O, T, T, F, F, S, S, E, N, ...

Question

Here is a sequence of letters: O,\ T,\ T,\ F,\ F,\ S,\ S,\ E,\ N,\ \dots What is the next letter?

Accepted Answer

The next letter is T. Read them as first letters of counting words. These are the initial letters of the numbers written out in English: - O, One - T, Two - T, Three - F, Four - F, Five - S, Six - S, Seven - E, Eight - N, Nine The next number is Ten, so the next letter is T. (And after that comes E for Eleven, T for Twelve, and so on.) Why it's tricky. People instinctively look for a mathematical or alphabetical rule among the letters, but the pattern lives in language, not arithmetic. Once you notice the doubled letters (T, T then F, F then S, S) hint at Two/Three, Four/Five, Six/Seven, the …

O, T, T, F, F, S, S, E, N, ...

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