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01 EXAMPLE

AP series
Here, all the terms of the series have a common difference or the difference between any two consecutive terms must
be constant.
Eg. a, a + d, a + 2d. . . . . a,a+d,a+2d.....
The nth th term of the AP = a + (n − 1)d =a+(n−1)d, where a a is the first term and dd is the common
difference

02 EXAMPLE

GP series
Here all the terms of the series have a common ratio, i.e we can write any GP series in a general form
Eg: a, ar, ar 2 , ar 3 . . . . . a,ar,ar2,ar3....., where r r is the common ratio.
Now, missing term (n th nth term) = ar n−1 =arn−1

03 EXAMPLE

HP series
Here reciprocals of any two consecutive terms of the given series have a common difference
1 1
i.e − = d = 1tn+1−1tn=d= constant
t n+1 tn
Eg : a 1 , a 2 , a 3 . . . . . . a1,a2,a3......
1
Missing term (n th term) = (nthterm)=11an−1+d
1
+d
a n−1

04 FORMULA

AGP series
Here each term of the series can be written as a product of terms of AP and GP.
i.e General form of the series will be a, (a + d)r, (a + 2d)r 2 , . . . . . . . . a,(a+d)r,(a+2d)r2,........
Hence missing term will be t n = [a + (n − 1)d]r n−1 tn=[a+(n−1)d]rn−1

05 EXAMPLE

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Prime numbers
The series given will be related to prime numbers. Lets consider an example :
Eg : 4, 9, 25, ?, 121 4,9,25,?,121
It can be written as 22 , 32 , 52 , ?, 11 2 22,32,52,?,112 i.e it is squares of consecutive primes.
So the missing term will be 72 = 49 72=49

06 EXAMPLE

Composite numbers
A series with composite numbers can many relations between the terms. Lets take an example
Eg : 24, 46, 68, ?, 1012. 24,46,68,?,1012. Here in each term two consecutive even numbers are placed together.
Hence the missing term will be 810810

07 EXAMPLE

Square difference
In the series the difference between the terms will be squares of some numbers. Lets take an example
Eg : 2, 3, 7, 16, ? 2,3,7,16,? ; Difference between terms = 12 , 22 , 32 , 42 =12,22,32,42
So the missing term will be = 16 + 16 = 32 =16+16=32

08 EXAMPLE

Cubic difference
In this type of series, either each term or difference between each term is related to cube of some numbers of definite
pattern. Lets take an example
Eg : 9, 28, 65, 126, ? 9,28,65,126,? or 23 + 1, 33 + 1, 43 + 1, 53 + 1, ? 23+1,33+1,43+1,53+1,?
So missing term will be 63 + 1 = 217 63+1=217

09 EXAMPLE

Wrong term/number when difference of terms of a series forms a series

In this type, series will be such that the difference between its consecutive terms will also form a series.
For e.g,
1, 5, 11, 19, 29, ?
Here difference between consecutive terms is 4,6,8,10.

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So, the next term for this AP should be 12.

So, the difference between 29 and next term is 12. So, next term is 41.

10 EXAMPLE

Series with alternate terms from 2 different series

In this type, the alternate terms form a series. So, the question series has its alternate terms as terms of two different
series.
For e.g,
1, 2, 7, 7, 13, 12, ?
Here, 1,7,13,... and 2,7,12,... are the two different series.
First is an AP with a = 1 and d = 6.
Second is an AP with a = 2 and d = 5.
The ? will be replaced by the next term of the first AP and it will be 19.

11 EXAMPLE

Three or more series involved

In this type of questions, the question series is made up of terms from three or more series.
For e.g,
0,2,2,3,3,5,8,4,10,?,5,17
First series: 0,3,8,? Difference: 3,5,7 So, next term will be 8+7 = 15.
Second series: 2,3,4,5 Difference: 1
Third Series: 2,5,10,17 Difference: 3,5,7
Next term in the question will the next term of the first series: 15

12 EXAMPLE

Multiple mathematical operations involved in a series

In this type of questions, a series whose terms follow a series of mathematical operations is given. We have to
identify the wrong term in this series or we have to find the next term of the series.
For e.g,
3, 8, 35, 48, ?, 120
3 = 22 − 1, 8 = 32 − 1 : 3=22−1,8=32−1:
35 = 62 − 1, 48 = 72 − 1 : 35=62−1,48=72−1:
? = 102 − 1, 120 − 11 2 − 1 ?=102−1,120−112−1. So, answer is 99.

