Understanding the Question: Vowels Preceding Consonants

The question asks us to count the number of times a vowel is immediately followed by a consonant in the specific word 'RETROGRESSION'. To solve this, we need to first identify the vowels and consonants in the word and then examine each pair of adjacent letters.

Identifying Vowels and Consonants

Let's break down the word 'RETROGRESSION' and label each letter as a vowel (V) or a consonant (C).

So, the sequence of types in 'RETROGRESSION' is: C V C C V C C V C C V V C

Counting Vowel-Consonant Pairs

Now, we will look at adjacent pairs of letters in the sequence C V C C V C C V C C V V C and count instances where a V is followed by a C.

• C V (R E): V follows C. No count.
• V C (E T): Vowel E precedes consonant T. Count 1.
• C C (T R): C follows C. No count.
• C V (R O): V follows C. No count.
• V C (O G): Vowel O precedes consonant G. Count 2.
• C C (G R): C follows C. No count.
• C V (R E): V follows C. No count.
• V C (E S): Vowel E precedes consonant S. Count 3.
• C C (S S): C follows C. No count.
• C V (S I): V follows C. No count.
• V V (I O): V follows V. No count.
• V C (O N): Vowel O precedes consonant N. Count 4.

By examining each adjacent pair, we found 4 instances where a vowel precedes a consonant in the word 'RETROGRESSION'.

Conclusion

Based on our analysis, the vowels precede the consonants 4 times in the word 'RETROGRESSION'.