Coding-Decoding Questions for Bank PO: Types of Coding and Decoding Questions and How to Solve Them

Coding decoding is one of the most common questions of the bank competitive exams. In this type of question, a message is transmitted by the sender to the receiver in encrypted form. The candidates are required to break the code and understand what it means.

There are two important aspects of coding and decoding.

Coding- Coding means hiding the meaning of the message. Thus we can say that in coding the sender tries to keep the conversation between them and the receiver secret.

Decoding- Decoding is the procedure of breaking the code and understanding what the code conveys.

The candidates are scored on the basis of their ability to break the code. Let’s find out more about it in this article.

Also Read: How to Start Bank PO Preparation from the Zero Level? Here’s Your PO Preparation Booster

Types of Coding-Decoding Questions for Bank PO

There are generally 5 types of coding and decoding:

The Letters or Number Coding

In this type of coding, certain numbers or the letters of a word are replaced by other numbers or letters in a specific pattern. The candidates are required to understand the pattern and then decipher the code.

Let us elaborate on this type with the help of an example:

Example 1

In a certain code language, the word ‘APPLE’ is written as ‘ ELPPA’ and the word ‘ BALL’ as ‘ LLAB’. Then how will the word ‘ TOMATO’ be written?

Answer:

In the above question, you can see that there is a certain pattern. The letter of the word APPLE is written oppositely.

A- E

P- L

P- P

L- P

E- A

The same pattern is followed in the letter BALL.

B- L

A- L

L- A

L- B

Therefore we can say that the letter TOMATO would be written as:

T- O

O- T

M- A

A- M

T- O

O- T

Example 2:

If the word ‘WORK’ is written as 23 15 18 11, then how will you code the word ‘WOMAN’ in the same code pattern.

Answer:

First examine the example of the question, here:

W- 23

O- 15

R- 18

K- 11

Well, as we can see above the word ‘WORK’ is replaced by the numeric value of the individual letter in the alphabet. For example, the letter A numerical value is 1 and Z is 26. Therefore we can write down the pattern like this:

A	1	N	14
B	2	O	15
C	3	P	16
D	4	Q	17
E	5	R	18
F	6	S	19
G	7	T	20
H	8	U	21
I	9	V	22
J	10	W	23
K	11	X	24
L	12	Y	25
M	13	Z	26

According to the above table, we can say that the word ‘WOMAN’ can be written as:

W- 23

O-15

M-13

A-1

N- 14

Altogether, WOMAN- 23 15 13 1 14

Direct Coding

In this type of coding, the code letters number or sample occurs in a similar sequence to the corresponding letters.

Let us understand this type with the help of an example:

Example 1

In certain code languages, the word FILE is written as 7465 and IDEAL as 43586. Then how will the letter DEAF be written in a similar code pattern?

Answer:

In this example, we are going to use the direct method. The direct method is rather direct and easy to solve. Moreover, you can solve the same question in a quick way.

As you can see:

F- 7

I- 4

L- 6

E- 5

And,

I- 4

D- 3

E- 5

A- 8

L- 6

The word ‘DEAF’ has all the letters as in the above two examples. Thus we can find the answer in this way:

D- 3

E- 5

A- 8

F- 7

Simple! Isn’t it?

Conditional Coding

In this type of coding letters are given along with their codes. Candidates are required to find the code for a particular word.

For example,

Letters	P	N	A	J	I	R	E	B	U	K
Digital Codes	5	3	9	1	4	6	2	7	0	8

Rules:

#1. If the first and last letters in the group are what should be coded as $.

#2. If both the first and last letters are consonants then they should be coded a #.

Then find out:

KUNAJB

We can see that the first letter and the last letter are consonants, therefore they will be written as #.

Then,

K- #

U- 0

N- 3

A- 9

J- 1

B- #

Answer: #0391#

Fictitious Language Code

In this type of coding two or more sentences are given and the students are required to find the code of a particular word.

Example,

In a certain code language “it pit sit” means I am a boy and “it not sit” means I am a girl. Then which of the following words means ‘girl’?