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13 EXAMPLE

Identify missing alphabet based on pattern formed by single letters in normal order
Remember:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
In this type, questions will be asked to find the missing letters in the pattern given in the question.
For e.g.
Complete the series given below.
A ? BBC ? AAB ? CCA ? BBCC
Observing the given series, we can make out that the repeating pattern has the same alphabet repeated twice.
AABBCC / AABBCC / AABBCC
So, the missing letters will be
AAB B C C A A B B C C AAB B C C

14 EXAMPLE

Identify missing alphabet based on pattern formed by single letters in reverse order
Remember:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
In this type of question, a sequence of letters usually following the pattern in reverse alphabetical order is asked to
complete.
We must look for the pattern of gap letters in between the letters given in the sequence and analyse it to find the
next term of the sequence.
For e.g,
YOHD?
Here, Y and O has 9 letters in between them.
O and H has 6 letters in between them
H and D has 3 letters in between them.
So, 9,6,3 follow an AP whose next term is 0.
So, number of letters in between D and next term must be 0. So, D.

Also, questions series may have two alternate series in it.

BYCXDWE?
Here, the two series (appearing as alternate terms) are:
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B, C, D, E ( Consecutive alphabets)
Y, X, W, (Consecutive alphabets in Reverse order)
So, the next letter will be V.

15 EXAMPLE

Identify missing alphabet based on pattern formed by a pair of letters in normal order.
Remember:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
In this type, question will have pairs of letters that will form a series. We will have to find the letter pair that will
continue this series.
For e.g,
nd, iy, dt, yo, tj, ?
Here, look for the pattern of the first letters of each pair and the relation between the the paired letters.
First Letters: N, I, D, Y, T, O ( All have four letters in between)
Paired Letters: ND, IY, DT, YO, TJ, OE (8 letters in between paired letters)

16 EXAMPLE

Identify missing alphabet based on pattern formed by pair of letters in reverse order
Remember:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
In this type, the question will have a sequence of paired letters and we have to find the letter pair that will complete
the given series.
The sequence will advance in reverse alphabetic order.
For e.g,
LO, IL, FI, CF, ?
Here, the first letters of each pair form a series: L, I, F, C, Z (2 letter gap in between)
And for the pair, the second letter is 3 letters ahead of the first.
LO, IL, FI, CF, ZC.

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17 EXAMPLE

Identify missing alphabet based on pattern formed by pair of letters in mix-up order
Remember:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
In this type, the terms of series are letter pairs and they follow a mix-up order:
For e.g,
AZ, GT, MN,?, YB
Here, the paired letters occupy the same position from the start and the end of the alphabetic sequence.
The first letter of each term, however, follows a pattern:
A, G, M, ? ,Y (5 letters gap in between ) M and S has 5 letters in between.
So, S will be paired with H. So, SH is the missing term.

18 EXAMPLE

Identify missing alphabet based on pattern formed by group of letters in normal order.
Remember:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
In this type, questions will have series having groups of letters as its terms. We will have to identify the pattern for
grouping the letters in each term and then find the next term of the series.
For e.g,
Which group of letters will replace the ?
AEI, BFJ, CGK, ?
Here, A (+3 letters in between) E (+3 letters in between) I
B (+3 letters in between) F (+3 letters in between) J
C (+3 letters in between) G (+3 letters in between) K
And the first letters of each term are in alphabetic order: A, B, C, D
So, the next term will start with D and have 3 letter gaps in between its letters.
DHL

19 EXAMPLE

Identify missing alphabet based on pattern formed by group of letters in reverse order.
Remember:
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
In this type of questions, we will have series having terms made up of groups of letters. These terms will have letters
in reverse alphabetic order following a pattern. And we will have to identify this pattern and find the next term in the
series.
For e.g
VTRP, NLJH, FDBZ, XVTR, ?
Here,
V(-2) T(-2) R (-2) P
N (-2) L (-2) J (-2) H
F (-2) D (-2) B (-2) Z
X (-2) V (-2) R (-2) T
So, the next term in the series starts with P. The first letters of each term form a series: V (-7) N (-7) F (-7) X (-7) P
P (-2) N (-2) L (-2) J. So, the next term is PNLJ

20 EXAMPLE

Identify missing alphabet based on pattern formed by group of letters in mix-up order
Remember:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A
In this type of questions, series have terms which are groups of letters. The pattern followed by these groups is
mixed up.
For e.g,
CABFDEIGH?
Here, we can group these letters as: CAB FDE IGH ???
C (-2) A (+1) B
F (-2) D (+1) E
I (-2) G (+1) H
L (-2) J (+1) K
So, the term LJK will be the next term.

