Arrange the following words in the order in which they appear in an English dictionary.
1. Tear
2. Tease
3. Taste
4. Treat
5. Tackle

Question

Arrange the following words in the order in which they appear in an English dictionary.1. Tear2. Tease3. Taste4. Treat5. Tackle

Prepp Team · Accepted Answer

Arranging Words in Dictionary Order

To arrange words in the order they appear in an English dictionary, we compare them letter by letter from left to right. We look at the first letter of each word. If they are the same, we move to the second letter, and so on. The word with the letter that comes first alphabetically at the first point of difference will be placed earlier.

Let's look at the given words and their numbers:

1. Tear
2. Tease
3. Taste
4. Treat
5. Tackle

We will compare these words letter by letter:

Word	1st Letter	2nd Letter	3rd Letter	4th Letter	5th Letter	6th Letter
Tear	T	e	a	r
Tease	T	e	a	s	e
Taste	T	a	s	t	e
Treat	T	r	e	a	t
Tackle	T	a	c	k	l	e

All words start with 'T'. So, we look at the second letter:

Words with 'a' as the second letter: Taste, Tackle
Words with 'e' as the second letter: Tear, Tease
Words with 'r' as the second letter: Treat

Since 'a' comes before 'e', and 'e' comes before 'r' in the alphabet, the words starting with 'Ta' will come first, followed by 'Te', and then 'Tr'.

Let's compare the words starting with 'Ta': Taste and Tackle.

Taste: T-a-s...
Tackle: T-a-c...

Comparing the third letter, 'c' comes before 's'. So, Tackle comes before Taste.

Let's compare the words starting with 'Te': Tear and Tease.

Tear: T-e-a-r...
Tease: T-e-a-s...

Comparing the fourth letter, 'r' comes before 's'. So, Tear comes before Tease.

The word starting with 'Tr' is Treat, which comes after all 'Ta' and 'Te' words.

Combining these comparisons, the correct dictionary order is:

Tackle (5)
Taste (3)
Tear (1)
Tease (2)
Treat (4)

The order of the numbers corresponding to the words is 5, 3, 1, 2, 4.

This matches option 4.

Revision Table: Dictionary Order Practice

Step	Action	Result for Words (5, 3, 1, 2, 4)
1	Compare 1st letters	All start with 'T' - No difference yet.
2	Compare 2nd letters	'a' (5, 3), 'e' (1, 2), 'r' (4). Order by 2nd letter: (5, 3), (1, 2), (4).
3	Compare 3rd letters for (5, 3)	Tackle (c), Taste (s). 'c' < 's'. Order: 5 then 3.
4	Compare 3rd letters for (1, 2)	Tear (a), Tease (a). No difference, move to 4th letter.
5	Compare 4th letters for (1, 2)	Tear (r), Tease (s). 'r' < 's'. Order: 1 then 2.
6	Final order	Combining results: 5, 3, 1, 2, 4.

Additional Information on Alphabetical Ordering

Alphabetical ordering is a fundamental skill used for sorting lists, finding words in dictionaries or indexes, and organizing information. Here are a few key points:

Comparison starts with the first letter.
If the first letters are the same, move to the second letter, and continue this process.
If one word runs out of letters while comparing and matches the beginning of a longer word, the shorter word comes first (e.g., 'car' comes before 'carpet').
Capitalization is usually ignored in standard dictionary order (though computer sorting might treat them differently).
Spaces and hyphens have specific rules depending on the sorting system, but for simple word lists like this, they are usually not present or ignored initially.