SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 12 September 2024, Shift 2 · General Intelligence and Reasoning · Question 21 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Each vowel in the word ‘STAMINA’ is changed to the preceding letter in the English alphabetical order and each consonant is changed to the following letter in the English alphabetical order. How many letters are there in the English alphabetical order between the letter which is the third from the right and the fourth from the left in the group of letters thus formed?

(a)Four
(b)Six
(c)Seven
(d)Five

Answer

Why

Correct — D. Convert STAMINA one letter at a time.

Rule: vowels step one letter back, consonants one letter forward.

S→T, T→U, A→Z, M→N, I→H, N→O, A→Z
The new group is TUZNHOZ, still seven letters long.

Third from the right: counting Z, O, H.
Fourth from the left: counting T, U, Z, N.

Between H (8th letter) and N (14th) lie I, J, K, L and M — five letters, option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Four — Four stops at L and forgets M. The full run between H and N is I, J, K, L, M.
(b)
Six — Six counts one endpoint as well — H to M, or I to N, is six letters. Between excludes both H and N.
(c)
Seven — Seven counts H and N themselves. H to N inclusive is seven, but the question asks how many lie between them.

Concept

Three separate steps, and each is a place where marks are lost.

First, apply two different transformations by letter type: vowels back one, consonants forward one. Write the new group out in full rather than transforming in your head.

Second, index from two different ends — third from the right and fourth from the left. In a seven-letter group those are positions 5 and 4, which are adjacent, so a one-place slip changes the answer.

Third, count strictly between two letters, excluding both.

A has no preceding letter, so it wraps to Z. That ambiguity is harmless here: both Z's come from A, and neither of the letters the question picks out (H and N) is one of them, so the answer is the same however you handle the wrap — as long as the group stays seven letters long.

Key facts

STAMINA becomes TUZNHOZ under the stated rule.
The third letter from the right of TUZNHOZ is H.
The fourth letter from the left of TUZNHOZ is N.
H is the 8th letter and N the 14th, so five letters lie strictly between them.

Study next

Letter-position values from A=1 to Z=26, learned coldQuestions that count letters between two positions, where inclusive and exclusive differVowel and consonant transformations applied to the same word

Common traps

Counting from the wrong end for one of the two positions.
Including H or N in the count between them.
Dropping the A instead of converting it, which shortens the group and shifts every position.

SSC states the vowel rule and the consonant rule in one long sentence and then asks a counting question about the result, so the transformation is only half the work. Alphabet position arithmetic also drives Reasoning Q.11 and Q.4 of this 12 Sep 2024, 12:30 paper.

Related PYQs

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