Understanding Alphabetical Arrangement of Words

The question asks us to arrange a given set of words in the order they would appear in an English dictionary and then identify the word at the third position in the arranged list.

The given words are:

1. Pectoral
2. Pastry
3. Pastor
4. Passed
5. Passport

To arrange these words alphabetically, we compare them letter by letter from left to right.

Step-by-Step Word Comparison

Let's compare the words:

1. First Letter: All words start with 'P'. This doesn't help in determining the order, so we move to the second letter.
2. Second Letter: The second letters are 'e' (Pectoral) and 'a' (Pastry, Pastor, Passed, Passport). Since 'a' comes before 'e' in the alphabet, all words starting with 'Pa' will come before 'Pectoral'.
   • Words starting with 'Pa': Pastry, Pastor, Passed, Passport
   • Words starting with 'Pe': Pectoral
3. Comparing 'Pa' Words: Now we need to arrange Pastry, Pastor, Passed, and Passport. Let's look at the third letter. All have 's' as the third letter (Pas...). This means we look at the fourth letter.
4. Comparing Fourth Letter of 'Pa' Words:
   • Passed
   • Passport
   • Pastor
   • Pastry

   Comparing the fourth letters 's' and 't', 's' comes before 't'. So, 'Passed' and 'Passport' will come before 'Pastor' and 'Pastry'.

5. Comparing 'Pass' Words: Let's compare Passed and Passport. We look at the fifth letter:
   • Passed
   • Passport

   Comparing 'e' and 'p', 'e' comes before 'p'. So, 'Passed' comes before 'Passport'.

6. Comparing 'Past' Words: Now let's compare Pastor and Pastry. We look at the fifth letter:
   • Pastor
   • Pastry

   Comparing 'o' and 'r', 'o' comes before 'r'. So, 'Pastor' comes before 'Pastry'.

Combining these comparisons, the order of the 'Pa' words is: Passed, Passport, Pastor, Pastry.

Since 'Pectoral' starts with 'Pe', it comes after all the 'Pa' words.

Final Alphabetical Order

The complete list of words arranged in alphabetical order is:

1. Passed
2. Passport
3. Pastor
4. Pastry
5. Pectoral

Identifying the Third Word

In this sorted list, the word at the third place is 'Pastor'.

Therefore, the word that appears at the third place is Pastor.

Revision Table - Word Arrangement

Additional Information - Dictionary Order Rules

Arranging words in dictionary order, also known as lexicographical order, follows specific rules:

• Comparison starts with the first letter of each word.
• If the first letters are different, the word with the letter that comes earlier in the alphabet is placed first.
• If the first letters are the same, compare the second letters, and so on.
• Continue comparing letters until a difference is found. The word with the letter that appears earlier in the alphabet at that position comes first.
• If one word is a prefix of another (e.g., 'car' and 'carpet'), the shorter word comes first. In this question, none of the words are prefixes of others in the list.

This systematic letter-by-letter comparison ensures words are sorted in the standard alphabetical sequence found in dictionaries.