21 EXAMPLE

One letter One number series

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In this type, series consists of terms made of 1 number and 1 alphabet.

For e.g.,
3F, 6G, 11I, 18L, ?
Here, 3,6,11,18.. forms a series: the difference between the terms is 3,5,7
So the next difference will be 9 and next term's number will be 27.
Letters F, G, I, L have increasing number of letters in between them (+1,+2,+3 +4). Next letter is P.
So, the next term of the series 27P.

22 EXAMPLE

One letter two number series

In this type, series consists of terms made of 2 numbers and 1 alphabet.
For e.g.,
2 Z 5, 7 Y 7, 14 X 9, 23 W 11, 34 V 13, ?
Here,
The letters in between the numbers are in reverse alphabetic order.
The numbers on the left and right of the letters form two different series.
2,7,14,23,34,... and 5,7,9,11,13..
Difference between terms in first series: 5,7,9,11 So, the next difference will be 13.
So, next term on left side will be 47.
Common difference between the terms on the right is 2. So, the next term will be 15.
So, the next term of the sequence will be 47 U 15

23 EXAMPLE

Two letter one number series

In this type, series consists of terms made of 2 letters and 1 number.
For e.g,
P3C, R5F, T8I, V12L, ?
The letters on the left form a series: P, R, T, V, X
The letters on the right form a series: C, F, I, L, O
Numbers: 3, 5, 8, 12, 17 ( Increasing difference between the terms +2,+3,+4,+5)
So, the next term is X 17 O

24 EXAMPLE

Multiple letters and Numbers series

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In this type, the terms in the series have multiple letters ad numbers.
For e.g,
_ A C _ B D _ C D C D
2 _ 4 1 _ 1 4 _ _ _ _
r s _ q r _ p ? ? ? ?
Three sequences of letter/numbers are given which correspond to each other in some way. Find out the
letter/numerals that come in the vacant places marked by (?).
Clearly, 4 corresponds to C and p corresponds to 4.
So, p corresponds to C.
1 corresponds to D and q corresponds to 1.
So, q corresponds to 1.
Thus, CDCD corresponds to p, q, p, q.

25 EXAMPLE

Clockwise Cyclic Order

In this type, questions have a series consisting of clockwise cyclic patterns made from the repeating letters.
For e.g,
ab_ _a _dcacb_acd_
Here, we can observe that
The pattern followed is : abcd / abdc // acbd / acdb
So, the missing letters are c d b d b.

26 EXAMPLE

Anti-clockwise Cyclic Order

In this type, questions have sequences that are made up of repeating letters in an anti-clockwise cyclic order.
For e.g,

27 EXAMPLE

Part of Sequence Repeating

In this type of questions, the sequences have their parts repeating.
For e.g,
?abaaaba?a?a
We can observe that the pattern a a b a is repeating.

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So the missing letters are:

aabaaabaaaba
So, the missing letters are a a b.

28 DEFINITION

Identify the missing terms when only letters are involved

In this type of question we have to identify the missing letter, from the given list of letters.
Example:
Identify the missing letter in the given figure.
A. K
B. H
C. G
D. I

Answer : K
Explanation :
The numerical values of the letters in opposite segments of the circle always add up to 17.

29 DEFINITION

Identify the missing terms when only numbers are involved.

In this type of questions, we have to identify the missing number from the given list of numbers.
Example.
1. Insert the missing number. 12, 25, 49, 99, 197, 395, (...)
A. 789 B. 1579
C. 722 D. 812

Answer : Option A
Explanation :
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Each number is twice the previous one with 1 added or subtracted alternatively.

30 EXAMPLE

Missing terms involving numbers and letters

In this type of questions, we have to identify the missing term when both letters and numbers are given.
Example
What number should replace the question mark in the given chart?
Solution:-
According to alphabetic series, the position of alphabets is
A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, D = 4 A=1,B=2,C=3,D=4
X = 24, Y = 25, Z = 26 X=24,Y=25,Z=26
We have
F + P = 6 + 16 = 22 : G + N = 7 + 14 = 21 : J + E = 10 + 5 = 15 F+P=6+16=22:G+N=7+14=
Since K = 11 K=11, so value corresponding to missing letter
= (27 − 11) = 16 =(27−11)=16
So, the missing letter is the 16th letter of the English alphabet which is P P.

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