#1. It

#2. Pit

#3. Sit

#4. Nit

Answer

According to the example given in the question we have,

It- I

Pit- Boy

Sit- Am

And

It- I

Nit- Girl

Sit- Am

How?

As ‘I’ and ‘Sit’ are the same in both sentences, only ‘pit’ and ‘nit’ are different. Therefore we can say that the girl would be written as ‘nit’.

Answer: #4. Nit

Substitution Coding

In this type of coding, some particular words are coded with alternative words. Based on the alternative words, you have to derive the given word.

For example,

If white is called blue, blue is called red, red is called yellow, yellow is called green, green is called black, black is called violet, violet is called orange, then what would be the colour of human blood?

Answer:

This type of question is rather tricky as well as time-consuming. The long question is to confuse the candidates and waste their time. Therefore the straight and simple answer to this question would be,

The colour of human blood is red and the red is written as yellow. In the book, the answer would be yellow.

Also Read: Simplification Questions for Bank PO: Let’s Practice the Questions for the Bank PO Preparation

Practice Questions for Bank PO

Note that we have understood the different types of the coding-decoding question, let’s solve different types of questions.

#1. In a certain code, ‘BASKET’ is written as 5#3%#1 and ‘TRIED’ as 14*#2. How is SKIRT written in the same pattern?

#a. 3%*41

#b. 3*%41

#c. 3%#41

#d. 3#4%1

#e. None of these  – IBPS PO 2011

#2. In a certain code language if ‘job requires expertise’ is coded as ‘la nu si’, ‘expertise in the area’ is coded as ‘li bo la’, and ‘requires area inspection’ is written as ‘si dm bo’. Then what is the code for ‘inspection’ in the given code language?

#a. Si

#b. Either ‘nu’ or ‘si’

#c. Either ‘bo’ or ‘si’

#d. dm

#e. Bo  – SBI PO 2017

#3. Directions: (Q no. 10-13) Study the given information carefully to answer the given questions.

Codes:

# ‘Cinderella shouted for rescue’ is written as ‘pr co ly bu’.

# ‘Rescue all the bugs’ is written as ‘ke mt co rx’.

# ‘bugs ate all carrots’ is written as ‘vg rx ke sh’.

# ‘carrots for pretty Cinderella’ is written as ‘ly pr vg as’.

#i. In the given code language what does the code ‘pr’ stand for?

#ii. What is the code for ‘bugs’ in the given language?

#iii. What may be the possible code for ‘pretty’ in the given code language?

#iv. What may be the possible code for ‘shouted and are’ in the given code language? (SBI PO 2015)

#4. Directions: Study the following information carefully and answer the following questions.

Codes:

# “Economics is not money” is written as ‘ka la ho ga’.

# ‘Demand and supply economics’ is written as ‘mo ta pa ka’.

# ‘Money makes only part’ is written as ‘zi la ne ki’.

# ‘demand make supply economics’ is written as ‘zi mo ka ta’.

#i. What is the code for ‘money’ in the given code language?

#ii. What is the code for ‘supplier’ in the given code language?

#iii. What may be the possible code for ‘demand only more’ in the given code language?

#iv. What may be the possible code for ‘work and money’ in the given code language? (SBI PO 2013)

Answer Sheet:

#1. a

#2. d

#3.

#i. Either ‘cinderella’ or ‘for’

#ii. Either ‘ke’ or ‘rx’

#iii. as

#iv. Sh gy bu

#4.

#i. la

#ii. Either mo or ta

#iii. Xi ne mo

#iv. Pa ga la

Also Read: Inequality Questions for Bank PO: Tips to Solve Quantitative Questions in Bank Exams

Conclusion

These were some coding-decoding types and questions related to them. I hope with this article you got a brief glimpse of the coding-decoding type of question of bank PO examinations. For more search articles on bank PO visit UPSC Pathshala.

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Also Read: How to Become a Bank PO? Here’s the Guide to Shape Your Future Career