In a certain code language, the phrase "go home" is written as "ta na" and the phrase "nice little home" is written as "na ja pa". Using only this information, how is the individual word "go" written in that code language?

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: ta

Explanation:


Introduction:
This question is a classic example of a coding and decoding problem from verbal reasoning. We are given coded forms of two short phrases and are asked to determine how a single word, namely "go", is written in that particular code language. The key idea in such questions is to compare the phrases, identify common words, and then match them with common code terms so that we can isolate the remaining mappings.


Given Data / Assumptions:
We are told that "go home" is written as "ta na" and "nice little home" is written as "na ja pa". The order of coded words is not necessarily tied to the order of original words, so we work with sets of words rather than positions. We assume that each distinct word is consistently represented by a single distinct code in this language and that there is no trick such as one code standing for more than one word in the same question.


Concept / Approach:
The standard approach for this pattern is to look for a word that is common between both phrases, and then match it with the code element that is also common between both coded forms. Once we identify the common mapping, we can remove the common word and its code from the comparison and focus on the leftover words and codes to find the required mapping for the target word "go".


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Observe that "home" appears in both phrases: "go home" and "nice little home".Step 2: The coded forms are "ta na" for "go home" and "na ja pa" for "nice little home". The code "na" is common to both coded phrases.Step 3: Therefore, the natural mapping is that the common word "home" corresponds to the common code "na".Step 4: In the phrase "go home", the codes are "ta" and "na". Since "home" is already matched with "na", the remaining code "ta" must correspond to the remaining word "go".Step 5: Hence "go" is written as "ta" in the given code language.


Verification / Alternative check:
If we assign "home" to "na" and "go" to "ta", then in the second phrase "nice little home" the codes "na ja pa" can logically be interpreted as "home nice little" or "nice home little" or "little nice home". The exact word to code alignment among "nice" and "little" is not needed, and nothing contradicts our mapping, so the solution is consistent.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option "na" is already associated with "home", so it cannot correctly stand for "go". Option "ja" appears only in the second coded phrase where "go" does not occur, so it is more naturally tied to either "nice" or "little". Option "na or ta" suggests ambiguity, but once we use the intersection method, the mapping becomes precise and there is no real ambiguity.


Common Pitfalls:
A frequent mistake is to assume that the order of words and the order of codes always match position by position. In many exam questions, the code positions can be scrambled, so we must rely on the logic of common words and common codes rather than positional matching. Another error is to overcomplicate the mapping and consider multiple codes for the same word, which is not implied here.


Final Answer:
The word "go" is written as ta in the given code language.

More Questions from Coding Decoding

Discussion & Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!
Join Discussion