Dictionary order and word formation for SSC GD

Word-based questions are some of the friendliest in the SSC GD reasoning section. There is no diagram and no formula. You read a few words and put them in order, or check whether one word can be built from another. The only thing that costs marks here is hurry: skipping a letter, or not noticing that a word needs two T's when the given word has one.

This guide covers the three types: dictionary order, word formation and logical order. Each has a short method. Use it every time, even on questions that look obvious.

Type 1: dictionary (alphabetical) order

Compare the words letter by letter from the left. The first letter that differs decides the order. Everything after that letter is ignored.

Example 1. Arrange in dictionary order: Mango, Market, Man, Machine.

1. All four begin with M, and all have A second. Look at the third letter.
2. Third letters: Mango n, Market r, Man n, Machine c.
3. c comes first, so Machine is first. r comes last, so Market is last.
4. Mango and Man tie on "Man". Man has no fourth letter, so the shorter word comes first.
5. Order: Machine, Man, Mango, Market.

Example 2. Arrange in dictionary order: 1. Prison 2. Prism 3. Private 4. Principal 5. Print.

1. All begin with PRI. Look at the fourth letter: s (Prison), s (Prism), v (Private), n (Principal), n (Print).
2. Order of fourth letters: n, n, s, s, v.
3. Break the n tie: Principal and Print share PRIN; the fifth letters are c and t, so Principal comes before Print.
4. Break the s tie: Prison and Prism share PRIS; the fifth letters are o and m, so Prism comes before Prison.
5. Order: Principal, Print, Prism, Prison, Private, which is 4, 5, 2, 1, 3.

How to work fast

• Write the words in a column on rough paper, one under the other, so the letters line up.
• Draw a line under the common start. Look only at the next column.
• Settle the easy first and last words, then deal with the ties.
• In the options, check the first two positions. Often only one option matches.

Type 2: word formation

A word can be made from a given word only if the given word has every letter needed, as many times as needed. Each letter can be used once for each time it appears.

Example 3. Which word cannot be made from the letters of EDUCATION?

EDUCATION has E, D, U, C, A, T, I, O and N, each once.

• CAT: C, A, T. Yes.
• TOUCH: needs H. EDUCATION has no H. No.
• NOTICE: N, O, T, I, C, E. Yes.
• AUDIT: A, U, D, I, T. Yes.

Answer: TOUCH.

Example 4. Which word cannot be made from the letters of INFORMATION?

1. First, count the letters of INFORMATION: I 2, N 2, O 2, F 1, R 1, M 1, A 1, T 1.
2. NATION needs N twice. INFORMATION has two N's. Yes.
3. FORMAT needs one each of F, O, R, M, A, T. Yes.
4. MOTION needs O twice. Yes.
5. ROTATION needs T twice. INFORMATION has only one T. No.

Answer: ROTATION.

A quick way through the options: look for a letter that is not in the given word at all (like H in TOUCH). That settles most questions in seconds. Only if every option passes that test, start counting repeats.

Type 3: logical (meaningful) order

Here the words must be arranged in a natural sequence: small to large, first to last, part to whole.

Example 5. Arrange: 1. Adult 2. Baby 3. Old 4. Child 5. Teenager.

1. Start from the beginning of life: Baby (2).
2. Then Child (4), Teenager (5), Adult (1), Old (3).
3. Answer: 2, 4, 5, 1, 3.

Example 6. Arrange: 1. Result 2. Study 3. Admission 4. Certificate 5. Examination.

1. The process starts with Admission (3), then Study (2), then Examination (5).
2. Result (1) comes after the exam, and the Certificate (4) last.
3. Answer: 3, 2, 5, 1, 4.

Find the first and the last item before anything else. Then check each option against them; usually only one survives.

Common mistakes

Practice set

1. Arrange in dictionary order: Pencil, Paper, Pen, Page.
2. Which word comes third in dictionary order: Station, Statue, Status, State, Static?
3. Arrange in dictionary order: 1. Accept 2. Access 3. Accent 4. Account.
4. Which word cannot be made from TRIANGLE: TRAIN, GAIN, ANGEL, SIGNAL?
5. Which word cannot be made from CARPENTER: PARENT, CARPET, RECENT, PAINTER?
6. Arrange logically: 1. Village 2. State 3. District 4. Country.
7. Arrange logically: 1. Month 2. Day 3. Year 4. Week.
8. Arrange logically: 1. Chapter 2. Letter 3. Sentence 4. Word 5. Paragraph 6. Book.

Answers:

1. Page, Paper, Pen, Pencil. The second letters split them: PA words before PE words. Then Page before Paper (g before p), and Pen before Pencil.
2. Station. The order is State, Static, Station, Statue, Status.
3. 3, 1, 2, 4. Accent, Accept, Access, Account. After ACC, the fourth letters are e, e, e, o; after ACCE, the fifth letters are n, p, s.
4. SIGNAL. TRIANGLE has no S.
5. PAINTER. CARPENTER has no I. RECENT works because CARPENTER has two E's.
6. 1, 3, 2, 4. Village, District, State, Country.
7. 2, 4, 1, 3. Day, Week, Month, Year.
8. 2, 4, 3, 5, 1, 6. Letter, Word, Sentence, Paragraph, Chapter, Book.

What to do next

• Do 10 dictionary-order questions, writing the words in a column every time.
• Do 10 word-formation questions, writing letter counts first.
• Make your own list of five logical sequences (sizes, time, processes) and learn them.
• Letter positions help here too: see alphabet questions.
• For more verbal reasoning, go on to classification.