Dictionary Word Order Explanation

This question asks us to arrange a given list of words in the same order they would appear in an English dictionary. Dictionary order, also known as alphabetical order, follows specific rules for comparing words letter by letter.

Steps to Determine Dictionary Order

We need to compare the words based on their letters, starting from the first letter. If the first letters are the same, we move to the second letter, and so on, until we find a difference. The word with the letter that comes earlier in the alphabet is placed first.

Words and their Numbers

Here are the words provided, along with their corresponding numbers:

• 1 green
• 2 grate
• 3 greet
• 4 groom
• 5 great

Comparing the Words Letter by Letter

All the words begin with the letters 'gr'. To determine their order, we must look at the letters that follow 'gr'.

Let's examine the third letter of each word:

• Word 2: grate
• Word 5: great
• Word 1: green
• Word 3: greet
• Word 4: groom

The third letters are 'a', 'e', 'e', 'e', and 'o'. Comparing these letters alphabetically:

• 'a' comes first. Therefore, word 2 (grate) is the first word in the dictionary sequence.
• 'o' comes last among these letters. Therefore, word 4 (groom) is the last word in the sequence.

Now, we need to order the words where the third letter is 'e': word 5 (great), word 1 (green), and word 3 (greet). We proceed to compare their fourth letters:

• Word 5: great
• Word 1: green
• Word 3: greet

The fourth letters are 'a', 'e', and 'e'. Comparing these alphabetically:

• 'a' comes before 'e'. Thus, word 5 (great) comes next in the sequence, after word 2.

Finally, we compare the remaining words, word 1 (green) and word 3 (greet), which both share the first four letters 'gree'. We look at their fifth letters:

• Word 1: green
• Word 3: greet

The fifth letters are 'n' and 't'. Comparing these alphabetically:

• 'n' comes before 't'. Therefore, word 1 (green) comes before word 3 (greet).

Final Dictionary Order

Combining all the comparisons, the correct dictionary order of the words is:

1. grate (2)
2. great (5)
3. green (1)
4. greet (3)
5. groom (4)

This sequence corresponds to the order of the numbers 2, 5, 1, 3, 4.