How Many Letters in the Alphabet? Try to Solve the Viral Riddle

Sajid Karimee
Jun 1
2 min read

If you’ve spent time online recently, you may have stumbled across a riddle that’s been confusing and amusing people in equal measure:

"How many letters are in the alphabet?"

At first glance, it seems straightforward. Most of us instinctively want to answer, “26,” right? That’s the number of actual letters in the English alphabet, after all. But that’s not the trick of this riddle.

Let’s break it down and see why this simple question is anything but.

The Riddle’s Real Question

The key here is understanding that the riddle isn't asking for the number of letters in the English language. It’s asking for the number of letters in the phrase “the alphabet.”

Let’s look again:

How many letters are in 'the alphabet'?

Now count the letters in the phrase:

“the” = 3 letters
“alphabet” = 8 letters

So together:3 + 8 = 11

The Trick Explained

This is what’s called a lateral-thinking riddle—it’s designed to steer your mind one way while the answer hides in another.

Most people fall into the trap of interpreting the question literally and recall the alphabet they learned in school. But in riddles like this, context is everything.

Variations of the Riddle

You might also come across variations like:

“How many letters are in ‘the answer to this question’?”
“How many letters are in the sentence ‘How many letters are in the alphabet?’”

In each case, the trick is to ignore the usual meaning and instead treat it like a counting game.

Why These Riddles Go Viral

Part of the appeal of these riddles is that they’re just misleading enough to make you doubt yourself. They're short, deceptively easy, and usually come with a twist that makes people say, “Ohh, I get it now!” after they hear the answer.

And when that happens, you’re more likely to share it—because now you’re in on the joke.