Refer to the given letter series and answer the question that follows.…
2026
Refer to the given letter series and answer the question that follows.
Counting to be done from left to right only.
(Left) B K C A L Q R V G T N J E N E J W Y C G R L A M I U (Right)
How many such consonants are there, each of which is immediately preceded by a consonant and also immediately followed by a vowel?
Answer: C. Three — Concept: A count of the form "consonants immediately preceded by a consonant and immediately followed by a vowel" is settled inside a three-letter window…
- A.
One
- B.
Two
- C.
Three
- D.
None
Attempted by 69 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept: A count of the form "consonants immediately preceded by a consonant and immediately followed by a vowel" is settled inside a three-letter window centred on each candidate. All three slots of that window must hold at the same time: the middle letter must be a consonant, the letter on its immediate left must be a consonant, and the letter on its immediate right must be a vowel.
The vowels are A, E, I, O and U; every other letter of the alphabet, Y included, is a consonant. Because the window needs a neighbour on each side, the first and the last letter of a series can never be counted.
Application: Write the series with its positions and scan it from left to right, testing every interior letter against the three-letter window.
Number the 26 letters: B(1) K(2) C(3) A(4) L(5) Q(6) R(7) V(8) G(9) T(10) N(11) J(12) E(13) N(14) E(15) J(16) W(17) Y(18) C(19) G(20) R(21) L(22) A(23) M(24) I(25) U(26).
Mark the vowels: A(4), E(13), E(15), A(23), I(25) and U(26). Every remaining position holds a consonant, so Y(18) is a consonant here.
A window can close only on a vowel, so shortlist the positions whose immediate right-hand neighbour is a vowel: 3, 12, 14, 22, 24 and 25. Every other position breaks the third condition straight away.
Apply the two remaining conditions to each shortlisted position: the letter itself must be a consonant and its immediate left-hand neighbour must be a consonant.
Window | Middle letter | Left neighbour | Right neighbour | Counted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
K C A | C — consonant | K — consonant | A — vowel | Yes |
N J E | J — consonant | N — consonant | E — vowel | Yes |
E N E | N — consonant | E — vowel | E — vowel | No |
R L A | L — consonant | R — consonant | A — vowel | Yes |
A M I | M — consonant | A — vowel | I — vowel | No |
M I U | I — vowel | M — consonant | U — vowel | No |
Three of the six shortlisted windows — K C A, N J E and R L A — clear all three conditions, so the required count is three.
Cross-check: The nearest miss is W(17) in the window J W Y: its left-hand neighbour J is a consonant, but its right-hand neighbour Y is a consonant as well under the standard A/E/I/O/U convention, so W is not counted. Treating Y as a vowel would push the count to four, and four is not offered here, which confirms the standard convention is the one intended. Scanning the series again from right to left reproduces the same three windows.
Result: Three consonants in the series are immediately preceded by a consonant and immediately followed by a vowel.