📖Definition
Alphabetical order means arranging words in the same order as a dictionary: A before B, B before C, and so on. In these questions, only one answer set is correctly ordered.
Knowledge Required
Know the alphabet securely, especially middle letters such as K, L, M, N and later letters such as U, V, W, X, Y, Z.
Be ready to compare the second, third or fourth letter when several words start with the same letter.
✅How To Answer
First compare the first letters of the words. If they are different, the word with the earlier first letter must come first.
If two or more words start with the same letter, move to the next letter and compare again. Keep going until you find the first place where the words differ.
Check every pair from left to right. One pair out of order makes the whole set wrong.
✏️Example
Which set is in alphabetical order?
abandon, abide, abolish, absorb, acclaim
✅Solution
All five words begin with A. The next important letters are b, b, b, b and c, so acclaim must come after the four ab- words. Among the ab- words, aba comes before abi, then abo, then abs. The set is ordered correctly.
💡Multiple Choice Tip
Distractors often look almost right. Watch for two neighbouring words that need to be swapped, especially when both start with the same two or three letters.
💡Tips/hints
Do not say the words aloud and rely only on sound. Spelling decides alphabetical order.
If you are stuck, write the first different letter above each word in your head and compare those letters only.