Finding the Fourth Word in Dictionary Order

This question asks us to arrange a given list of five words in alphabetical or dictionary order and then identify the word that appears in the fourth position.

Understanding Dictionary Order

Dictionary order, also known as alphabetical order, is based on the sequence of letters in the alphabet (a, b, c, ..., z). When comparing words, we compare them letter by letter from left to right. The word with the letter that comes earlier in the alphabet at the first point of difference is placed earlier in the list.

Let's look at the given words:

1. Remark
2. Remain
3. Remember
4. Remnant
5. Remanent

Step-by-Step Arrangement

All the words begin with the letters "Rem". So, we need to look at the fourth letter of each word to determine the order initially.

• Remark: The fourth letter is 'a'.
• Remain: The fourth letter is 'a'.
• Remember: The fourth letter is 'e'.
• Remnant: The fourth letter is 'n'.
• Remanent: The fourth letter is 'a'.

Comparing the fourth letters ('a', 'e', 'n'), 'a' comes first, then 'e', then 'n'. This means words starting with "Rema" will come before "Reme" and "Remn".

Ordering words starting with "Rema":

We have Remark, Remain, and Remanent. All start with "Rema". We now look at the fifth letter:

• Remark: Fifth letter is 'r'.
• Remain: Fifth letter is 'i'.
• Remanent: Fifth letter is 'n'.

Comparing 'r', 'i', and 'n', the alphabetical order is 'i', 'n', 'r'.

So, the order for these three words is:

1. Remain
2. Remanent
3. Remark

Ordering words starting with "Reme" and "Remn":

We have Remember and Remnant. The fourth letters are 'e' and 'n' respectively. 'e' comes before 'n' in the alphabet.

So, the order for these two words is:

1. Remember
2. Remnant

Final Combined Dictionary Order

Now we combine the two sets based on the order of their fourth letters ('a' before 'e' before 'n').

The complete list in dictionary order is:

1. Remain
2. Remanent
3. Remark
4. Remember
5. Remnant

Identifying the Fourth Word

Looking at the sorted list, the word at the fourth position is Remember.

Therefore, the word that comes at the fourth position after arranging the given words according to dictionary order is Remember.

Revision Table: Dictionary Order Sorting

Additional Information: Alphabetical Sorting Rules

When sorting words alphabetically, consider these rules:

• Compare words letter by letter from left to right.
• The word with the letter that comes earlier in the alphabet at the first point of difference comes first.
• If one word is a prefix of another (e.g., "care" and "careful"), the shorter word comes first ("care" before "careful").
• Spaces and hyphens can also affect sorting, depending on the specific sorting rules being applied, but for simple word lists like this, they are usually not a factor unless present within the words themselves.
• Case (uppercase vs. lowercase) can matter, but typically lists for such questions are presented with consistent casing. If mixed, standard dictionary order usually places lowercase after uppercase, or sometimes treats them equally.

Mastering dictionary order helps in organizing information efficiently and is a fundamental skill related to vocabulary and language structure.