Sitting Arrangement

Linear Arrangement: Following are some of the commonly used phrases which have been explained in detail –

i) A, B, C, D & E are sitting in a row facing same direction from left to right, not necessarily in that order. A sits to the right of B, who sits to the left of C –

The above information means A is anywhere to the right of B (it may be immediate right or farther away) and similarly B is anywhere to the left of C (need not necessarily be immediate left). The same can be represented by the following:

ii) A, B, C, D & E are sitting in a row facing same direction from left to right, not necessarily in that order. A sits to the right of B and sits to the left of C –

Here unlike previous example “A sits to the right of B” is followed by “and” which denotes that the information continues to be with respect to A. Hence this means that A is to the right of B (not necessarily immediate) and is also to the left of C (immediate or otherwise). This can be represented by the following:

iii) A, B, C, D, E, F & G are sitting in a row facing same direction from left to right, not necessarily in that order. The number of persons sitting to the left of A is same as the number of persons sitting to the right of B –

The above information means that neither A nor B are at the centre (since there are 7 i.e. odd number of persons here) and they are equally away from the person at centre on either sides of it. So numerically A & B can take the following positions:

iv) A, B, C, D, E, F, G & H are sitting in a row facing same direction from left to right, not necessarily in that order. The number of persons sitting to the left of A is same as the number of persons sitting to the right of B –

Here the number of persons is 8 i.e. even; hence either A and B occupy the two positions at centre or are equally distant from the two respective centre positions as follows:

v) For any two individuals sitting "n" places away from each other, the number of persons in between shall always be "n-1". So if it is given that A sits 3 places away from B, it implies there are 2 persons sitting between A and B.

Circular Arrangement: Key points to remember in Circular Arrangement –

i) As there is no clear concept of left/right, whenever the words “left” or “right” are mentioned, they denote immediate left or immediate right. For example, if it is given that A sits to the right of B, it automatically means, A is to the immediate right of B.

ii) Unless mentioned otherwise, it is to be assumed that all are facing the centre while sitting in a circular arrangement.


iii) Whenever there are odd numbers of persons sitting in a circle, no one sits exactly opposite anybody. In case of even number of persons, people sitting half the number of total persons away from each other will be opposite each other. Eg. If there are 8 persons sitting in a circle, any two persons sitting 8/2 = 4 places away from each other shall be opposite each other.