "Letters between them in the alphabet" = (the difference between their alphabet positions, A=1 … Z=26) − 1. For B and E, positions 2 and 5, that’s 2 letters between them (C, D).
  • Check every pair of letters in the word (not just adjacent ones), and count a pair when the word-gap equals the alphabet-gap.
  • Work systematically: list each letter’s position in the word and its alphabet position side by side first, then compare gaps pair by pair — trying to do this from memory invites errors.
  • This rule only meaningfully applies to pairs of two DIFFERENT letters — if a word repeats the same letter, that letter paired with its other occurrence has no real "alphabet gap" to compare, so focus on pairs of distinct letter values.

Worked examples

1. How many pairs of letters in the word COUNTRY have as many letters between them in the word as they have between them in the English alphabet?

Solution

  1. C-O-U-N-T-R-Y: positions 1-7. Checking all pairs, two qualify.
  2. U (position 3) and R (position 6): word-gap = 6−3−1 = 2. Alphabet: U=21, R=18, gap = 21−18−1 = 2. Match.
  3. U (position 3) and Y (position 7): word-gap = 7−3−1 = 3. Alphabet: U=21, Y=25, gap = 25−21−1 = 3. Match.

Answer: 2

2. How many such pairs are there in the word MONKEY?

Solution

  1. M-O-N-K-E-Y: positions 1-6. Checking all pairs, one qualifies.
  2. O (position 2) and N (position 3): word-gap = 3−2−1 = 0 (adjacent). Alphabet: O=15, N=14, gap = 15−14−1 = 0. Match.

Answer: 1

3. How many such pairs are there in the word PATIENT?

Solution

  1. P-A-T-I-E-N-T: positions 1-7. Checking every pair against the rule, none of them have a matching word-gap and alphabet-gap.

Answer: 0

4. How many such pairs are there in the word HORIZON?

Solution

  1. H-O-R-I-Z-O-N: positions 1-7. Checking all pairs, four qualify.
  2. H (1) & N (7): word-gap = 5, alphabet gap (H=8, N=14) = 5. Match.
  3. R (3) & the O at position 6: word-gap = 2, alphabet gap (R=18, O=15) = 2. Match.
  4. R (3) & N (7): word-gap = 3, alphabet gap (R=18, N=14) = 3. Match.
  5. The O at position 6 & N (7): word-gap = 0, alphabet gap (O=15, N=14) = 0. Match.

Answer: 4

5. How many such pairs are there in the word NATURE?

Solution

  1. N-A-T-U-R-E: positions 1-6 (N=14, A=1, T=20, U=21, R=18, E=5). Checking all 15 pairs systematically, four qualify.
  2. N(1) & R(5): word-gap = 3, alphabet gap = |18−14|−1 = 3. Match.
  3. A(2) & E(6): word-gap = 3, alphabet gap = |5−1|−1 = 3. Match.
  4. T(3) & U(4): word-gap = 0, alphabet gap = |21−20|−1 = 0. Match.
  5. T(3) & R(5): word-gap = 1, alphabet gap = |20−18|−1 = 1. Match.

Answer: 4

6. How many such pairs are there in the word FLOWER?

Solution

  1. F-L-O-W-E-R: positions 1-6 (F=6, L=12, O=15, W=23, E=5, R=18). Checking all 15 pairs systematically, only one qualifies.
  2. O(3) & R(6): word-gap = 2, alphabet gap = |18−15|−1 = 2. Match.

Answer: 1

Try these yourself

List each letter’s word position and alphabet position, then check every pair against the answer.

1. How many such pairs are there in the word GARDEN?

Answer: 2

2. How many such pairs are there in the word MINUTES?

Answer: 3

3. How many such pairs are there in the word CHICKEN?

Answer: 4

4. How many such pairs are there in the word WINTER?

Answer: 2 (W&R, and T&R both qualify)

5. How many such pairs are there in the word MASTER?

Answer: 3 (M&R, S&T, and T&R all qualify)

All 11 practice questions on Letter Pairs with Equal Alphabet Gap, with answers →

Where this comes up

Letter Pairs with Equal Alphabet Gap is a regular Reasoning topic in exams Pariksha Saathi covers — SSC CGL, SSC MTS, SSC CHSL, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI PO and SBI Clerk — a slow-but-mechanical topic where accuracy matters more than speed.

Keep practising

Solve the questions above before opening the answers. Explain each step in your own words, then revisit any mistakes.

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