A substitution language — Aptitude Question
A substitution language: In a certain language: 'pit na som' means 'bring me water' 'som lat tuk' means 'water is… Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Coding & Decoding
- Section: Logical Reasoning
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 75 seconds
Question
In a certain language:
- 'pit na som' means 'bring me water'
- 'som lat tuk' means 'water is cold'
Which word means 'water'?
Options
- pit
- na
- som
- lat
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: C. som
Worked solution
- Code words in both sentences: som (pit, na, lat and tuk each appear once).
- English words in both meanings: water (bring, me, is and cold each appear once).
- A word that appears in both sentences must translate the meaning that appears in both, so som = water.
Answer: som.
The idea
Intersect the code words of the sentences and intersect their meanings; the two intersections correspond. When more than one word survives on either side, you need a third sentence to separate them.
Shortcut. Pit, na, lat and tuk each appear once, so none can mean 'water', which occurs in both meanings; som is the only survivor.
Common trap. "lat" — it sits beside som in the second sentence and a quick reader pairs it with 'water'; lat appears in one sentence only, so it must be 'is' or 'cold'.