Understanding Dictionary Order

Arranging words in dictionary order means putting them in alphabetical order, just like you would find them in a dictionary. We compare words letter by letter from the beginning until we find a difference.

Given Words

We are given four words:

1. Approach
2. Appropriate
3. Approval
4. Approve

Step-by-Step Comparison

Let's compare the words letter by letter:

• All words start with "Appr". This common part doesn't help us determine the order yet.
• Let's look at the fifth letter:
  • Approach (a) - Fifth letter is 'o'
  • Appropriate (b) - Fifth letter is 'o'
  • Approval (c) - Fifth letter is 'o'
  • Approve (d) - Fifth letter is 'o'
  The fifth letter is also the same ('o') for all words. Let's continue to the sixth letter.
• Let's look at the sixth letter:
  • Approach (a) - Sixth letter is 'a'
  • Appropriate (b) - Sixth letter is 'p'
  • Approval (c) - Sixth letter is 'v'
  • Approve (d) - Sixth letter is 'v'
• Now we compare the sixth letters: 'a', 'p', 'v', 'v'. According to alphabetical order, 'a' comes before 'p', and 'p' comes before 'v'.

Determining the Order

• The word with 'a' as the sixth letter comes first: "Approach" (a).
• The word with 'p' as the sixth letter comes next: "Appropriate" (b).
• Now we need to compare the words with 'v' as the sixth letter: "Approval" (c) and "Approve" (d). They both start with "Approv".
• Let's look at the seventh letter for these two words:
  • Approval (c) - Seventh letter is 'a'
  • Approve (d) - Seventh letter is 'e'
• Comparing the seventh letters 'a' and 'e': 'a' comes before 'e' in the alphabet.

Final Arrangement

Based on the comparisons:

1. "Approach" (a) comes first.
2. "Appropriate" (b) comes second.
3. "Approval" (c) comes third.
4. "Approve" (d) comes fourth.

The correct dictionary order is therefore a, b, c, d.

Matching with Options

The order we found is 'abcd'. Let's check the given options:

• Option 1: acdb
• Option 2: abdc
• Option 3: cdab
• Option 4: abcd

Our determined order 'abcd' matches Option 4.

The correct arrangement according to the dictionary order is Approach, Appropriate, Approval, Approve, which corresponds to the sequence abcd.

Revision Table

Additional Information: Alphabetical Order

Alphabetical order is the basis for dictionary order. It follows the sequence of letters in the alphabet from A to Z.

• When arranging words, you compare the first letters. Words starting with 'A' come before words starting with 'B', and so on.
• If the first letters are the same, you move to the second letter and compare them.
• You continue this process until you find a letter that is different. The word with the letter that comes earlier in the alphabet is placed earlier in the list.
• If one word is a prefix of another (e.g., "apple" and "applesauce"), the shorter word (the prefix) comes first ("apple" before "applesauce"). This is because the shorter word effectively ends sooner, and the end of a word comes before any additional letters in a longer word. In our example, this rule wasn't directly needed as all words were distinct up to a later letter.

Understanding alphabetical order is crucial for organizing information, searching in dictionaries or indexes, and sorting data.