Finding the Correct Dictionary Order of Words

To determine the correct sequence of words as they appear in an English dictionary, we need to compare the words letter by letter, starting from the first letter. The word with the letter that comes earlier in the alphabet will appear earlier in the dictionary.

Step-by-Step Word Comparison

Let's consider the given words:

• Practical
• Practise
• Praise
• Prank
• Prayer

All the words begin with the letters "Pra". Let's compare the fourth letter of each word:

• Practical (fourth letter 'c')
• Practise (fourth letter 's')
• Praise (fourth letter 's')
• Prank (fourth letter 'k')
• Prayer (fourth letter 'y')

Now, let's arrange the fourth letters in alphabetical order: c, k, s, s, y.

This tells us the general order based on the fourth letter:

• Words starting with 'Prac...' come first.
• Words starting with 'Prak...' (not in the list).
• Words starting with 'Prai...' or 'Pras...' come next.
• Words starting with 'Pran...' come after 'Prai/Pras'.
• Words starting with 'Pray...' come last among these.

Let's refine the comparison for words with the same initial letters.

Comparing 'Practical' and 'Practise'

Both words start with "Practi". Let's look at the seventh letter:

• Practical (seventh letter 'c')
• Practise (seventh letter 's')

Since 'c' comes before 's' in the alphabet, "Practical" comes before "Practise".

Comparing 'Praise' and 'Prank' and 'Prayer'

The words 'Praise', 'Prank', and 'Prayer' start with different fourth letters: 's', 'k', and 'y' respectively (note: 'Praise' has 'i' as the fourth letter, 'Prank' has 'n' and 'Prayer' has 'y'. Let's re-evaluate the fourth letters carefully):

• Praise (fourth letter 'i', fifth letter 's')
• Prank (fourth letter 'n', fifth letter 'k')
• Prayer (fourth letter 'y', fifth letter 'e')

Let's restart the comparison from the fourth letter correctly:

• Practical (fourth letter 'c')
• Practise (fourth letter 'c')
• Praise (fourth letter 'i')
• Prank (fourth letter 'n')
• Prayer (fourth letter 'y')

Alphabetical order of fourth letters: c, c, i, n, y.

So, the words starting with "Prac" come first, followed by "Prai", then "Pran", and finally "Pray".

Ordering the Words

Based on the fourth letter:

1. Practical (starts 'Prac')
2. Practise (starts 'Prac')
3. Praise (starts 'Prai')
4. Prank (starts 'Pran')
5. Prayer (starts 'Pray')

Now, compare 'Practical' and 'Practise'. They both start with "Practi". The next letters are 'c' (Practical) and 's' (Practise). 'c' comes before 's'.

Therefore, the correct order is:

1. Practical
2. Practise
3. Praise
4. Prank
5. Prayer

This sequence is Practical → Practise → Praise → Prank → Prayer.

Comparing with Options

Let's check the options provided against our derived correct dictionary order:

Option 1 presents the words in the correct dictionary sequence.

Revision Table: Dictionary Order Rules

Additional Information on Alphabetical Arrangement

Arranging words in alphabetical order, also known as lexicographical order, is a fundamental skill used when using dictionaries, indexes, phone books, and sorted lists. The process mimics how words are organized in a dictionary.

Key aspects to remember:

• Case sensitivity is typically ignored in standard dictionary ordering (e.g., 'Apple' and 'apple' would be treated the same, though some sorting might put all uppercase words together). In this question, all words started with an uppercase letter.
• Symbols and numbers have their own sorting rules, which usually place them before or after letter-based words depending on the system. This question only involved words.
• Understanding the alphabet's sequence from A to Z is crucial for accurate comparison.

Practicing with different sets of words helps improve speed and accuracy in determining dictionary order.